A chill ran down Thalia's spine at the naked hostility in Solberg's voice.There were murmurs of agreement from some of the Northern students, their faces hard with ingrained prejudice.
Wolfe turned to face Solberg fully, the movement causing a fresh trickle of blood to seep around the arrow in her shoulder.Her voice, when she spoke, was weary but unyielding.
"This is the third instance in which Roran Bright has used his storm magic against the Isle Wardens, Instructor Solberg.The third time he has turned these abilities—abilities you fear and condemn—against our enemies rather than ourselves."She gestured to the battlefield around them, to the bodies being gathered, to the wounded being tended."If his loyalties lay with the Wardens, he could have simply stood aside today.He could have let them overrun us.Instead, he turned the tide of battle."
Her gaze swept the gathered crowd, meeting the eyes of students and instructors alike."And let us be clear: executing Bright now, after he has saved countless lives, would not only divide this academy beyond repair, it would dishonor those who fell today."
Solberg's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment, caught between outrage and the inescapable logic of Wolfe's argument.Finally, he looked away, his shoulders slumping slightly in defeat.
A tense silence followed, broken only by the sounds of the wounded and the whisper of wind across the plateau.Then Marr stepped forward, his scarred face grave but his eyes holding a glint of something that might have been approval.
"I agree with the motion to nullify the execution order," he announced, his voice carrying the authority of his former admiral's rank."However, there must be conditions."
The other tribunal members nodded, their expressions suggesting this was indeed a political concession rather than a true change of heart.Virek's pale eyes still held suspicion, Solberg's jaw was tight with resentment, and even Irongrave, who had been largely silent throughout, watched Roran with wary assessment.
Wolfe inclined her head in acknowledgment."Roran Bright will remain under observation," she declared."He will be stripped of certain privileges and must serve in a probationary capacity within Frostforge.The exact terms will be determined once more immediate concerns are addressed."Her gaze shifted to the wounded being carried into the keep, to the bodies awaiting proper rites."For now, all able hands are needed for recovery efforts."
The decision rippled through the student body like a wave through shallow water.Some exhaled in visible relief, tension draining from their shoulders.Others eyed Roran with unchanged wariness, as though he were a storm given human form, unpredictable and potentially devastating.Most, Thalia noted, seemed simply too exhausted to form strong opinions either way—survival had consumed their immediate emotional capacity.
Roran himself received the news with the same inscrutable expression he had maintained throughout.He offered a single nod to Wolfe, neither grateful nor resentful, simply acknowledging the verdict.Then, with many eyes still upon him, he turned and walked back toward the keep.
"I need some time alone," he said to no one in particular, his voice carrying in the quiet.
The crowd parted before him, some stepping back with lingering fear, others reaching out to touch his sleeve or shoulder in wordless gratitude.He acknowledged none of them, his gaze fixed on the keep's entrance, his steps steady despite the exhaustion evident in every line of his body.
Thalia hesitated only a moment before following.She kept her distance at first, unsure of her welcome, watching as he moved through the great hall and down one of the long corridors that led deeper into the fortress.When they were well away from the crowd, in a deserted passage lit only by blue-tinged cryomantic lamps, she called after him.
"Didn't you get enough time alone over the past few months?"
Roran stopped, turning slowly to face her.For a breath, his weary features shifted into a grin—familiar, warm, a glimpse of the Roran she had known before imprisonment had hollowed his cheeks and dimmed his eyes.But the expression faded quickly, leaving behind something more complex—not quite sorrow, not quite relief, but a mingling of both that made her heart ache.
He moved to a window alcove cut into the thick stone wall, sinking onto the sill with the careful movements of someone whose body had been pushed beyond endurance.Thalia joined him, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched, the warmth of him a tangible reminder that they had both, against all odds, survived.
For a long moment, they simply looked at each other.Thalia took in the details of him—the short curls, the hollow beneath his cheekbones, the new lines at the corners of his eyes.He was studying her too, she realized, cataloging changes and constants with the intensity of one who had feared he might never see her again.
They were both alive.Both bruised, exhausted, altered by what they had endured, but alive.Words seemed too fragile for the enormity of it, for all that had happened and all that might yet come.
"Thank you," Roran said finally, his voice low but steady."For coming back for me in the amphitheater."
Thalia shook her head, dismissing the danger as inconsequential compared to what they had faced after."I couldn't leave you."
"You could have," he countered, his gaze direct."Anyone else would have.You could have died in there."
"Better that than living knowing I'd abandoned you."
Something shifted in his expression—a softening around the eyes, a vulnerability that had been absent during the public confrontation with the tribunal.This was the Roran she knew, the one who had shared quiet conversations beneath the stars, who had confided his fears and dreams during stolen moments between training sessions.
"I should have fought harder for you," she continued, the words spilling out now that she had started."At the tribunal.I only made things worse.When they questioned me about us, I—" Her voice caught, the memory of her humiliation searing her anew."I'm sorry.The tribunal was looking to use me against you, and I played right into their hands.If I had been stronger, more careful—"
Roran moved then, closing the small distance between them.His hand came up to cup her cheek, calloused fingers gentle against her skin.The touch silenced her more effectively than any words could have, the simple contact grounding her in the present moment.
And then he was leaning forward, and his lips were on hers—warm, insistent, tasting of smoke and salt and life.Thalia froze for a heartbeat, surprised despite everything that had passed between them, then melted into the kiss.Her arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer, feeling the solid reality of him against her.This was no tentative exploration like their previous kisses, but something deeper, more urgent—a declaration.
A claim.
A promise.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
