Chapter 13 CHAPTER THIRTEEN
AERIS
When Rhea and I made it back to our wing, she said nothing more about my magic.
No questions.
No theories.
No gentle prodding.
She simply changed into her sleep clothes, muttered something about being exhausted, and climbed into bed. Within minutes, her breathing softened into sleep.
I rolled onto my side, heart heavy. I didn’t know what to do with the fear sitting in my chest, or the shame curling hot in my stomach.
So I turned to the one thing that never judged me. I reached for my herb journal.
The worn leather cover fit perfectly into my palm, familiar and grounding. I flipped it open, letting the scent of old parchment and ink wash over me. Page after page greeted me—sketches of herbs, diagrams of root structures, lists of properties in my looping handwriting.
As I flipped another page, something caught my eye.
A sketch of a narrow, spiraling plant. Thin leaves like braided threads. Dark blue veins tracing up the stem.
I remembered writing about it months ago…long before the Academy, long before the trials. My mother had only mentioned it once.
SOMNAFLOWER — used for treating insomnia, magic-induced restlessness, and nocturnal mana surges.
Effects: sedative, stabilizing, dream-inducing.
Warning: potent. Use minimal amounts.
Found in shadowed forest paths where moonlight is partially blocked.
Insomnia.
Magic-induced restlessness.
My eyes widened slowly.
This was for sleep.
A real cure.
A real chance to rest properly without relying on exhausting myself to collapse.
I read the note beneath the sketch:
Common in shaded forest edges. Prefers damp, loamy soil. Grows near moonlit water sources.
Rare. Only grows deep in the Whispering Wilds.
Of course.
Of course the one thing that might actually help me was sitting in the middle of the creepiest forest in Virelia.
My first instinct was to close the notebook and forget I’d ever seen it.
But the exhaustion dragging at my bones…
The sleeplessness that only worsened as my magic grew more chaotic…
The way I lay awake each night wondering if tomorrow would be worse…
I chewed my lip, glancing at Rhea’s sleeping form.
Should I wait for morning?
Should I ask someone for help?
Should I… stay put and be sensible?
No.
I needed this plant.
Decision sealed, I stood, quietly pulling on my boots and cloak.
My satchel hung from my shoulder, the familiar weight of my herb knife, journal, and empty vials tapping lightly inside.
I took one last look at the room.
At Rhea…steady, loyal, sleeping peacefully.
“I’ll be back,” I whispered.
Then I opened the door.
The hallway was silent.
Too silent.
Moonlight traced thin silver lines across the polished floor as I slipped out, easing the door shut behind me. The air felt colder outside our room…fresh, clean, humming faintly with distant magic. My heartbeat thudded in my chest, louder than my footsteps as I moved through the corridor, down the staircase, and toward the courtyard doors.
By the time I stepped into the night air, the world had gone silver.
Mist pooled along the ground like spilled silk. The academy towers loomed behind me, lanterns flickering weakly near the entrance. Beyond them, the treeline of the academy forest waited…dark, watchful, familiar in the way danger becomes familiar when you’ve already survived it once.
I tightened my cloak and slipped through the gate.
The moment the canopy swallowed me, everything sharpened.
Sounds. Smells. Texture.
Trees whispered overhead. The scent of damp earth clung to the air. Moss glowed faintly in the moonlight, patches of green catching the light like scattered gems.
Good. If the moonmoss was bright tonight, that meant the Somnaflower should be blooming too.
I followed a narrow path I’d memorized from my herb compendium…step over root, veer left at the split tree trunk, follow the slope until the air smells faintly sweet. Plants always leave clues, if you have the patience to listen.
After a few minutes, there it was.
A cluster of pale blossoms nestled between two stones…soft lavender petals curling inward like sleeping wings. Somnaflower.
My breath caught.
“A natural sedative,” I murmured, kneeling. “Infuse the petals in warm water, never boiling… enhances sleep, calms the nerves… perfect.”
I plucked two blossoms carefully and slipped them into a small linen pouch.
But when I straightened, something else caught my eye…a glimmer of copper under a fallen log.
I crouched again.
“…is that…?”
I brushed aside the leaves and nearly gasped.
Ashthorn.
A single thorned vine, its edges glowing with faint ember-red light. Rare. Dangerous. Highly reactive with heat and magic.
I grinned despite myself.
“For fever detoxification… and volatile elixir catalysts…” I whispered. “You shouldn’t even be growing this close to the academy.”
The responsible thing to do would have been to leave it alone.
I, of course, was not doing the responsible thing tonight.
Carefully…very carefully I clipped two small thorns and tucked them into a waxed pouch.
Then the breeze shifted.
There.
A scent I didn’t expect.
Sharp. Bitter. Metallic.
My pulse jumped.
“…no… it can’t be…”
I followed it deeper into the forest, pushing aside branches, stepping carefully over tangled roots. The smell grew stronger…like crushed iron mixed with night air.
And then I saw it.
A faint trail of crimson-tipped flowers, almost hidden beneath the grass.
My eyes widened.
“Bloodpetal…? But those only grow near leyline fractures.”
Which meant—
A sudden rustle snapped through the trees behind me.
A heavy branch swayed.
Something…not wind moved deeper inside the woods.
My breath hitched.
Curiosity shoved fear aside.
I drew closer, kneeling to examine one of the flowers. Its petals were warm…too warm. Pulsing faintly with trapped mana.
A disturbance.
A breach.
Something powerful had passed through here recently.
I swallowed.
“That’s… not good.”
Still, I took a single petal, slipping it carefully into my pouch.
Another rustle.
Closer this time.
I froze.
Every hair on my arms lifted.
The forest had gone quiet.
No wind.
No insects.
Nothing.
My heart lurched into my throat.
Now would be the sensible moment to turn back.
But curiosity..reckless, stubborn curiosity dragged me one step deeper.
Just one.
And another.
The shadows ahead shifted.
Someone…or something was there.
I drew a quiet breath, forcing calm into my voice.
“…hello?”
Silence.
But not empty silence…watching silence. The kind that pressed against my skin. The kind that told me I was not alone, no matter how still the trees stood.
I took one cautious step back.
A breath of air moved behind me.
I spun and froze.
A figure stood in the moonlight.
Tall. Unmoving. Cloaked in black that bled into the shadows around him. The faint silver sheen of armor traced the breadth of his shoulders, the line of his arms. But it was the mask…gods, the mask that turned my blood to ice.
Smooth obsidian.
Carved with ancient runic etchings that glimmered in the pale light.
No mouth.
No eyes.
Just a void that looked back at me.
The Grand Sovereign.
Kael Thorne himself.
My lungs forgot how to work.
He didn’t speak. He didn’t move. He simply stood there, letting moonlight spill across him like he was carved from shadow and starfire.
My heartbeat slammed against my ribs.
Why was he here?
At night.
Alone.
Deep in the academy forest where students weren’t even allowed?
His head tilted. just slightly.
Just enough to show he had been watching me for longer than I realized.
Moonlight clung to the etchings of his mask, outlining the sharp curve of his jaw beneath it, the quiet command in the way he held himself. He was both beauty and terror, order and storm contained in a single figure.
My lips parted.
“S–Sovereign,” I breathed, voice embarrassingly small.
Still, he said nothing.
But I felt his gaze…though I couldn’t see his eyes slide downward.
To the pouch at my hip.
To the herbs I’d collected.
To the path behind me, where crimson-tipped Bloodpetals glowed faintly.
Heat rushed to my cheeks.
Oh gods.
Of all the people in Virelia to run into… it had to be him.