The Fae heir

Aria’s POV:

By the time lunch arrives, my head is pounding. I’ve been to three classes. Three different professors watching me like I might explode at any second. Three straight hours of pretending I’m not seconds away from completely losing my mind. At this point, I deserve a medal. Or alcohol. Possibly both.

The cafeteria is massive. Not just massive..castle massive. Dark archways stretch overhead while hundreds of students crowd long tables beneath floating lights that glow silver against the stone walls. The room buzzes with conversation, laughter, magic. Actual magic.

Someone across the room casually lights a candle with their fingers while another levitates trays through the air like it’s normal. Which apparently here, it is.

The second I walk in, the noise shifts slightly. Not enough for most people to notice. Enough for me to. Whispers ripple through the room as eyes follow me again. Apparently becoming the academy’s unstable mystery girl is great for popularity.

I ignore them and head for the food line. If I’m going to survive this place, I need to stop reacting every time someone stares at me. Easier said than done.

I grab the safest thing I can find. A small salad and a bottle of water. Something tells me accidentally setting the cafeteria on fire during lunch would somehow make my reputation worse.

The inside is too crowded. Too loud. Too much. So I push through the side doors leading outside. Instant relief hits me the second cool air brushes against my skin.

The courtyard stretches wide beneath the gray afternoon sky, surrounded by towering black stone walls tangled with dark ivy. Students scatter across the space in groups, separated almost instinctively by rank.

I notice it immediately now that Crystal explained it. The Sovereigns occupy the center. Everyone else orbits around them. Like moons around planets. Weirdly cult-like.

I move toward a smaller circular table near the edge of the courtyard. Empty. Thank God. I sit down quietly and stab at my salad, trying very hard to pretend I’m invisible. It doesn’t work. But at least no one bothers me. For about thirty seconds.

A burst of loud giggling erupts from the table across from mine. I glance up automatically. A group of girls crowd around someone sitting with his back partially turned toward me. Their laughter is dramatic. Performative. The kind people use when they desperately want attention.

One girl tosses her hair over her shoulder. Another touches the guy’s arm while leaning too close. Definitely flirting. Whether he’s encouraging it or just tolerating it, I can’t tell. Yet…

I take another bite of salad, already planning to ignore them completely. Then one of the girls shifts slightly. And I finally see him.

Oh.

Crystal definitely undersold the Sovereigns.

The guy sitting at the center of the chaos is unfairly attractive. Not normal attractive. Not even celebrity attractive. Something worse.

The sunlight catches on shaggy silver hair that falls carelessly over his forehead, making it almost glow against the darker backdrop of the courtyard. His skin is flawless in a way that doesn’t look entirely human. Nothing about him does. He looks carved from myth. Like someone took every beautiful thing in existence and sharpened it into a weapon. Black swirling tattoos wind up both arms before disappearing beneath the sleeves of his dark shirt. They almost seem to move when the light hits them.

Magic. Definitely magic.

Everything about him radiates confidence.

Not earned confidence. The kind someone is born with because the entire world has worshipped them from the second they took their first breath. Arrogant. Cocky. Completely aware of exactly what he looks like. The Fae heir. Has to be.

Jasper Ashwyck.

I immediately decide Crystal was right. People probably do worship him. Idiots.

One of the girls laughs again, practically draping herself over him now. He smiles lazily at something she says, looking completely unbothered by the attention. I make a mental note right then and there to stay as far away from him as possible. Someone that attractive has to be dangerous. Probably emotionally. Possibly physically. Definitely psychologically.

Unfortunately, that’s when he looks at me.

Not generally in my direction. Not accidentally. Directly at me. His bright blue eyes lock onto mine across the courtyard. And everything inside me stills. My breath catches sharply.

The world around me fades into background noise as something deep beneath my skin buzzes violently to life. Magic. My magic.

It reacts instantly. Like it recognizes him.

Like it’s reaching for him before my brain can stop it. My grip tightens around my fork, knuckles turning white.

No.

Absolutely not.

The feeling only intensifies. A strange pull tightens low in my chest, sharp and electric, drawing me toward him in a way that makes no sense. Across the courtyard, his expression changes. Only slightly. But I see it. The lazy amusement disappears. Replaced by something sharper.

He feels it too. My pulse spikes. One of the girls says something to him, trying to pull his attention back. He ignores her completely. Still staring at me. And somehow, that feels worse.

The buzzing beneath my skin intensifies again. The air around me suddenly warmer. Charged. His head tilts slightly, silver hair falling further across his forehead as his gaze drags slowly over me. Assessing me curiously. Dangerously aware. Then a cocky smirk appears on his face, slow and confident.

My stomach flips traitorously. Absolutely not. I will not fall all over the fae heir. No matter how gorgeous he is. I look away immediately, heat flooding my face as I stab aggressively at my salad like it personally offended me. Get a grip. He’s just a guy. An insanely beautiful, magically glowing, terrifying guy. But still. A guy.

Unfortunately, my magic doesn’t seem convinced. Because even without looking at him anymore, I can still feel him. And somehow, I know he’s still looking at me too.