The Academy of Flickering Stars was never quiet. But five days after the Trial of Masks, it had reached a new level of unhinged.
Breakfast trays floated through the halls on their own, delivering pancakes to people who hadn't ordered them. Someone had charmed the staircases to play dramatic music every time you stepped on them. A third year was selling "I Survived the Trial and All I Got Was This Existential Crisis" shirts for three silver each. They were sold out by lunch. Maria sat in the cafeteria with Arem and Noko the fox-creature curled in her lap like a living scarf. Noko sneezed glitter. Arem was trying to teach it to fetch. "So," he said, tossing a sugar cube. "Still no memory of what the mask showed you?" Maria poked her untouched toast.
"Just light. And a voice saying I was hidden." Arem whistled. "Deep. Also, you're famous now. Someone's selling 'Trial Survivor' plushies of you. They come with detachable wings."
Maria groaned. Across the hall, a group of first-years were re-enacting the Trial with illusion magic. One played Maria dramatic hair flip, fake silver light pouring from chest. Another played the mask floating, cracking, exploding in slow motion.
The crowd cheered. A boy in the front row held up a sign: MARRY ME, TRIAL GIRL.
Maria sank lower in her seat. Noko sneezed more glitter. In the chamber no star dares name, the Council of Veiled Thrones stirred. Twelve masks. Twelve voices.
The Throne of Storms spoke first. "She stirs. The Sleeper." The Throne of Ash shifted. "And a second pulse. Not the Sleeper. Something older."
The Throne of Hollow Flame leaned forward. "Judgment in mortal flesh."
The Vacant Throne shimmered once. The council fell silent. Back at ground level, beneath the Archive Hall, the underground fight club was in full swing. Nobles in half-masks bet gold on blood. Then the shadows moved. A masked figure stepped into the pit. Everyone froze. "The pretty noble boy and the chaos girl just rolled in with livestock," the figure said. "The board is full." They vanished. The fighters didn't resume. They just stared at the empty air. The gates opened. Seraphina marched through first storm-gray robes, face like winter steel. Behind her: Kai and Mina.
And Waffles. The entire academy turned. Silence. Then absolute pandemonium.
Girls on the balconies screamed. "WHO IS THAT NOBLE?!" "His eyes are literally illegal!" "I'm switching houses for him." Boys muttered. "Great. Another pretty rich boy to ruin my GPA." Witches sniffed the air. "Wild magic on the girl. And… goat?"
Someone yelled: "THE GOAT IS WEARING A MAYOR'S SASH!" Waffles trotted like he owned the place. Mina waved at the crowd like a celebrity. "Hi, new school! Love the murder-spear vibe!" Kai tried to look dignified and failed when Waffles head-butted his leg. Seraphina hissed, "Behave." A girl in the front row fainted, but was Damaris, and Damaris fainted twice a week for attention. Maria lingered at the edge of the courtyard, unable to stay inside any longer. Her curiosity pulled her forward, and that's when she saw them: the boy with storm-gray eyes, burdened with a weight no one else seemed to notice, and the girl with untamed curls, a grin that looked capable of igniting battles before they even began.
Across the courtyard, Kai felt it. His hidden crest burned under his coat. He looked up. Their eyes met. Time slowed. Maria's hand flew to her chest. Kai's hand mirrored the motion. Mina noticed. "Hey, pretty boy. You, okay? You look like you saw" She followed his gaze. Saw Maria. Felt the compass in her pocket explode into light pointing straight at her.
Seraphina saw Maria watching. Her heart dropped. She recognized the girl from the Trial. The one the mirrors broke for. The one she had caught when she fell.
The courtyard went dead quiet. Then a hundred illusion-orbs floated up students filming the moment like it was the season finale. While the entire academy collectively lost its mind over the noble boy, the chaos girl … The second sky tore open. Not literally. But it felt like it. A second carriage rolled through the gates.
This one was black lacquer and silver flame, drawn by four white stags with antlers of living ice. The crest on the door was the Valmont sigil… but crowned with northern frost roses. The academy went from screaming to dead silent in one heartbeat. Even Waffles stopped chewing. The carriage door opened. And Prince Lucien Valmont stepped out. He looked like someone had carved a Greek god out of moonlight and spite.
Blonde hair like spun gold, falling in perfect waves to his shoulders. Green eyes the exact same storm green as Seraphina's but colder, sharper, like chips of emerald ice. High cheekbones that could cut glass. A jawline that made half the courtyard forget how to breathe.
He wore the northern Valmont colors: midnight blue velvet coat lined with white wolf fur, silver embroidery of frost roses climbing the sleeves, black leather boots polished to a mirror shine, and a cloak clasped with a single diamond rose that caught the light and threw it back like a weapon.
Behind him stepped his royal guardian a woman in full silver plate, hair white as snow, eyes the color of winter steel. She carried a great sword across her back that hummed with northern runes. The academy bowed. Every single student, professor, witch, noble dropped to one knee like a wave. Except Seraphina. She stood frozen.
"Lucien?" Her cousin. The prince no one had seen since his mother's funeral. The prince who swore he would never set foot in this academy. He looked at her.
For one heartbeat, something soft flickered in those green eyes. Then it was gone.
He inclined his head barely. "Cousin." His voice was low, smooth, dangerous.
The courtyard erupted again. Girls fainted. Boys tried to look cooler and failed. Someone actually screamed "MARRY ME, YOUR HIGHNESS!"
Lucien's gaze swept the crowd cold, assessing. Then landed on Kai. They stared.
Two seconds. Three. No words. Just the weight of two bloodlines that had once been allies… and then enemies. Lucien's lip curled almost a smile, almost a snarl.
Then he walked past Kai like he was furniture. Kai's hand twitched toward his dagger. Mina whispered, "Who's the ice statue?" Seraphina's voice was tight.
"My cousin. Prince Lucien Valmont of the North. He hates this place." Mina blinked. "He looks like he hates everything." Waffles bleated at Lucien. Lucien glanced down. For one moment, his perfect mask cracked. He almost smiled at the goat. Then the moment was gone. A professor hurried forward, robes flapping. "Everyone to the Grand Assembly Hall! Now!" The crowd surged. But no one took their eyes off the four newcomers. Or the prince who had just walked out of legend. Maria, still hidden behind her pillar, felt the Tear burn hotter than ever. Like it recognized something in the prince too.
The academy had just got a lot more crowded. And a lot more dangerous.