Six

Roselle’s footsteps blended into the cacophony of footsteps as she navigated the halls of the academy building. Though she had walked them a hundred times before, they felt different today.

Dim light still streamed through the tinted windows, the ceiling still rose high above her head. The faces of fellow students were all familiar, each of their names whispering in her mind as they passed. A couple of extra inches did make a difference in how they appeared though.

Her thoughts hadn’t left the kitchen table she had sat at only a few hours ago, before Jacob had locked himself in his room, refusing to come out for anyone. Amber had shrugged her shoulders before walking away from her brother, but Roselle was ready to bust down the door and demand answers. He couldn’t just break down, then proceed to not answer any questions about what was going on or how they could help him.

She had lost her patience. If Jacob wasn’t going to give her answers, then she was going to get them on her own.

She was almost surprised to find that other academy students she passed lowered their gazes, avoiding her vivid golden eyes. She could feel their unease, allowing her pleasingly bright irises to flicker as she followed the unfamiliar route.

She had already sat through one lesson, choosing to keep her mouth shut. Of course, they had been covering the myth of Minetia, the day dedicated to dissecting the tale of the hero who had escaped the city just in time for it to be swallowed by the wrathful ground. She had to pinch herself to stay awake. Literature was boring, no matter its origin.

Now, she was on her way to Caldesarian Studies, which was both a blessing and a curse. She kind of knew what she was doing in there, unfortunately, she was nowhere near where she needed to be to pull this off right.

No one suspected anything, but that could have been because she hadn’t said a word since she stepped foot through the front door. Luckily for her, that wasn’t necessarily out of character in this case.

She did have to admit that attending lessons was much more fun like this.

She slipped through the doorway, sliding into a seat at the back of the room, silently meeting Luana’s violet eyes from her position at the head of the table. She held the stare, mimicking the silent greeting she had seen countless times.

“Early today?” The older woman raised an eyebrow. The plain room had nothing besides the long table and the bookshelf in the corner, empty beside her and Luana. The windowless walls had only a few maps and images on them.

Roselle cracked an embarrassed smile, running her hand back through the silky dark strands. “I guess I was just restless,” she shrugged, playing off the comment.

Luana hummed but quickly turned her attention to Elaine’s arrival. Giving the pale girl a warm smile that was completely ignored.

Roselle’s skin prickled as Elaine seated herself beside her, immediately shooting her a puzzled, but nonjudgemental glance. Strange. She hadn’t considered the girl capable of expressing any sort of concern.

She waited for a comment about the reddened appearance of her eyes that she had kept from earlier. Underneath the table, her fingers curled, hoping that the girl would spill what she knew. This was even better than what she had planned.

“Are you okay?” The low question caught her off guard, and Roselle turned to blink at Elaine. She didn’t even look at her, but her jaw flexed, her fingers tracing the black ring on her finger. “I thought you were staying home today.”

At least her tone was still as harsh as ever. Even if Elaine was kind of her friend, it didn’t stop her from wondering for a moment whether someone had taken her place as soon as a kind word was uttered from her lips. Maybe she shouldn’t remove that possibility quite yet.

“I’m fine,” she murmured, eyes fluttering at how low her voice sounded, softly clearing her throat. That was peculiar.

Elaine rolled her eyes. Yep, that was her. “Right,” she shot Roselle a doubtful glare. “You’re an idiot.”

Definitely her.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Roselle swallowed, her voice catching. Her heart was beating harder in her chest. It was one thing to sit quietly, but holding this conversation was something else entirely. It was her shot though, and she wasn’t about to let it slip by.

That question was a mistake. Elaine’s eyes flashed with irritation, her lips curling in a sneer. On the other end of the room, a couple other students had arrived but kept their distance from them as they sat on the opposite end of the table. Roselle didn’t blame them. “Idiot,” Elaine repeated, letting her fingers brush back along the silver metal of her daeis.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t going as well as she planned. She ran her hand back through her hair once again, convincing herself it was for the show, rather than how nice it felt. She could see why Jacob did this so often. She sighed; she may need to do more fishing than she originally intended.

“Okay,” she murmured just loud enough for Elaine to hear. “Maybe I’m not fine.”

Elaine didn’t say anything. She only nodded, though Roselle could see some of the tension release in her shoulders. “How bad?”

“What?” Roselle furrowed her brow, her foot beginning to bounce quietly against the leg of her chair.

Elaine huffed, and Roselle shivered the air around them suddenly chilled. Her gaze slipped sideways again, and once again, Roselle was surprised to find concern behind the usually cold and closed gaze. Of all the people to act differently between her and him, she hadn’t expected this. While she had known to some capacity that Elaine felt more than she let on, it was different to actually see it.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Roselle muttered after a moment, lowering her gaze to rest on her larger, tan hands. At least that much was true. She just hoped that Elaine didn’t bring up this interaction the next time she actually saw Jacob.

Who was she kidding? He was going to find out about this charade, but before he did, she would find out what he was trying to hide.

Elaine didn’t respond, her white eyebrow twitching as she flicked her attention up to follow Luana’s small figure as she settled back into her seat. How bad? The question arose plenty more in Roselle’s mind. Their teacher was talking now, the vaguely familiar vowel elongation and smooth consonants of Caldesarian registering, but she wasn’t paying any attention.

Elaine clearly knew something that Roselle didn’t; she supposed that was only natural though. She and Jacob were friends, but would she even qualify as a close friend? Of course his sister would be more aware of his struggles. The reasoning didn’t stop the sour turning of her stomach.

How bad? How bad what? Had someone hurt him? He hadn’t looked injured, but that didn’t mean anything if-

She straightened abruptly, and Elaine shot her a sideways glance, suspicion dancing in her white irises. Roselle didn’t care though; she knew who she needed to talk to. There was only one person who Jacob would turn to if he was hurt, physically or otherwise.

“Jesan,” Luana’s voice cut through Roselle’s musing. “Are you okay?”

Roselle could thank her limited knowledge of the Caldesarian language to determine what she has asked. She blinked up at her teacher, mumbling out a broken apology that even she cringed at for its horrifying pronunciation. “I can’t do this today,” she swallowed, running an anxious hand back through dark locks. “Please excuse me.”

She stood, pushing her chair back as she did so. She desperately tried to ignore how Elaine’s eyes narrowed at the display, rushing out of the room and into the empty hallway.

As soon as she was far enough away to be sure no one had followed her out, she let herself fall back against the wall, her form shrinking, long red curls bouncing back into place. Masquerading as Jacob hadn’t gotten her the answers she had hoped, but it did give her the next component in her investigation.

Ryan.