The village was burning again.
I floated up in the center of it all, watching flames devour thatched roofs and wooden beams. Thick smoke curled into the night sky, choking everything around it. I could hear the screams. My small hands glowed with dark fire.
Not again. Please, not again
I watched myself raise those small hands higher. The flames obeyed. A woman ran past, clutching her baby to her chest. The dark fire reached for them.
No. Stop. I didn't mean to...
The scenery shifted. This time it went further than usual.
The village spread below me, a map of ruin and ash. My younger self stood at the center, face blank, eyes empty and glowing red.
Then a light appeared out of nowhere. It was brilliant, blinding and warm. A figure materialized in the smoke-filled air, radiant and impossible to look at directly. The being had no clear features, just pure luminescence shaped vaguely human. It moved toward me, arms outstretched.
I tried to pull away, but the shining figure was faster. It wrapped me in an embrace, and the heat of the flames vanished. The screaming stopped. Everything went quiet and soft and...
I woke up.
Morning light filtered through my dorm curtains, pale and gentle. I lay still, heart hammering, waiting for my breathing to even out. My sheets were tangled around my legs. Sweat cooled on my forehead.
Just a dream. Same as always. Except for the shining thing. That was new.
I didn't want to think about what it meant.
The clock on my nightstand read 8:27 AM. Weekend. No classes. Which meant Pearl and Des would be awake soon, plotting whatever social torture they had planned for today. Probably brunch at a café in town, or a trip to the market, or, gods forbid, another attempt to drag me to one of those weekend gatherings where people stood around pretending to enjoy small talk.
Nope. Not happening.
I slipped out of bed, showered, changed into comfortable clothes, grabbed my bag, and left before either of my friends could knock on my door.
---
The library had seven floors, three wings, and approximately one million places to hide if you knew where to look.
I knew where to look.
The spot I'd claimed as my own was on the fourth floor, tucked behind a shelf of outdated Celestial Navigation texts that nobody had touched in decades. There was a window seat there, cushioned and private, with a view of the eastern gardens. It was stunning and quiet.
I settled in with my Advanced Magical Theory textbook and a notebook. The library smelled the way it always did; old paper, leather bindings, and whatever enchantment they used to keep the temperature perfect year-round.
I stretched my shoulder experimentally, rolling it in a slow circle. No pain. There hadn't been pain for days now, actually. My fight with Kai had left some nasty bruises and a few cuts, but everything had healed completely.
Peace. Finally.
"Oh. Hey."
My heart sank to my toes
I looked up. Malachi stood at the end of the aisle, holding a stack of books against his chest. His hair was messier than usual, and he wore a simple gray shirt instead of his usual formal academy wear. He looked... surprised. And maybe a little uncomfortable.
Great. Perfect. Exactly what I needed today.
"Hey," I said, because ignoring him would be too obvious.
Malachi hesitated, then gestured vaguely at the window seat. "I didn't know anyone else knew about this spot."
"Well. I do."
He shifted his weight, glancing back toward the main library floor. "I was just trying to escape for a bit. People keep..." He stopped, shook his head. "Never mind. I can find somewhere else."
"It's fine," I heard myself say. Why did I say that? Why?
Malachi's expression brightened slightly. "You sure?"
"Yeah."
He sat down on the opposite end of the window seat, leaving a careful distance between us. For a few minutes, neither of us spoke. I pretended to read my textbook. Malachi opened one of his books, something about Defensive Wards, and did the same.
The silence stretched, and it was really awkward.
Then Malachi cleared his throat. "So. Advanced Magical Theory?"
"Mhm."
"Professor Winters?"
"Yeah."
"How's that going?"
"Fine."
Please stop talking.
But he didn't. "I heard his midterms are brutal."
"Yeah"
Malachi went quiet. I could feel him watching me, but I kept my eyes on my textbook, reading the same sentence over and over without absorbing a single word.
Another five minutes passed.
"Amara."
His voice was different now. It sounded more serious. I looked up despite myself.
Malachi had set his book aside. He was leaning forward slightly, hands clasped, expression somewhere between frustrated and hurt. "Did I do something wrong?"
"What?"
"To you. Did I do something to upset you?"
I blinked. "No?"
"Then why do you hate me?"
