The bell above the door jingled.
All eyes turned towards the entrance. Lucien had just walked in, his platinum hair slicked back, his uniform perfectly tailored, with the look of someone who knows exactly where he's going and doesn't expect anyone to disturb him.
He scanned the café, spotted the table, and walked straight over without hesitation.
Azriel froze. Her cup was still clasped between her hands,her mouth half-open on words she hadn't yet spoken. She closed it slowly, as if deciding, in that split second, that the question she was about to ask could wait.
Kaen saw the gesture. He said nothing.
Lucien stopped right in front of the table and bowed slightly to Seraphina—not enough to be a curtsy, but enough to keep up appearances.
"Good morning, dear sister. I hope your morning is going well," he said with a sly smile, noting Seraphina's slightly disheveled look.
"Lucien," replied Seraphina in a perfectly neutral tone.
It was the tone she reserved for people she couldn't silence.
Lucien turned to Solvane with a slightly warmer smile and this time gave a proper bow.
"Princess Solvane. It's always a pleasure. You look radiant, as always."
"Lucien, it's always a pleasure too," replied Solvane, returning his smile.
Solvane smiled at everyone. It was one of the things that made Kaen anxious about her: one day, she'd run into the wrong person, and they'd be in trouble. Or perhaps that wrong person was already there, just biding their time.
Azriel didn't look up. She didn't move. She kept staring at her cup as if Lucien didn't exist—and probably because, to her, he didn't really exist. Lucien waited two seconds. Then three. Then he nodded, as if acknowledging something, and moved on to the next person.
"And you, Celestain," he said, turning to Kaen. "Haven't you slept for days, or what?"
Kaen set down his coffee cup and looked Lucien in the eye. A few seconds passed. Then he turned his attention back to his cup.
"What on earth has that got to do with you?"
"What a warm welcome," he said with a sigh.
Lucien pulled out the last free chair, sat down, and signalled to the waitress with two fingers.
The waitress arrived, curtsied, and waited.
He glanced at what his sister was drinking.
"Do you see what that lady is drinking? Give me exactly the same," Lucien asked the waitress, discreetly pointing at Séraphina.
"You know," he said at last, "that's interesting."
"What is?" asked Solvane.
"The four of you. Together. At seven in the morning. In a café."
He left the sentence hanging, waiting for someone to finish it.
Of course, no one did.
'Of all the people in the world, it had to be him.'
Kaen took another sip of coffee. No one replied because there was simply nothing to explain. Everything that had happened to them since that morning was pure chance. And yet, when Lucien asked the question, they had all felt as though they'd done something wrong.
Kaen spoke first, perhaps because he didn't care, or perhaps just because he felt like it.
"We were having a coffee," said Kaen.
"All together," asked Lucien.
"All together," replied Kaen a second time, raising his arms.
Lucien stared at him. Then he smiled and let it drop. For now.
"Of course," he said. "That's exactly what I thought."
The waitress returned, set the tea down in front of Lucien, curtsied, and then left.
Lucien took a sip of his tea and nodded as if he was enjoying it, then he smiled.
"By the way. The written exam is coming up. Are you all ready?" he said, looking in turn at Azriel, Kaen, and Solvane. Then his gaze lingered for a few moments on Seraphina. "Anyway, you've got nothing to do with the first-years anymore, so why are you hanging around with kids like us?"
Séraphina didn't reply. She took a sip of her tea, slowly, as if she had her whole life ahead of her.
Kaen watched the scene without flinching.
'What an idiot.'
Lucien's smile widened slightly. He wasn't used to being ignored.
"You know it's rude to ignore someone who's speaking to you—"
Lucien jumped.
He'd tried to be discreet. He hadn't managed it. Kaen clearly heard the dull thud of Seraphina's heel against her brother's ankle, under the table.
"Charming," Lucien muttered through clenched teeth.
