Page 132 of The Fifth Heir

Someone cleared his throat behind us.

Leander.

Of course.

I ended the kiss but did not step away from Rafe.

His forehead rested against mine.

“You kissed me,” he said.

The familiar teasing had returned to his voice, but it was softer now.

“You asked me to do it again.”

“I was demonstrating respect for your autonomy.”

I laughed.

Crystal flowers opened across the entire garden.

Chapter 18

Leander

Rafe violated nine of the twelve flight restrictions.

He disputed four.

The remaining five were apparently justified because Talia laughed.

Laughter was not an approved safety measure. Nor should the memory of it have made the violations harder to condemn. I pressed the pen more firmly into the paper and added the unauthorized ascent.

I completed the incident report in the Fifth Wing study while the two of them remained in the garden. The academy flight master required documentation whenever an unshifted passenger was carried without an instructor. Rafe claimed that heir status exempted him. The flight master disagreed.

I found the disagreement reassuring.

The law still functioned in some parts of Crown Wing Academy.

Sebastian sat at the desk across from mine, studying a copy of the First Trial inscription. Torren had taken the borrowed harness back to the training grounds. Neither commented when I listed Rafe’s unauthorized second circuit around the tower.

“You missed the ascent beyond the approved height,” Sebastian said.

I added it.

Ten violations.

“You were measuring?” I asked.

“I estimated based on the tower windows.”

“That is not an admissible measurement.”

“It was accurate.”

“Those are separate considerations.”

The study door opened.