Page 99 of The Amber Sunburst

Alexander looks absolutely desperate to ask him what this mysterious plan is, but he manages to hold it in like the rest of them. It’s not smart to try to push Kallias into sharing more than he wants to.

Anyway, she trusts him as much as she trusts every other member of the group. It might be misguided, but something about him feels familiar to her. It makes her want to be on his side, and makes her truly believe that he is on hers.

“Well, now that that’s done, can I get back to my finances, please?” Alexander asks, winking at Eudoxia with none of the embarrassment from earlier. She laughs and hands him back his papers.

While she, Eudoxia, and Zeno discuss the best times to make a break for it, Alexander and Kallias bicker on the other side of the table, sitting much closer than they need to. Eudoxia and Zeno keep giggling about it, but they’re ones to talk. They’re almost entirely pressed up against each other.

So much matchmaking to do, and so little time…

But priorities are priorities, she thinks to herself as she takes out another map of the Academy, scanning once more for a secret way into the city that won’t set off the alarms.

And her priority is getting the Forms out of here.

Ophelia can barely bring herself to stand when the clock strikes two thirty. Her limbs hurt and her eyes seem very against the idea of staying open. She’s sure if she doesn’t leave now, she won’t be able to get home without falling asleep halfway there, and with the Trial coming, she needs to be on call in her own room rather than Eudoxia’s for a change.

When she finally rises from her seat with a stretch, Eudoxia turns away from whatever Trial manuscript she’s reading. “Are you leaving already?” she asks, and Ophelia can’t help but smile. Eudoxia gets so caught up in things, she probably hasn’t even noticed any time has passed at all.

“It’s two thirty,” Ophelia says, and giggles at Eudoxia’s visible shock.

“Oh, wow. Well, I think I might stick around anyways,” Eudoxia replies.

“Me too,” Zeno says.

“Yeah,” Alexander agrees.

Ophelia sticks her tongue out at them all. “You’ve all got to sleep at some point, and ‘some point’ for me is now. Goodbye, everyone,” she sings, turning to the door.

“I think I’ll come with you,” an unexpected voice says as she starts to walk away. She turns around to see Kallias depositing several books from the table into his bag, and she waits for him in surprised silence. Everyone in the room, including Alexander, seems confused as well. Eudoxia shakes it off first. “Bye, guys,” she says with a distracted wave, already back to her reading.

Kallias slings his messenger bag over one shoulder and gives a two-finger salute to the group.

Alexander and Zeno’s ‘goodnights’ overlap as she and Kallias turn to leave the Library. Given how little time they spend one-on-one, she would expect to be uncomfortable with Kallias alone, but his presence is grounding.

She can tell he wants to ask her something, though she’s not sure how she knows. He looks mildly surprised when she asks, “What’s on your mind?” without any prompting. She can imagine people don’t usually guess what he’s thinking.

“I’m just wondering who you know that’s been branded,” he responds, and somehow the question doesn’t offend her. Maybe it’s because of how he asks it, gentle but curious.

“It’s a long story,” she sighs as they reach the top of the staircase into the dining hall.

“We have time.” Kallias shrugs. He nods to a table at the cliff’s edge, looking out onto the sea.

For the first time in her life, she thinks, maybe I really do have time. She’s nothing but frantic energy, jumping from place to place, goal to goal. It’s not easy to lower her frequency and calm her down, but Kallias does it. He seems more lively in her presence too. Perhaps they were meant to be friends.

“Yeah, alright,” she responds, sitting across from Kallias at the table. Once she starts to explain the story to him, it all just flows out. Aika, Dora, the necklaces, and the branding. It hurts to rehash it—Forms, does it hurt—but it helps too. She’s not sure why she hasn’t told anyone. Maybe Xia and Zeno knowing would make it feel too real. But she’s telling Kallias now. And he’s listening.

He doesn’t add much, but his eyes are attentive. As she explains, it becomes clearer and clearer that Kallias has far more empathy than he lets on. In fact, it seems like empathy might be a defining feature of his personality. Maybe that’s why he ended up all closed off in the first place. It’s easier to get hurt when you’re so willing to feel.

When she’s finally done, he nods slowly.

“Does it feel better to have it off your chest?” he asks quietly.

Ophelia smiles softly at him. “I think so, yes.”

He looks down at the table and she sees his lips tilt up in an expression so sweet and satisfied that she feels a visceral need to protect him.

“What about you?” she asks, hoping to find what made this kind boy removed and bitter. “Do you have anything you want to talk about?”

His eyes grow distant, and his smile turns sharp. “Maybe next time,” he says.