The dorm door shut with a soft click behind them.
Rian stood there for a moment, back pressed against the cool wood, head bowed. The silence felt heavy after the chaos of the day—the attack, the headmaster’s scolding, the endless swirl of pain and shame pressing against her chest like a second skin.
Kael moved past her without a word and dropped his bag on his bed. He didn’t sit. Didn’t take off his jacket. He just turned and looked at her.
“You’re limping again.”
Rian inhaled slowly, trying not to let it catch in her throat. “It’s nothing.”
“That’s your second time saying that,” he muttered, stepping closer. “And it’s still not true.”
She shook her head and tried to move to her bed, but Kael intercepted her before she could collapse onto the mattress.
“Sit,” he said, nodding toward
