Mara folded her arms. "Next time, don't."
She didn't need to elaborate. Her meaning was clear as ever stop playing nice. Stop pretending you're normal. Stop holding back.
I met her gaze, saw the flicker of worry beneath the command. And I nodded.
But before I could get lost in the weight of that moment, a sharp whisper echoed from behind me.
"Elyzara," Aria hissed. She was halfway down the east corridor, arms waving in a flurry of excitement and panic, her hair in wild disarray, glasses slightly askew.
"What now?" Riven groaned, peeling himself off the fence with a dramatic sigh. "Did someone misfile a scroll again? We're calling that a crisis now?"
Aria didn't wait. "It's the library. I found something."
I blinked. "You were in the library during duel day?"
"I was avoiding the sun and people who might set things on fire," she snapped, then paused. "Which includes you, by the way."
I shrugged. Fair.
