Chapter 2 THE HEALER'S QUADRANT

Aria’s POV

“Kael brought her in, why didn’t he finish it.” That was the only thing I heard when my eyes opened.

My vision was blurry at first, like someone smeared fog over the world, but I could still tell I wasn’t in the cart anymore. I wasn’t on the road. I wasn’t even anywhere familiar.

I know this smell but my head is too fuzzy to make it out. The giant small of herbs and warm oil filled the air.

Someone’s shadow moved near my bed, but I couldn’t lift my head yet. Everything felt extremely heavy and I couldn't move well too.

“What… where am I?” I whispered. The ceiling didn’t belong to Voltspire Ridge. This wasn’t the castle. It wasn’t my old room. “Malek… did he take me?” My voice cracked. It didn’t make sense. If Kael wanted to kill me, he had every chance. I was literally kneeling at his feet. So why am I alive?

“Good, you’re awake.”

A calm female voice drifted toward me. When she stepped closer, I saw her clearly. She wore soft grey robes, her hair pulled back with silver pins shaped like tiny leaves. Her hands glowed faintly as she held a bowl of warm liquid.

“You’re safe,” she said, placing the bowl on a nearby table. “You’re in the Healers Chamber. Inside Obsidian Spire Academy.”

My heart almost jumped out of my chest. “Academy?” I pushed myself up slowly, but she placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Easy. You fainted. Your body went into shock.”

Shock. No wonder it felt like someone dropped me from a cliff and then wrapped me in blankets.

“So…” I swallowed hard. “Kael didn’t kill me.”

She blinked. “Kill you? He carried you here.”

“Carried?” The word felt unreal in my mouth. “Kael carried me?”

“Yes,” she said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “He brought you straight to us, made sure you were breathing, and left. Quite forcefully, I must add.”

I stared at her. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Nothing about that boy makes sense,” she muttered under her breath but still smiling. “I am Healer Neris. You may call me Neris.”

I nodded slowly. “Aria.”

“I know.” She gave a small smile that reached her eyes. “News travels fast here. Especially when someone arrives unconscious in the arms of the most powerful lightning mage in all four kingdoms.”

Heat crawled up my neck. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“I didn’t say it was.” Neris adjusted my pillow. “Now tell me—what exactly happened before you blacked out?”

I looked at my hands that were getting all sweaty just by remembering what had happened. I remembered flashes. The shouting. The guards falling. The invisible thing killing them. Ciora dragging me under a shield. And then Kael standing in front of me, watching me like he knew me. Like I was the one thing he came for.

“He said he’d kill me,” I whispered. “Right before everything went dark.”

Neris paused at that, her mouth almost hung open. Her hands still. “He said that?”

I nodded.

She exhaled slowly. “Strange. Very strange.”

I pulled my knees up a little. “What time is it? How long have I been here?”

“Nearly a day. Students have already arrived and settled. You…” She gave me a soft look. “You missed orientation.”

A day. I lost a whole day.

Great. The magicless girl enters the academy already behind everyone else. Perfect.

My stomach twisted. “Where are the others? The students I came with? Ciora—”

“Ciora is fine,” Neris said. “A little shaken, but fine. The others too.” She gave me a long look. “No one else passed out except you.”

I bit my lip. Of course. Of course it had to be me.

“Aria,” Neris said, sitting on the edge of the bed, “may I ask you something?”

“Okay.”

“What are you truly afraid of right now?”

Her voice was soft, but the question hit something raw inside me. I looked away. The window was easier to face than her eyes.

“Everything,” I whispered. “I’m afraid of everything. I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t know who sent the acceptance. I don’t know why Kael…” I stopped myself. My voice shook too much.

Neris waited. She didn’t rush me.

“I’m afraid,” I continued, “that this place will eat me alive. And I’m afraid I won’t even survive long enough to understand why I’m here in the first place.”

“You have better things to worry about, Aria.” Neris said, placing a hand on my arm.

“What's that?” I asked her, dreading her answer already.

“Queen Seraphin.” She replied shortly. “But, you should be free. You're not alone in this.”

I wanted to believe her. I really did.

Before I could say anything else, footsteps echoed from outside the chamber. Not in a rush, but not gentle either. The air around us shifted a little, like a crackle before a storm.

Neris looked toward the door. “Stay calm,” she whispered.

The curtain parted and Kael walked in.

He didn’t look at Neris. His eyes came straight to me like he’d been searching for only one person in the entire room. My chest tightened, and I hated that it did.

His presence filled the space too easily. Tall, dark hair falling a little over his forehead, storm-grey eyes that looked like they could peel a person open. His clothes were simple academy black, but they fit him too well.

He stopped at the foot of my bed. His voice came out low. “You’re awake.”

It wasn’t a question.

I swallowed. “Why… Why did you bring me here?”

His jaw tightened. “Because killing you in the middle of the road would have been inconvenient.”

Neris gasped. “Kael—”

But he didn’t look away from me. His eyes stayed locked on mine.

My breath hitched. “Are you always like this?”

“Like what?”

“Cruel.”

Something flickered in his expression—something quick, something I couldn’t catch. Then it was gone.

“I don’t waste time pretending,” he said.

Neris stood. “Kael, if you’re here to threaten her—”

“I’m not here for you, Healer.”

His gaze lowered to me again. “You. Come find me after you’re released.”

My chest clenched. “Why?”

He turned toward the door. “Because I don’t like unfinished things.”

Then he left.

Just like that.

I sat there fro

zen, Neris staring after him like he was a walking headache.

“What does he want with me?” I whispered.

Neris sighed. “I wish I knew.”