(Luna)
I don't say the name out loud, not to Sage, not to anyone, not even to myself in the quiet of my own room where nobody could hear me test it. Seraphina has been nothing but kind to me since the night I arrived, warm and reassuring even when her hand gripped too tight at the Moonpool, even when she steered Theron's questions away from the Undercroft with practiced ease. Saying the name feels like it would make the whole thing real in a way I'm not ready for yet.
I shove the strand of hair deeper into my bag, underneath books and folded clothes, somewhere I won't have to look at it every time I reach for a pencil. I don't take it out again. I don't let myself.
Instead of sitting with the suspicion, I throw myself into training, harder than I have since I got here, chasing exhaustio