Seraphina flashed a small smile and addressed her brother:
"I've always known my brother found me charming. "
Lucien discreetly massaged his ankle under the table, then sat up straight as if nothing had happened. He took a sip of his tea, set the cup down, and turned his head towards Kaen.
"On a more serious note," he said. "The written exam—do you feel ready?"
The question seemed innocent. It wasn't.
'Here we go again, this bloke's fishing for something.'
Kaen set his cup down on the table. The question wasn't complicated in itself. He'd been revising for whole days and sometimes through the night for a month, thinking he might never wake up. He'd accumulated all sorts of knowledge about this world over the course of a long month, so yes, you could say he was in the know.
"It should be fine," he said simply.
Lucien nodded, his expression as relaxed as ever. But Kaen saw through him. Everything Lucien noted made sense, even if he didn't show it.
'That snake.'
"And you?" asked Kaen in turn.
"Me too."
Short. To the point. No more information than he'd been given.
A gasp of surprise interrupted them. It was Solvane.
"I'm done for. I've hardly studied anything."
"You'll pass," said Kaen without looking at her.
"You don't even know what's in the exam."
Kaen paused for a moment and looked at Solvane.
"I may not know anything about the exam, but you'll manage. "
Solvane sighed, then gave him a small smile before returning to her macaron. Lucien watched the exchange in silence. Something felt off, but he couldn't pin it down.
Kaen took another sip of coffee and asked his question as casually as possible.
"And the third test—do you know anything about it?"
He'd been careful with his tone. Curious, but not too much so.
Lucien looked at him, his eyes lingering on him longer than they should have.
"Why do you ask?"
"Curiosity."
Lucien frowned. He sipped his tea, taking his time, as if he didn't have an exam in a few hours.
"I don't know any more than you do," Lucien finally said. "Nobody knows. It's tradition; the third test is never announced. You find out on the day it takes place."
"And when's that?"
"Soon."
It wasn't an answer, but it was all Kaen was going to get out of him.
'Soon.'
That word was far too vague to plan anything. But it gave him a reprieve.
Azriel put down her cup for the first time since Lucien had arrived. She managed to draw everyone's attention to herself, even Lucien's, who turned his gaze towards her.
She paid him no mind. She treated him as if he were invisible.
"We should go," she said in a calm voice. "The written exam starts in an hour."
Her first sentence since he'd arrived, and she was addressing Kaen, not the table.
Lucien smiled slightly.
"What perfect timing."
Kaen watched as Seraphina took a final sip of her tea and stood up without a word. Solvane finished her macaron with elegant speed. Azriel waited, motionless, her red gaze still fixed on Kaen.
Lucien remained seated, his tea still half-full.
"Are you leaving me on my own?" he asked with feigned disappointment.
"You manage just fine without us," replied Séraphina.
"That's exactly the problem."
No one paid any attention to what Lucien was saying. Kaen stood up and left a few coins for what he and Séraphina had ordered. Solvane and Azriel had apparently already paid in advance.
Just as he walked past Lucien's chair, he heard him say, in a low voice, almost to himself:
"Good luck with the exams, Celestain. "
Kaen didn't reply.
Outside, the air seemed lighter; at first, Kaen thought it was because Lucien had left, but he noticed that the cobblestones, the surrounding flora, and fauna were all wet.
'I'm imagining things, is it because of all this pressure?' Kaen continued, staring at the sky. 'Maybe I should try taking a break and becoming a bit of a fool like Solvane; everything would be simpler.'
He sighed.
'As if.'
"Tell me, did you notice the rain?" Kaen asked the group.
Azriel remained silent, merely nodding.
"What, you hadn't noticed? It's not exactly something you can miss," said Solvane, surprised.
Kaen didn't really know how to reply. He turned his head towards Seraphina.
"What about you?"
"Yes," she replied simply.
'So I was the only one?'
"Tell me, Séraphina. Can I ask you a question?"
Séraphina looked at him, waiting for his question.
"Do you know what the final exam is made of?"