"I don't—" I stopped. Where is this coming from?
"You do," Malachi said quietly. "Or at least, you act that way. One-word answers, avoiding eye contact, leaving whenever I show up. I thought maybe you were just shy at first, but..." He ran a hand through his hair. "That night before the Intelligence exam. In the courtyard. You were talking to me. Actually talking. You were smiling and..." He gestured helplessly. "Suddenly, you went back to this. One word. Nothing. And I don't understand what I did wrong."
My heart started racing weird as I remembered that night.
"You didn't do anything wrong," I said finally.
"Then why..."
"Because I need peace and quiet." The words came out sharper than I intended. "If you haven't noticed, that's who I am. I don't do crowds or attention or drama. I just want to exist without everyone watching me."
Malachi frowned. "I'm not asking you to..."
"You're the future king of Astra." I set my book down, meeting his eyes properly for the first time. "Do you understand what that means? A weak commoner hanging out with you? People would notice. They'd talk. They'd make assumptions and spread rumors and suddenly my peaceful life would be over. I already have enough drama dealing with Pearl and Des. I don't need more."
The hurt on Malachi's face deepened. He looked away, but I had already seen the it on his face. "So that's what this is about. My title."
"Yes."
"Not me. Just... what I represent."
"It's the same thing."
"It's not." He turned back to me, and there was something raw in his expression now. "Amara, do you know why I came here? To this spot?"
I shook my head.
"Because I'm tired," Malachi said. "I'm tired of people treating me differently because of who my parents are. I'm tired of conversations that aren't real because everyone's too busy trying to impress me or use me for connections. I'm tired of being watched and analyzed and never getting to just... be normal." He leaned back against the window. "And then there's you. You don't care about any of that. You don't want anything from me. You're just... yourself. Do you know how refreshing that is?"
I didn't know what to say. This is not how I expected this conversation to go.
"I'd rather be your friend than have a hundred people pretend to care about me," Malachi continued. "You're different. You're real. And yeah, maybe you only give me one-word answers most of the time, but at least they're honest. But I'm starting to feel like you hate me." He smiled slightly, sadly. "I'm not asking you to change your whole life. I just... I thought maybe we could be friends. Actual friends. Maybe the kind who hide in library corners and complain about school together."
Something in me broke. I'd spent so long protecting myself, building walls, keeping people at a distance. But Malachi wasn't trying to tear those walls down. He was just asking to sit beside them.
"I don't hate you," I said quietly.
"No?"
"No. I just..." I struggled for words. "I'm not good at this. People. Talking."
"You were that night in the courtyard."
"That was different. I wasn't thinking."
"Maybe that's the problem," Malachi said gently. "You think too much."
I picked at the edge of my notebook and tried to steer the conversation. "Pearl and Des are exhausting. They mean well, but they're always trying to drag me places and make me socialize and..." I sighed. "I love them. But they're a lot."
"I can imagine." Malachi's smile was warmer now. "For what it's worth, I'm not trying to drag you anywhere. Let's say... I just want a friend to study in peace with sometimes, one who won't spend the whole time trying to please my every whim. I promise not to cause unwanted attention in your life."
"That's fair."
"So... truce?"
I considered. Malachi was watching me hopefully, and I realized he genuinely meant it. He didn't want to complicate my life. He just wanted a friend.
Maybe one friend who isn't constantly dramatic wouldn't be the worst thing.
"Truce," I agreed.
Malachi's whole face brightened. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. But I'm still going to give you one-word answers sometimes."
"I can live with that."
We talked after that. Not constantly (there were still long stretches of comfortable silence) but more than I'd talked to anyone other than Des and Pearl in weeks.
The dinner bell rang eventually, echoing through the library.
Malachi started packing his books. "Same time next weekend?"
I surprised myself by nodding. "Yeah. Same time."
"Cool." He paused at the end of the aisle. "Thanks. For giving me a chance."
"Thanks for not being weird about it."
He grinned. "I'll try to keep the weirdness to a minimum."
After he left, I sat in the window seat for a few more minutes, watching the gardens darken as evening settled in. My textbook lay forgotten in my lap.
Well. That was unexpected.
Maybe having one more friend wouldn't destroy my peaceful life after all.