Keeping Promises

  To a glassy sky, Theo opened his eyes.

  Morning. Alone.

  Steadily rising to his feet, he brushed his coat down, patted his pockets and bag for his tomes, and walked out of the practice yard.

  Still not a single person in sight, not a shadow.

  He exhaled softly and walked over to the dining hall. The doors were open as they always were, and its counters were unmanned.

  Making his way to the back kitchen, where he had left a tray of small glasses the day before in a chilled container, he looked for the most perfect one among the five and gently pulled it out before placing the rest into another communal chilling container for others to enjoy.

  Then, after wrapping a kitchen covering over it to preserve it, he slowly made it out of the dining hall and back to his class’s common room.

  An unlit fireplace. Cold. But not empty.

  First setting down the pudding on the kitchen counter, he gently walked over to the common room’s reading corner and picked up a small table. He brought it over to where his favorite seat was by the fire, placed the dessert on it, and then grabbed a blanket from one of the couches.

  Wishing he could even force out a wistful smile, Theo delicately draped it over the sleeping, curled-up Faris. Lingering for more than just a moment to watch his steady breathing and pore over the tranquil expression on his face. Reaching out without thinking to brush the long, stray strands of dark hair away from his face.

  But then, an inch away, he froze. He retracted his hand, let it drop to his side, and shamefully lit the fireplace before rushing away.

  * * *

  His room was as he had left it. Full of books he likely would never need anymore, notebooks that had been filled over several years, several thousands of hours of studying and practice.

  A small wooden box.

  Pulling out everything he had in his coat and placing it into his bag, including the important keepsakes in his breast pocket, he left out Em’s tome and replaced it with the queen’s gift before shrugging off his coat entirely. He left it on his seat, in its usual spot, and then glanced over to where his bed was.

  Nothing there.

  He had everything he needed with him. This was enough. Even less would have been more than what he had before ever learning magic.

  Not lingering any longer than he needed, Theo walked out of his room and headed over to Callie’s room first.

  Knock, knock.

  “Hmm?” inquired a voice from within.

  “Hey, Callie. It’s Theo. I’ve got to head out. Have a good break. I’ll see you and everyone later.”

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  “O-okay. Stay safe, okay?”

  “Yeah.” He paused, turned to the right, where Elias’s room was, and then turned back to Callie’s door. “Elias, same goes to you.”

  A faint chuckle from Callie could be heard on the other side, followed by a sleepy, annoyed grumble from Elias. “Yes, boss.”

  Unable to help himself, Theo finally cracked a smile.

  On the other end of the building, he knocked on Korinna and Selene’s door next.

  “Oh? Who’s up this early?” called an alert voice.

  “It’s me.”

  Selene opened the door, bright-eyed and wide awake. “Oh. Good morning, Theo. What’re you doing up so early?”

  “Just gotta head out to do something. Wanted to tell everyone to have a good break and that I’d see you guys later.”

  The royal blinked as if finding the notion hard to comprehend. “Oh. Oh—yeah, got it. Thank you. I’ll tell Kor. You have a good break as well. I won’t forget our promise, boss.”

  Damn it, how does that get me every time?

  “Hey, that gets you every time,” chuckled Selene, a pure and lighthearted smile on her face that she didn’t attempt to cover up. “Glad Chelsi told us about it.”

  “Yes, yes,” sighed Theo, smile unwavering.

  And then, just as he was about to leave, he felt a tug on his shirt.

  He turned to his tiny classmate, who let go. “Hmm?”

  “You’ll be okay, right?”

  “Ah.”

  Selene blinked expectantly.

  “Yeah…I’ll be okay.”

  “…Okay.”

  Theo turned away properly this time, waving goodbye while walking away because he couldn’t bear to see Selene cry again. Because he couldn’t relive that memory again. “Be back soon.”

  Having said goodbye to everyone, he made his way out of the dorms, heading past Ty’s room without pausing for a single second. Heart beating quick as he made it through the passageway into the common room, a part of him hoping that Faris would remain asleep so he wouldn’t have to say goodbye, a part of him hoping that he was awake so he could say goodbye.

  “Oh. You’re—”

  Staring blankly into the fire, blanket draped over him, Faris briefly glanced over at Theo before returning to the hearth. “Yeah.”

  “I’ve got to head out. I’ll be back in two or three days. Hopefully not more.”

  “You don’t need permission from me.”

  Come with me.

  But those three words cost far more than he could afford, much like all the other words that Faris had given him. Much like a memory he could not give up, even though recalling it made his chest tighten.

  I don’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry. I’m going to be selfish again.

  “Faris.”

  A stony violet eye regarded him coldly, though fire danced in it.

  Those four words, Theo could not let them surface.

  “You look like you want to say something.”

  “I do.”

  “Out with it, then.”

  “It’s hard, I—”

  “Well then, don’t say it.”

  “I…I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

  “T-that conversation, I mean those—”

  “Forget about it.”

  “No, I—”

  “Forget about it. I should never have said anything. Go.”

  Was this how much it hurt before?

  “No, I just wanted to tell you that I—”

  Expecting to be interrupted again, Theo stopped mid-sentence.

  Faris did not speak.

  “I…I’ll be back. Can you…do you think you could wait for me?”

  The caster continued to stare into the fire, holding up the unbearable weight of the silence. Alone. Unyielding.

  * * *

  Rubbing the corners of his eyes as he walked through the dorms courtyard and past the Great Hall, Theo momentarily wondered to himself whether he was simply imagining the bright figure in front of him when he suddenly stopped.

  Someone was there. Standing at the front of the school, bathed in the morning light, a heavenly white.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked Lycea.

  Halle’s distant look did not change. Her voice was light, but the word that left her lips was heavy. “Revenge.”

  Theo turned around, looking in the same direction as Halle. At the Great Hall, at the Lecture Hall, at the Headmistress’s office up on the top floor.

  “Can…I request something of you?” he heard himself asking.

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t let innocent lives get caught up in your revenge.”

  “I’ll remember that. Thank you, Ethy.”

  He paused, nodded stiffly, and turned around before offering a weak wave. “Well. I’m going. Good luck.”

  Her response was faint. “Good luck to you, too.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Before you go…can I ask a favor of you as well?”

  Eyes trained on the Lycean Plains, he felt a glimmer of remembrance surge from within him, memories and emotions from ages past. A fate that had endured. Revenge. “Yes?”

  “No matter what happens, remember that, in a world with unending hate, prejudice, and war, love alone is not enough to prevail. It is courage. It is strength. It is wisdom. And above all, it is fate. What I do today—it is for love. But I will not prevail.”