[SILVER RAYNE WILLIAMS]

WEST HOUSE is quiet when we walk in.

I am confused, gaze traveling the breadth of the deserted space before us. It's still morning, I would think the place would be brimming with life.

"Oh, for the love of God, where is everyone?" I mutter mostly to myself. I make the grave mistake of forgetting the boy beside me is an Arc Wolf, therefore even my slightest whispers must sound like an inviting conversation.

"Perhaps they have school," Hunter states, poshly, then adds as if it is most obvious, "It is morning."

I glance at him.

I feel dumb at not thinking of it sooner. And his posh accent only makes me feel more stupid.

"Classes. right." I grunt, sighing.

Pushing back my glasses back, I run a hand through my curls. Damnnit.

What are we to do now? We can't very well barge in and fish her out—could we?

"They'll be out in a half hour," someone speaks.

I spin at the sound of the familiar voice, my eyes finding that of the Male sworn. Brian.

He stands behind us, leaning against the door frame. His dark eyes are calm, calculating, arms folded, in his signature black coat, simply studying the two of us.

His gaze rests on Hunter for a moment, then flashes to me. He sighs as he pushes off the door frame.

"I hope you're here to see your sister and not painfully fail to steal her ..." he trails off.

My eyes widen, glancing down at Hunter. The young wolf's eyebrows gather at the Sworns statement,

"Steal her?" he echoes.

I clear my throat, shaking my head quickly, trying to motion to Brian that this was not the person we should be having this conversation before.

We shouldn't be having this question in front of anyone. Period.

He seems to get the gist. His eyebrows cinch for a moment, gaze narrowing on the young Prince, and then pauses, a realization crossing his features.

"You—You're a fang.." he pauses, head tilting, "A wolf."

His eyes fall to Hunter's clothes, "A noble."

Hunter's gaze softens, seemingly studying the sworn with even more intrigue, a realization of his own, "And you must be the male sworn."

This only makes Brian study him much more intensely.

I do us all a favor and break the ice.

"This is Lord Hunter Silvon Veridian,"  I grit slowly, making sure each word is enunciated, I then turn to Hunter, "And this is—Brian."

Brian's eyebrows raise at the mention of his name, and lazily trail to the Arc, nodding slowly.

"A Veridian..." he bows rather playfully, and then drawls, "Forgive me—your majesty."

Hunter's gaze shifts to me for a moment at the introdution, but purses his lips, and then nods.

"It's alright," he mumbles.

Silence consumes us after this revelation.

The eyes of the Male Sworn move between Hunter and me, studying the space between us. Probably wondering how it was I was standing this close to a Verdian.

I say something only to break the silence.

"You say, that uh- Vella will be out soon?" I ask.

Brian's gaze lifts off Hunter, and nods, folding his arms again. His voice is calm and quiet.

"Yes. In thirty minutes."

"Ah."

"I'm sorry but am I a specimen?" Brian huffs.

His eyes are on me, but they shift back to Hunter after he states this, "My lord stares at me as if I intrigue him."

It is true.

Hunter watches him with much wonder, but
I am surprised that Brian speaks this way directly to a Veridian.

On the other hand, Hunter doesn't seem to mind at all, "I was told Male sworn can master all four elements..." A smile grows. "Is it... —true?"

Brian sighs, but snaps his finger and a flame sparks above it.

My eyes widen at this, and so does Hunters, watching in awe. I note that his eyes deepen slightly to a deeper green until Brian blowsthe flame out.

"That was. Incredible!" Hunter breathes, his eyes dash to Brian in a newfound awe.

"Thank you, your Majesty, I take pride in pleasing royalty." He smirks

My chuckle at his statement before something crosses me.

"You're a Sworn too, aren't you supposed to be in a class like the rest of them?" I motion around to the emptiness we find ourselves in.

"They couldn't keep me there if they tried," Brian grunts, shifting slightly.

