[Unedited! Don't buy!]
I met her gaze evenly. "Fairness has never governed this world."
Frustration flashed across her face, but beneath it lingered something else.
Fear.
Not of me.
Of herself.
I noticed the way her fingers trembled slightly near the edge of the table.
The way she kept glancing unconsciously toward the water pitcher nearby.
She was beginning to sense it now.
The pull.
I set the books aside before speaking again, my voice quieter this time.
"You are not alone in this, Iris."
Her expression softened just slightly.
And that was precisely the problem.
Because the more she looked at me like that—
The more dangerous this became for us both.
Night settled heavily over the academy.
The storm clouds had not returned, yet the sky remained dark, choked beneath a veil of silver mist that drifted across the towers and courtyards like wandering spirits. Lanterns flickered weakly along the stone paths, their glow swallowed by the endless quiet.
