Captain Halden didn't look up from her translucent data screens.
"Veynar. You're on Lady Lyra today."
Darian froze. "…What?"
Halden finally glanced at him, her expression deadpan. "You spoke with her last night. She appears comfortable around you. Eastern wing and gardens. Close protection." She swiped a screen away, already turning her attention to the next squad. "Assignment stands."
Before he could even open his mouth to argue, she was issuing the next directive. Just like that, the quiet shift he'd been hoping for evaporated.
—
Hours later, Darian found himself in the eastern wing, leaning against the cold glass of the garden entrance.
The estate felt even more suffocating than the day before. Security drones traced slow, silent arcs overhead, and guards stood like statues along the polished corridors. The air itself felt thin, drawn tight by shimmering security fields and hushed voices.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, watching water cycle through a stone fountain. Just stand here and look sharp, he reminded himself.
The quiet stretched for three unbroken minutes before soft, measured footsteps approached from behind.
"I thought I might find you here."
Darian turned. Lyra stood a few steps away, dressed in the same pale, simple fabric from yesterday, her hands loosely clasped behind her back.
Despite himself, Darian straightened, acutely aware of how quiet she was—and how close. "Morning, Lyra."
A brief beat of silence hung between them before Darian let his posture relax, letting his usual easy confidence slide back into place. He turned and began a slow pace down the gravel path.
Lyra stepped perfectly into stride beside him. The silence settled easily this time, broken only by the crunch of gravel and the murmuring stream.
She tilted her head, watching the water. "What do you usually do for fun?"
Darian blinked, caught off guard. "…Fun?"
"When you're free," she clarified, glancing up at him. "Outside with your friends."
He scratched his cheek, filtering his usual chaotic life into something presentable. "Uh, normal stuff, I guess. VR arenas. Tactical sims. Hover sports when Ravion's not trying to kill someone. Or just… walking around the lower districts getting street food."
Lyra looked at him with quiet fascination. "Hover sports?"
"Yeah. It's messy. Loud. Usually ends with someone getting tackled too hard into a barrier." He nudged a pebble into the stream. "It's fun."
She gave a small nod, absorbing the image. "Night vendors, open rooftops, hover courts… they sound lively."
Darian caught the wistful note in her voice. "You've just heard about them? You've never been?"
She shook her head. "Not allowed. If I'm outside, it's for an event. A meeting. After that, it's straight back inside." She nudged her own pebble along the path. "Tutors. Piano. Etiquette. Studies. Repeat."
She said it lightly, reciting a schedule rather than a life.
Darian slowed, his brows pulling together. "That's it? Seriously? You've never just… gone out with friends?"
Lyra smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I don't really have friends like that."
"How?" Darian gestured vaguely around the massive estate. "You're basically royalty. Famous. People should be lining up to be your friend."
"They line up to be polite," Lyra corrected softly. "Or useful. That's different."
They walked a few more paces, the water beside them catching thin strips of morning sunlight.
"What about school?" Darian asked.
"Home-schooled."
He snorted. "That sounds awful."
"It's not like you go to school either," she pointed out, a faint smirk touching her lips. "POND is work."
Darian laughed. "Fair point. POND doesn't exactly hand out lunch breaks and homework. But at least I've got my squad. Zeri gets way too into games, trash-talks like she's fighting for her life, but… it's a good time."
Lyra nodded, filing the name away. "That sounds nice."
She looked up as a pair of small drones drifted lazily overhead, keeping their distance but never truly leaving. "It must be strange. Being able to just decide to go somewhere."
"Never really thought about it."
"I think about it a lot."
The words were quiet, but heavy. Darian looked at her, seeing the gilded cage around her a little more clearly.
"You'd probably like it," he said, his voice softening. "There's a street near the academy that lights up at night. Music, food stalls, people arguing over nothing. Half the time you don't even know where you're going—you just follow the noise."
She looked at him, a genuine spark of hope in her expression. "I'd like to try that someday."
"You should just… step outside and go."
Lyra's lips curved at the simplicity of the thought. "Just step outside and go," she repeated, tasting the words.
"Yeah," he said, a small smile tugging at his own mouth. "That's kind of the whole trick to it."
She smiled properly then—a bright, unguarded expression that completely transformed her face. Something in Darian's chest tightened unexpectedly, catching him completely off guard.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "For telling me about it."
Darian looked away, suddenly finding the gravel incredibly interesting. The exhaustion from that morning was entirely gone, replaced by a strange, nervous energy he didn't quite know what to do with.
"Maybe watching her wouldn't be so bad after all."