"A rebel," Hunter comments, his smile is wide. He does not seem bothered by it for a prince.

Brian's gaze shifts to the boy, "does that offend his majesty?"

Hunter shakes his head, his locks lifting, and his smile only grows, "No. On the contrary, I think a little rebellion keeps things interesting."

I side glance his way at the raw statement.

"You do understand you're a prince," I hint, "I do not think you should be saying things like that."

The last thing I wanted was to be blamed for being the one with the bad influence.

"Rebellion sparks correction. Roman always says if there's a rebellion then there is some sort of injustice that needs to be corrected. I agree. Justice is essential for peace. A peaceful nation is easier to rule."

I blink at his statement. He speaks so fluently. So
poshly I forget he is only one or two years older than Vella.

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. Vella's a bit of a smart ass too.

Brian's eyes shine, and the corner of his lips lift, "True. All truth, Your Majesty."

My mouth shuts after this. He can be the bad influence.

"Would you two like to see something?" Brian suddenly asks asks.

My gaze snaps to him.

"Something like what?" I ask, gaze shifting to Hunter momentarily.

He only smirks and walks passed us, leaving us alone in the open hallway.

I watch him disappear, eyebrows drawn in. Is he coming back? After a few seconds of hanging around, Hunter comments.

"Perhaps he means for us to follow," He hints.

Oh...

"I know that," I scoff, marching after him.
I can feel Hunter's grin behind me as we follow the Sworn.

We follow Brian through West House until we reach an arch that breaks out into the open courtyard, centered right in the middle of West House.

My eyes widen at the sight, stepping into the sunlight.

I thought the front of WestHouse was magical, thanks to Lady Beatrice, but no, it was only a taste of the magnificence of the court.

It had swings and fountains, lots of space, bushes, trees, and flowers.

I walked backward, my gaze shifting upward at the building enclosing us on all sides.

"They're up there," Hunter comments.

My gaze shfts from him upward, to the doors ahead. I think they were classes.

"I can hear them," He states.

I glance down at him at these words then nod.

"Are you both Ready?" Brian calls over his shoulder. I note he stands a little ways ahead, but he is slightly hidden by the trees.

We move towards him, and I take a look at the fuss.

It's just a shrub with a single uninteresting-looking purple flower growing on it. Only one.

I fold my arms, eyebrows drawing in. I lean forward, searching the shrub for maybe a funny looking big or something.

"Okay, what am I supposed to be looking at here?" I huff after combing up blank.

Hunter suddenly audibly gasps at the sight of the shrub or flower, I have no particular idea.

Almost immediately he fawns over it like he's just discovered the worlds biggest diamond.

His eyes trail the plant, and then simply stares at it as if it's a ghost.

"I knew a Veridian would appreciate it," Brian grins, "It is wonderful to see apreciation on the gift of flowers prior to somebody else previous demonstrations," he says side glancing my way.

I frown at this. It is certainly a jab for trampling his flowers last night.

"It can't be.." Hunter mumbles, quite taken with the plant, he leans in as if to take a better look.

I roll my eyes. It's an unneeded action. The boys eyesight was acute. 10 times better than any human.

"It is —young, but I assure you, my lord, it is her," Brian grins, he squats by the brush, gently brushing against the purple leaves.

I did not understand. It was a tiny purple flower.

Not even pretty. Looked stunted in fact. So different from the full blooms that Lady Beatrice grew.

Hunter remained studying the flower as Brian got up. He seemed mesmerized by it. Completely zoning out.

"I don't get it," I grunt, watching the boy with it.

"Ofcourse not. You're human," Brian buffs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I immediately get defensive.

He rolls his eyes, folding his arms again. "The flower is a Molune," Brian explainshalf-heartedly, "AKA The Night Bloom. It's sacred to Fang and exceedingly rare."

"It is more than rare, it's almost myth..." Hunter comments mindlessly.

I glance at Brian and he shakes his head, mouthing, "Not myth."

