Page 114 of The Amber Sunburst

Oh, Forms, Alexander is in deeper than he thought.

He was going to say ‘love’. And Zeno knows what love can do to a person.

Except this is Kallias they’re talking about. It doesn’t matter how much they all care for him. People like that don’t know how to be loved. That’s what makes them dangerous.

“He will be. Whatever trouble you think he’s in here, he’ll be out of it soon. We all will.”

Alexander nods once, clearly unconvinced, then breathes out explosively and nods again more emphatically. “Okay. Let’s try to make it for breakfast.”

Zeno laughs. “Breakfast? Dude, we’d be lucky to make class on time.”

“Shit, sorry, let’s go.” Alexander hops up off his bed and rifles through his clothes. “Though missing a few minutes of history wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

The smile Alexander shoots him is close enough to normal that Zeno thinks he’ll be back to himself in no time.

The air in the Library is tense. Not for any one reason, Zeno thinks. More like a plethora of unresolved questions and conflicts.

Alexander and Kallias shoot concerned glances at each other when they think no one is looking.

Eudoxia and Ophelia are silently frustrated with each other because Eudoxia thinks Ophelia forgave Arete too fast and Ophelia thinks Eudoxia needs to forgive her quicker.

And then, of course, him and Eudoxia after their… whatever happened in the training room a couple weeks ago. He hasn’t dared mention his feelings for her, but it’s starting to feel like they’re just dancing around each other.

On top of that, they still have absolutely no idea how in the Forms they’re going to get out of here.

So, yeah. A lot of tension.

Zeno is not one for tension just as he is not one for confrontation, so after an hour of working in silence, he is overwhelmed by the urge to break it.

“So—”

“I’m a genius!” Eudoxia interrupts.

Alexander and Ophelia laugh, but Zeno just smiles fondly. Because yes, yes she is.

Eudoxia keeps scribbling in her notebook like she didn’t put everyone on the edge of their seats, and eventually Kallias drawls, “Pray tell.”

Eudoxia looks up and then does a double take. “Oh, did I say that out loud?”

Ophelia barks another laugh and Eudoxia rolls her eyes.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Xia, your idea?” Alexander prompts.

“Well, I was thinking about our question of opportunity. When would we be outside the Academy with everyone too distracted to notice us straying farther? And when no one would expect us to be trying to get out rather than stay in?”

Kallias’ breath hitches on the other side of the table like he knows what she means and can’t believe he didn’t think of it sooner. Everybody else waits for Eudoxia to say more.

“The third Trial.”

A cacophony—objections, questions, fears—springs from all seats of the circular table except his own. He just stares in awe at Eudoxia as she explains her idea further. The Trials always take place outside the Academy grounds, and if they can find a way to sneak out undetected, the audience and Guardians would be focused on the other Auxiliaries. They wouldn’t notice their absence for a long while.

It’s not a great solution—it presents one hundred new challenges and unanswered questions—but it’s the only one they’ve found so far. And Xia was the one to finally think of it. His Xia.

“Alright, everyone shut up,” Alexander yells, and, surprisingly, the whole table listens. “As much as this feels crazy and reckless and unnecessarily stupid⁠—”

“Hey!” Eudoxia protests, but Alexander talks over her, standing up from his seat.