The mountain did not loosen its grip on them but the forest felt different in daylight. Less haunted, perhaps. Or maybe they were simply too exhausted to imagine threats in every shadow.
Noelis walked a few paces ahead, keeping her eyes trained on the ground and the trunks of the trees rather than the peaks above. Everything the Voice had told her echoed in her mind.
Avoid edelweiss.
Avoid cedar.
Avoid beech — unless gold.
She spotted a cluster of pale flowers to their left and steered them sharply right without a word.
She smelled the cedar before she saw it. Her body reacted on instinct, spine stiffening as she veered them away from danger.
Fabien didn't question her. Not once.
They moved in silence for nearly an hour before Fabien spoke.
"You walk like someone who's been lost before," he said, "and found her way back. How do you know where to step?"
"I don't," she replied. "I just know where not to."
The ground grew steeper but easier to navigate. Roots twisted across the earth like the veins of a large, ancient creature, giving their boots something to grip. At times they were ascending, but overall they were heading down. The air felt cleaner as they descended and the wind became a whisper rather than a howl.
Then Fabien broke the silence again.
"We should talk."
Noelis slowed. "Talk about what?"
He exhaled slowly. "The other night."
Her shoulders tightened. "The Shield is fixed for now, but I'm not sure for how long. It didn't feel stable."
"That's not what I meant."
She stopped walking. So did he.
It hovered between them for a moment. The air was fragile and uncomfortable.
Fabien forced himself to lift his eyes from the ground to hers. "I want to apologise. I crossed a line."
Noelis folded her arms loosely. "You were tired. We all were. It's not a big deal."
"That isn't true." The corner of his mouth twitched without humour. "And pretending it is doesn't make me any less of a bastard."
She studied him. He looked genuinely uncomfortable, which was new.
"I shouldn't have touched you like that," he said. "Not while you were asleep. Not while you trusted me enough to be that close."
He raked a hand through his hair. "I've been in battle on and off for months. Years, if you count training. When you live like that… things dull. Edges blur. Your moral senses become hazy. You stop thinking about things like warmth, skin, softness." He paused.
Noelis felt a pang of sadness for her friend. He had always looked so happy and light-hearted that no one would suspect otherwise. She knew he was a Commander, but he hadn't talked about what his duties entailed, what he'd experienced since he left the Academy, to her or any of the others.
"You don't go back and forth from battle and expect your instincts to behave. You spend months sleeping in mud, killing men you never learnt the names of, watching boys bleed out in your arms."
It was the truth Fabien had never voiced aloud. Being a Commander was a lonely, dark existence. As for the way he had longed for Noelis up by the Shield, the truth was darker and more complicated — it hadn't been instinct alone.
Sure, he knew Noelis was attractive, but he never allowed himself to dwell on the thought too long. That evening, it had been the way she looked in the firelight, the way she trusted him, the way she rested too close without realising. But he wasn't about to say any of that aloud. He valued her friendship far too much and, honestly, when he needed touch and female companionship, he wanted to keep it at that - purely physical, with no strings attached.
"I accept your apology. We can move on," she said.
He replied quietly, "Good, because I want us to continue being friends now and for a long time to come. If anyone gives you beef, I'll have your back."
Noelis laughed. That was the Fabien she knew.
"Even Elarion?" she joked.
He stilled.
"I've heard the rumours about your binding ceremony with him, and I saw… during your Heat." He was hesitant, not wanting to probe too much. "I didn't want to believe it, but if the rumours are true…" He trailed off, unsure how to end the sentence.
He tried again.
"Elarion is my cousin and our future King, but if he's hurting you — I don't know what's worse, you being under Elarion's wing or being loaned to Valen when he calls in the deal. Valen's a monster in battle, but he's even less of a gentleman than I am when it comes to women."
Noelis had forgotten about that. The deal Elarion made — a loan exchange of Tributes between him and Valen.
"It wasn't as bad as the rumours made it out to be. I know enough about Elarion's kind. Despite his loyalty to Bellatrice, he cares about appearances and can be the worst kind of possessive - about things that he may not even want, like me and the other Tributes."
Fabien looked at her with raised eyebrows, surprised at her precise assessment of Elarion and not quite believing that the rumours were wholly exaggerated. But he respected her desire to handle things herself.
"Well, thank God for that, because I was afraid of making a grave political mistake," he joked.
She laughed at that.
"You don't look like someone who fears politics."
"I don't," he said. "But I fear entanglements I can't fix with a sword. If it comes to that, though, I have your back."
She met his gaze. There was honesty and gentleness there.
"Thanks, Fab. Your words mean a lot, but I'm more than capable of handling myself. Believe me, I've been around enough royal arseholes my whole life."
Just as Fabien never shared his experiences beyond the present and his Academy days, Noelis never talked about her family or where she came from. Fabien caught a fleeting glimpse of the fact that she had lived her life surrounded by royals.
Before he could ask further, she beat him to it.
"What about Rowe?"
He blinked at the unexpected change of topic. "What about her?"
"You see it," she pressed. "Everyone does."
Fabien's jaw tightened faintly. "She's… sweet."
"That's not an answer."
"She's like a little sister," he said. It came out sharper than he intended. "I don't want to ruin her."
"Ruin her?"
"She deserves softness," he said. "Not a man who feels blood under his fingernails."
Noelis studied him. "You're right about her being sweet, but she's stronger than you think. Give her a chance. Don't be afraid to let anyone in, Fab. You deserve it."
He smiled in reply.
Silence settled again, but the air felt clearer, and they moved on without another word.
By midday, Noelis began to feel the stir of Manna beneath her skin.
It pulsed beneath her palms like a second heartbeat. Something familiar, yet new. She slowed as the pulse grew stronger — not gentle, but hungry.
"I need to stop," she said.
They were in a small clearing where broken sunlight filtered through the canopy. She stood still and closed her eyes.
She didn't force it. She remembered what it felt like when she touched the Shield. The hum. The resonance. The way the energy had moved through her.
The Manna transfigured into light beneath her skin. It spilled from her fingertips in faint, wispy threads. The air shimmered gently and then flowed out violently. The grass flattened as if pressed down by an invisible weight.
Fabien stepped back a few steps and watched, silent.
She could feel it, and as threads of power unravelled from her hands, she tried to control it with her mind. The wisps of light twisted — slender ribbons of light, flickering sparks, warming the air around her. The once wild Manna flowed steadily, controlled.
She opened her eyes and flicked some of the light around Fabien before letting the wisps fade to nothing.
Noelis smiled.
"Come on, was it that bad? You look like someone's knocked the life out of you," she said, looking at Fabien, who stood frozen.
"Are you a Celestial?" Fabien whispered.
"You're ridiculous," she laughed.
"It didn't look ridiculous. You looked like… something out of this world."