(Xyrion POV)

  The climb back was quieter than the ascent. The wind had settled, leaving only the sound of boots on stone and the low creak of leather straps shifting with each step. Kayden walked a pace ahead, restless even now, scanning paths that didn’t need watching.

  That was usually when he talked.

  “They’re still moving?” Kayden asked.

  “Yes,” Xyrion said. “Southern border. Three months back.”

  He let a beat pass. “They’re hard to follow. Whoever’s with them knows how to vanish.”

  “My family always did,” Kayden said.

  Xyrion reached out and squeezed his shoulder once. Brief. “We’ll get there.”

  “Good.”

  They walked on, the path leveling as the Academy’s outer grounds came into view. Voices drifted up from below—students crossing between rings, laughter cutting sharp in the open air.

  “The eastern approach was sloppy,” Xyrion said.

  Kayden grimaced. “We lost spacing.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “You rushed the slope.”

  “It looked clear.”

  “It always does.”

  Kayden huffed. “I’ll drill it.”

  “Do. And tighten your back line. You’re carrying trust where you shouldn’t.”

  Kayden nodded, already adjusting the plan. “Next run, I’ll rotate positions.”

  “Good.”

  They passed the first marker stone—the one with the cracked edge Kayden always kicked at without thinking.

  “Your blade work’s better,” Kayden said after a moment. “Still dropping your right shoulder.”

  “I know.”

  “Training room at first light.”

  “Of course.”

  “You joining?”

  “I’ll be writing my report.”

  Kayden snorted. “You know sleep isn’t optional.”

  “I get enough,” Xyrion said. “Thanks for worrying.”

  Kayden laughed under his breath. “You’re acting like a professor who forgot there is a world beyond his desk.”

  They reached the inner walk, where the paths split and traffic thickened. Kayden was already angling left, pace quickening.

  “Your Miss Pillar should be finished with exams by now,” Xyrion said lightly.

  Kayden shot him a look. “That’s not why I’m walking faster.”

  “Of course not.”

  Kayden broke into an easy jog, weaving through students like he’d memorized the flow without noticing he’d done it.

  Xyrion turned the other way.

  Since the start of term, Kayden had been off.

  Not careless. Not distracted. Just… pulled. Like a hunting dog that had caught a scent and refused to acknowledge it.

  He kept ending up where she was. Detours. Convenient errands. Sudden interest in places he normally ignored.

  And for what?

  Poor dye clinging to her hair. Clothes perpetually out of order. Vanishing to nap in corners or under trees like rooms were an optional concept.

  Xyrion dismissed the thought and kept walking.

  There were missives waiting. The knight he’d sent north should have written by now. His uncles had been too quiet, and that never meant nothing.

  A quick shower. Then the caff-caff potion.

  His body protested, exhaustion threading through muscle and bone.

  Rest was for the dead.

  Xyrion snorted softly and kept moving.