I study the way he is with it. So strange he seems almost hypnotized by it.

I have never heard of such a plant. And I read. Like a lot.

Brian motions down the walk, and I comply, glancing at Hunter momentarily, before following after him.

"A Veridian," Brian begins after we are a respectable distance, "I must confess, you are as interesting as I thought."

My gaze shifts to him from Hunter's figure we've left by the shrubs.

"He won't hear us. Sound insulation bubble," he motions to the air around us.

My ears tingle at the low hum in them. Air pressure.

He's using his strike.

I am in awe at this. He didn't even need vials. How ridiculously lucky. Fate does have favorites.

I nod at this, then turn to him, "And why am I person of interest?" I ask.

"You have interesting goals." He sashays.

I scoff, "what do you know about my goals?"

"Just what I've seen," he shrugs carelessly, "What everyones seen. You're here for your sister and You tried to free her from Westhouse. Admirable."

I know we where in a bubble but I look around as if someone can hear us. It's not the first time I've heard this. Lady Beatrice said something along similar lines.

I read him for a moment, then sigh.

"Look, I don't want to be on anyone's radar. Alright? And I'm not interesting. I just want to lay low so, sorry about your flowers," I grunt.

He rolls his eyes.

"And thank you for distracting the guards. It helped.." I pause, "to some extent."

"Oh, I wouldn't thank me. I happen to be a selfish creature. I should confess I would have helped more if I had known you wanted to steal a Sworn, by making sure you got caught sooner. That was foolish by the way. Or better still, I wouldn't have helped at all. Helping was also foolish on my part."

I frowned at this, stopping in my footsteps. But my anger dissipated when something more curious sparked.

"What was that?" I breathed, "The thing you gave those guards."

He turned pausing. He seemed to study me for a moment, his hands sliding into his coat, a smirk riding his features and then he simply shrugged.

"You think I'll tell you all my secrets?" he scoffed, "no offense lady, I like you, but I don't know you."

I purse my lips. But I don't respond.

It's fair enough.

I didn't know him either.

I didn't trust him too.

He takes a step toward me, head tilting, "But perhaps we can exchange secrets. You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine. I think we can help each other."

I stiffen slightly at this but play it off, chuckling, "Great offer, but what makes you think I have secrets worth sharing? Nothing special here."

"Oh, come on," he grunts, then rolls his eyes, "We're both intelligent creatures. No one simply walks through Fang Court and makes it as far as you did to West House without getting noticed. No less gets caught stealing a Sworn and simply goes unpunished."

"Unpunished?" I scoff.

"You're alive aren't you?" he retaliates, "last I checked the penalty for high treason is death, and yet—here you are."

I purse my lips.

He pauses, "I saw you. Moving through the shadows. It was like you weren't even there. Highly trained guards couldn't spot you," he takes a step forward, "You're not a sworn, but I think you still have it."

My eyebrows draw in.

"Power," he hints, gazes shifting in mine, "Yes. Theres something there."

My jaw clenches.

I didn't need this right now. As much as having an Ally right about now would be wonderful, I didn't need someone digging deep into my secrets.

"Buddy, I don't know what to tell you," I shrug, folding my arms, "Thanks for the hand but—I'm sorry to break it to you, what you see is what you get," I grunt.

He studies me, then nods, the corners of his lips lifting, "You say that with so much confidence and yet you don't even know what it is I see---"

There's a spark in his eyes when he says this. His gaze then lifts from me to my background.

"They're out," he hums, the hum in my ear immediately dissipating.

My eyebrows draw in at this, but I turn following his eyes and watch as the Sworn come out into the open.
Just like that, my focus is adjusted on the one thing I care about more than life.

I try to spot Vel, moving forward until I finally see her by the entrance.

I freeze at the sight of her.

She looks sad and low. But, there are three friends around her for comfort. I appreciate this.

She wasn't alone.

What more can I ask?