The morning came by too quickly.
Elias sat on the edge of his bed. He hadn't slept—again.
Elias exhaled slowly and straightened.
He got up and went into the bathroom to wash his face. The water was cold.
Good. He needed it.
Knock knock.
A knock sounded. Soft. Impatient.
Elias opened the door to find Mina. She was already halfway inside the room, arms folded, gaze sharp and assessing— dressed in a faded wool dress, her pink hair pulled back tightly in a bun.
"You look awful," she said.
"You really know how to greet a good morning, don't you?"
She ignored that.
"The carriages are lining up" she said, her voice a low murmur. "If we don't move now, we'll be stuck in the overflow cart with the first-years. They treat a market trip like a festival. It's exhausting."
He had really forgotten that today was a general shopping day set aside for students. He sighed
"I'm ready." Elias said. He'd already washed his face.
As he pulled on a dark green cloak Mina watched him with a frown she didn't bother hiding.
"You're quiet," she said.
"So are you."
"I'm thinking."
"That makes one of us."
She rolled her eyes, but the tension didn't leave her shoulders.
"Eli," she said after a moment, voice lower now. "You've been… off."
He tied the laces at his collar carefully. Once.
Twice.
"I'm fine."
"That's not what I said."
He met her gaze then. Held it.
Mina looked away first.
"Just—" she sighed. "Try not to get into trouble today. I don't want to spend my afternoon explaining why my kid brother got arrested for breathing wrong."
"Me? I think I'm older than you."
Elias almost smiled.
Almost.
✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
The courtyard was already full when they stepped outside.
Carriages lined the cobblestones in rows, black and polished wood catching the light.
Guards moved between them, voices loud.
Students clustered in groups, whispering together as they instinctively found their peers. Silk and velvet near the front. Wool and linen toward the back.
Elias and Mina went to join the latter.
He kept his head down as they walked toward the back, where the wooden, unadorned carriages waited.
"Look at them," Mina whispered, nodding toward the head of the line. "They look like they're going to a coronation, not a market."
The Royal Carriage- a structure of red gold and silver, sat at the very front of the line.
Behind it was an open-topped carriage, sleek and aggressive. Zayne was already there, leaning back with a glass of something dark in his hand.
Elias kept his head down. He tried to blend into the shadows of the students.
He almost made it to their carriage.
"Thornbloom."
The name cracked through the courtyard.
Elias stopped.
The guard who'd called him stepped forward, armor polished to a mirror shine. Not one of the academy's. This one moved like he answered to a higher authority.
"The Second Prince has requested your presence."
The courtyard went silent. Every head turned. The whispers started immediately—sounds of jealousy and confusion.
'A gardener? Heard he ranked low in the last assessment.'
'Why him?'
"But… I'm assigned to the third carriage."
The guard's expression didn't change.
"You've been reassigned."
That was it.
No threat.
No explanation.
Just a fact delivered like a sentence already decided.
Elias nodded once.
Mina's hand tightened on Elias's arm. "Eli..."
"It's fine," Elias said, though his heart was hammering against his ribs.
He didn't have a choice. He'd somehow expected this. To refuse Zayne in public was to invite more attention and he wouldn't survive that.
They were led to the open carriage.
Zayne's smile was wide, his red eyes flashing with amusement. His gaze was focused on Elias.
"Good morning," he said pleasantly. "I was hoping you'd join us."
"Sit. My brother is in the lead car being miserable. Someone has to keep me entertained."
Mina hesitated.
Zayne glanced at her then, as if noticing her for the first time.
"And you must be the friend" he said already looking away. "Come along. I don't mind."
It wasn't permission.
It was dismissal wrapped in charm.
Mina climbed in after Elias, jaw tight.
The carriage lurched forward.
Elias sat still.
Zayne studied him openly now.
"You wear green well," Zayne said. "It suits you."
"Thank you."
"Do you enjoy the city?"
"I don't know it well."
"That will change."
The carriage rolled through the gates, past the guards, past the academy walls.
Mina leaned close enough that only Elias could hear her.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"That's worse."
Silence.
She leaned in again.
"Is… is he by any chance… your man? You know the one who has been giving you sleepless nights?" Mina's whisper was low but from the amused look on Zayne's face he definitely heard.
Elias gave her a look and she pressed her lips together.
The rest of the journey passed on silence.
The town of Eldoria unfolded around them.
Stone buildings rose close on either side of the street, balconies draped in fabrics, windows thrown open to let in air thick with spice and smoke.
Vendors called out over one another, voices weaving together.
The marketplace was full of silk canopies and the smell of roasting meat and expensive oils.
Zayne didn't go to the common stalls.
He guided the carriage deeper, where the streets narrowed and the shops grew quieter.
Guarded doors.
Frosted windows.
Signs etched in gold instead of painted by hand.
They stopped in front of a jeweler's guildhouse.
Inside, the air smelled like polish and incense.
The proprietor bowed so low Elias wondered how often the man bowed a day.
Zayne gestured vaguely.
Mina stayed two paces behind Elias. She was watching Zayne's back like she expected a knife to sprout from it.
"Something appropriate," he said. "For my guest."
Trays appeared. Gold. Silver. Stones cut to catch the light just right.
Elias stood very still.
"I don't need—"
Zayne picked up a brooch without looking at him.
Silver vine. Delicate. Leaves tipped with deep blue stone.
"This one," Zayne said.
He didn't wait for Elias to agree. He reached out and pinned it to Elias's green tunic. Cold metal pressed against Elias's chest as the pin slid through fabric.
Zayne's fingers lingered.
"A gift," Zayne whispered, his red eyes inches from Elias's. "So you don't forget who can actually give you what you want."
Mina didn't speak.
Elias didn't react.
Across the street, someone shifted.
Elias looked towards the glass floor to ceiling window. He'd long felt the gaze on him.
Cassian stood in the shadow of an archway, coat dark, expression unreadable. He was wearing his gloves, hand slightly clenched at his sides.
His gaze locked onto the brooch.
The air around him felt wrong.
Zayne followed Elias's line of sight and laughed softly.
He waved a casual, mocking hand.
Cassian didn't wave back.
He didn't even look at Zayne. His gaze locked on Elias—raw, suffocating jealousy that sent a chill down Elias's spine.
Cassian turned and walked away, his cape snapping behind him.
"Xavier," Cassian said.
The guard appeared instantly.
"Take me to the shop with the best clothes here." Cassian continued.
Though they couldn't hear what Cassian said from here, Zayne smiled wider.
"He's so predictable. It's almost boring."
Mina exhaled shakily.
Elias didn't move.
The brooch felt heavier than it should have.
As they stepped back into the street, Mina finally spoke.
"That wasn't normal," she said.
"No."
"Eli—"
"I know."
She stopped walking and grabbed his arm.
"Eli," she hissed. "That brooch costs more than my family's house. What are you doing? Why is Cassian looking at you like he wants to burn the city down?"
Elias looked like he wanted to say something then decided against it.
"You're standing between them. That's not a place people survive."
Elias looked down at the silver vine pinned to his chest.
Then he met her eyes.
"I don't plan to stay there forever."
Mina didn't look convinced.
But she let go.
The city moved on around them as the sun climbed higher.
Elias followed Zayne toward the next shop.
In his pocket, the Star-Lily warmed.
Not burning.
Not yet.