Aria tried to leave the room before Kael could notice her slipping toward the exit. After the ability test — after the surge of magic she couldn’t explain, after the way his voice had steadied her while her body trembled — she didn’t trust herself to stand near him without falling apart.
But his voice caught her before she reached the door.
“Aria.”
She froze, fingers tightening around her notebooks. His tone wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t the clipped, stern command she’d braced for. It was low, level, like he was deliberately keeping something caged.
She turned slowly.
Kael stood in the center of the training hall, arms crossed, expression cut from stone. But his eyes… they were different. Searching. Uneasy. Almost shaken.
“Stay back a moment,” he said quietly. “I need to check something.”
