Deveil’s Night came and went, followed by the strange calm of the Descent of the Veil. And then, just like that, it was back to training. Another week and a half of pushing magic harder than it wanted to go. But tonight, we learned that in four days, we would be going to The Seal to use our new Binding spells to save Halven. Nonis 27th.
Aster and I had barely spoken to each other, although I never let her forget about me. I ensured I was always visible and near her. It was also my way of letting her know that my thoughts were of her.
After tonight’s news, I felt the urgency to make things right, so when training finished, I chased after Aster. I meant to heal this broken thing between us.
The others had filed out of the Council Chambers, looking as tired as I felt. Voices echoed, boots scraped against stone, and magic lingered in the air like steam that refused to clear.
Aster walked away too fast, braid swinging like a warning, and I didn’t call her name. Just followed. Quietly. Not like a shadow. More like something patient. Something burning low until the moment called for heat.
She turned the corner toward the western corridor, the one that led to our Goldspire tower. I knew she wouldn’t stop if I called. So I didn’t.
I just stepped into the hallway before she reached the arched doorway to her quad when she saw me and stopped.
“Really?” she asked, arms crossed. “Are you stalking me now?”
“Didn’t think I had to. We both live here.” I indicated the arched doorway into my quad just across the hall while putting myself between her and her quad door.
She rolled her eyes, started to move past me, and I let her.
For a breath.
Then I said, “Aster.”
She stilled, back straight as a blade.
“I’m not here to apologize again,” I said. “I’ve said everything I needed to. And maybe none of it mattered. But I didn’t want to leave it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like silence meant we stopped trying.”
She turned to face me, slow and sharp.
“Is this your idea of balance?” she said. “Shadowing me until I forget I hate you?”
I smiled before I could help it. It was that same part of me that always knew her better than logic said I should. I took a step toward her, and her eyes widened before she stumbled back against the wall, her mouth parting with a sharp breath.
I didn’t touch her, but I closed the distance between our bodies enough that I felt her cold brushing against my heated skin.
I dropped my head near hers, breathing her in. Gods, I missed her. Every part of me ached to touch her, to feel her lips beneath mine.
I settled for rejoicing in the way her heartbeat fluttered in the vein on the side of her neck. She still wanted me, even if she was fighting it. Maybe even needed me like her vision self had said in the Docilis Vault.
“You don’t hate me.” I said it with the kind of certainty that came from somewhere below the ribs. From the place where fire settled before it rose.
Her jaw tensed. But she didn’t argue.
I stepped aside, giving her a path forward if she wanted it. No more blocks. No more tests. It was her move.
But she didn’t move.
The air between us shifted.
Then, softer this time, I added, “I know what I said. Back then. When you wanted to confront Isa. When you asked me to stand with you, and I didn’t.”
She didn’t speak.
“I was wrong. I should have supported you,” I said. “Maybe we would already have saved Halven by now.”
Still nothing. But her breathing changed.
I met her eyes. And asked the only thing that mattered now.
“If I followed you again tomorrow…, would you still try to forget me?”
Her violet eyes shifted with obvious turbulence. Her teeth worried her bottom lip. That was all I needed. I didn’t want to push her too hard, too soon, so I didn’t wait for an answer. I don’t think she was capable of answering. I had thrown her natural balance and grace off.
I stepped past her, slow, like retreat wasn’t failure. Like balance could mean leaving the moment behind before it broke.
She didn’t stop me.
But she didn’t walk away either.
And that, for now, was enough to keep the fire lit.