“I’ve come to say goodbye, Max.”
Even Instructor Greer’s composure cracked for a second before she recovered. The highest-ranking heir crossing the compound to say goodbye to a first-year cadet? No protocol existed for this.
My heart kicked.
Did this mean he’d be gone for a long time? Panic hit me, fast and irrational.
“Where are you going, sir?”
“The eastern border.” Warmth left his voice, replaced by the tone of a prince at war. “Eagle reconnaissance reports coordinated attacks on satellite towns near the DarkVeil. Multiple skirmishes over the last seventy-two hours. Indicators of escalation. I’m deploying with the Spartans to reinforce and assess.”
The class drew a collective breath. Cadets’ eyes went wide with worry.
“Prince Aelindor—” Instructor Greer started.
Frost stepped forward from the entrance. “The battle brief will be available to all instructors at eighteen hundred hours.” His voice was polite, dismissive. “His Highness did not come for you.”
Aelindor’s gaze roamed over me.
I’d changed.
The bony, cropped-haired miner from his interrogation room was gone. My hair, darkest blue shot through with streaks of white, fell to my shoulders. I no longerneeded the chest-bind, and the uniform showed it—curves where angles used to be, the fabric hugging a figure that had finally been given enough food and rest to become itself. I was tall, but feminine.Regal,in Bryn’s words.
His want reached me across the distance. Different from Nikolai’s hunger—not predatory, not sharp, but no less consuming. A deep, steady yearning locked behind centuries of discipline, leaking through despite everything. And a reciprocal ache seared through me, mirroring his. We’d both lived too long without this, him far longer than me. I hadn’t even known I carried it until him.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, so?—”
“Sir.” I stepped toward him. “Take me with you.”
The words came out before strategy could shape them. “Two of my friends may still be alive. Your outposts swept the western approaches to Ashford, but no one’s covered the east. There’s a chance Desta and Kaid went that way.”
Most likely, they were dead. But I wouldn’t accept it without evidence.
“I can’t give up on them, sir. Hope is what got me this far. Without it, there’s no reason to get up in the morning.”
“Cadet Private Max!” Instructor Greer’s voice cut across the yard. “Know your place.”
I ignored her. I needed to go with Aelindor for reasons beyond my friends. Some deep instinct in me couldn’t tolerate being separated from him, especially for an unknown duration.
“I won’t be a burden. I’m a quick learner. I’ll be an asset—I know I’m not there yet, but I will be. Give me a chance, sir. You won’t regret it.”
Aelindor raised a single finger. “We leave now.”
I’d loaded a dozen more arguments like rounds in a chamber. Didn’t need them anymore.
I snapped to attention and saluted. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”
“You need the training I promised anyway.” He was already turning. “It starts on the road.”
He walked toward the exit while I was still frozen in place.
“You coming, Cadet Max Morning?” he called over his shoulder.
“Yes, sir! I’m coming!”
I bounced after him.
Behind me, shock rippled through the cadets—mouths open, eyes wide. Forty first-years watching a prince pull the most controversial cadet in the academy out of a magic class and take her on a combat deployment. Instructor Greer’s eyebrows climbed her forehead. Delia’s face twisted with a jealousy so raw it was almost impressive.
