He stood there.
Tall. Unshaken. Effortlessly commanding attention without even trying, the kind of presence that didn't demand to be noticed, yet somehow made everything else in the courtyard feel smaller, quieter, like the world had rearranged itself to frame him.
Ashriel, My handsome…
No.
Stop it.
I cut the thought off immediately, almost violently, severing it at the root before it could bloom into something worse. Like it had no right existing in my head.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I pressed my lips together and stared very hard at a point slightly to the left of his face.
But still…
Out of everyone here…. out of every single person in this academy who had the option to stay comfortably within their own business…
Why would Ashriel want to go to Morvalis with us?
