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“What are you two doing here, might I ask?” Arthur says in his calm, level voice. My eyes linger over his sharp jaw and I look away when amusement flashes across his gaze.
Raine answers, “You’ll have to torture it out of me, Fernestian.”
Arthur chuckles, which only fuels Raine’s hate fire more. I intervene. “Elias said something curious about the headmaster collecting hea?—”
The light around us darkens in the blink of an eye and Arthur presses his warm palm softly against my lips.
“Don’t say it here,” Arthur says with dread permeating his expression. His dark hair falls over his forehead and touches my nose. My heartrate rises; his lips are mere inches from mine.
“Why?” I ask with bated breath.
Arthur smooths his hand gently over my throat and down to my collarbone. His gray eyes linger on my lips as he slowly shakes his head. “Many ears in Alkrose lend themselves to the headmaster.”
Raine’s face sullens and he uncrosses his arms. “Where does the headmaster keep them?”
The air is heavy and thick as Arthur regards us in silence. “The headmaster consumes them. There is nothing to find,” he says matter-of-factly and lowers his chin. “Now, let us leave before Emerai returns.”
I stare at Arthur’s empty expression. I don’t quite believe him, but we follow him as he guides us quietly out of the headmaster's study. We stop at the bottom of the stairs on the second floor and I look at Raine.
“You go ahead. I have a tutoring session with Arthur,” I say with a weak smile.
Raine furrows his brows and looks from me to the instructor before dipping his head. “Fine. Don’t forget to meet us in the courtyard after supper though. Finn, Aervin, and Kai will be expecting us.”
I follow Arthur as he saunters to one of the classrooms down the hall. He waves me in first and shuts the door behind us, then selects one of the window seats that line the south wall of the class and pats the space next to him with a bleak grin. Warm orange sunlight drips over him, welcoming all the hollow parts of his cheeks. I yearn to touch his handsome face, to draw lines with my fingers over every valley where his flesh meets bone.
I curl myself into the arched space and pull my legs close to my chest. He watches me and cocks his head to the side. His soft lips draw up into a smile. Being this close to him beckons a desire from so deep within that I’m not sure if it is mine or my Shadow’s.
“What is it that runs rampant through your mind, Terra?”
I study his gaze and all I find is kind endearment. I hesitate, but say slowly, “Edgar… He’s never been a violent person, but I don’t know how we can ever face one another again.”
Arthur’s expression remains blank. “He has certainly created a rift between you, hasn’t he?”
I grit my teeth and bury my face in my knees. “I don’t know what to do.”
He leans forward, pulling his knees up to his chest as well and resting his head on his forearms. “I’m remorseful to say I’m at a loss as well. I would tell you if I knew how to stop Sully. I promise you that.” He speaks properly but his gaze is anything but.
I stare down at the academy towers beneath us. The courtyard is out of view from here, but the lake stretches almost out of eyesight along with the fog that lingers around the grounds today.
“Terra.”
I break my thoughts and look up at Arthur. “Hm?”
“The technique I plan on teaching you today might get a bit… involved. I’ve heard you aren’t foreign to it since you’ve been in Kallos’s class.”
A light laugh rolls easily from my lips. “I won’t lie and say I didn’t expect something of the sort. Close contact with other strong Shadows makes Amser… intense.”
He laughs with me, a joyous and simple sound that could easily live in my head forever.
Arthur is in his mid-twenties. Looking at him, sitting with his knees up and so lax, he looks nothing more than a young man who wishes to study, read, and be at peace. I’ve always thought he looked tired, but staring at him now, eyes dreary with maroon blush that paints his lower eyelids, I’d say he’s been tired since long before we met. I wish I could take that away from him.
“What?” he asks with a warm smile that breaks my heart. He looks at me like he can wait centuries and longer if need be. Patience and understanding flicker across his old soul.
“I was just admiring your devotion to whatever it is that keeps you awake at night—do you not sleep well?” I ask with a sympathetic grin.
He perks his head up a little as if he’s surprised I noticed. Then he looks away, staring longingly into the dim room, at ghosts perhaps. He doesn’t respond as he shifts and stands. I watch him curiously as he walks to the center of the room, turns, straightens into a polite posture with one hand behind his back, and offers me the other. His black hair falls beautifully around his shoulders and my heart aches to run my fingers through it.
I oblige and meet him in the middle of the classroom, slipping my hand over his. “What are we doing?” For a moment, a rather silly one, I let myself think he’s going to dance with me.
