جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 15

Elder Senna's reading room was not on any cleaning list Aria had ever seen.She had checked this carefully. At some point in the estate's history, someone had looked at the small room near the healer's wing. They saw that Elder Senna used it for her private studies. They decided the easiest thing was to leave it off the cleaning list. Let Senna take care of it herself. This was either a sign of deep respect, or simply closing a door on something and hoping it fixed itself. Maybe both.The result was a room that had been left alone for years in the way that scholars' rooms are left alone. It was very full. Stacks of things everywhere. A system that made sense to no one except the owner.Aria stood in the doorway at half past nine on Friday morning. She had knocked twice. A voice from inside told her to come in if she had to. She stepped inside.Shelves went from floor to ceiling. Every shelf was full. A desk sat in the middle. It was buried under open books and loose papers. Two candle

The warmth in her chest was no longer quiet. Aria felt it before she opened her eyes. It was a slow, steady beat. Like deep water moving under ice. It did not hurt. It did not scare her. But it was there, and she could not ignore it anymore.She lay still for half a minute. She tried to make it calm down. The warmth did not listen.She got up. She washed her face in cold water. She went to work.By Friday evening, the warmth had a rhythm. By Saturday, it had a direction. She felt it at strange times. When she was still. When she woke. When she was in the east wing and knew one of the brothers was near, even before she saw him. She tested this without meaning to. Once, she turned a corner and knew Caden was on the other side, standing at the window. He was there. She walked another way without stopping. The second time, in the kitchen, the warmth moved. She looked toward the garden door. Twenty seconds later, Cole came through it. He brought cold air with him.He looked at her across t