# Chapter — Roman
The training yard smelled like dust and sweat, the way it always did in the hour before the sun cleared the eastern wall. I found Theo where I knew he'd be — near the sparring rings, close enough to watch Scarlet's group without making it obvious he was watching.
He wasn't subtle. He never had been.
I crossed the yard slow, let my boots crunch the gravel loud enough that he'd hear me coming. Better that than surprising him. Theo didn't handle surprises well, not since everything that happened last spring.
"Roman." He didn't turn around right away. Kept his eyes on the ring, on her, until the last possible second.
"We need to talk."
"So talk."
I glanced past him. Scarlet was mid-drill, blade low, sweat darkening her collar, laughing at something one of the other rec
