𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞

𝐅 𝐎 𝐔 𝐑

𝐃𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

In the common world, kids aren't expected to go to school on their birthdays. They can stay home, gorge on sweets, play, enjoy themselves on their special day. But Kelrose was not the common world.

Briéa spent her day in lessons with Telfor and studying in the library with Reihan. Far from ideal but there wasn't much she could do. A week ago she tried to coerce Ennell into making an exception for her, but the Thorn didn't budge. Zaara had told her to suck it up. Briéa told her to suck something else which earned her a week's detention. After dinner, Briéa sat in her shared room with Aesira and Reihan, eating cake that they bribed the cooks to bake for her. It was lemon-strawberry, her favorite.

Late into the night, curfew a long-forgotten rule in the girl's heads, a knock comes at their door. Briéa fears it's a Prime as she frantically tries to hide the cake, but then Daskel pops his head through the crack in the door. He grins like a fool when he sees the cake.

"Save any for me?" Aesira starts to hold up a small piece left when Briéa jumps up.

"What're you doing here?" She goes to shove him out. There are some rules even Briéa respects, and girls staying in their own dorms and boys staying in theirs is one of them. She's too afraid of the consequences to think otherwise. Daskel just laughs and instead slinks his way into the room, accepting the cake from Aesira and taking a bite.

"This is really good," he says, mouth full of cake. Briéa rolls her eyes.

"Seriously, I might not ever see you again if they find you in here!" Every year, stories of what happens to mystics that are in rooms they shouldn't be, get shoved down their throats.

Daskel laughs and finishes his cake. "Don't worry, we're getting out of here." He grabs Briéa's hand and pulls her toward the door. "C'mon," Briéa looks back to Aesira and Reihan, both give thumbs up towards the couple.

When Briéa hesitates, Aesira rolls her eyes and shoves her. "Go, we'll cover." Reihan giggles as Briéa breaks out into a grin and runs out with Daskel.

As the two run, hand in hand, Briéa remembers the day months ago when they snuck out to Hanada. Her tattoo tingles at the memory. Down snaking staircases and slipping out of doors, they slide along the walls of Kelrose. The shadows of the woods wait to hide them from the guards patrolling the grounds. They take the cover and sink into the shadows. Deep enough into the woods, Briéa lets herself laugh, unable to keep her joy contained anymore. Daskel laughs with her now, their laughs heard by no one else than the stars and the sleeping trees.

The farther Daskel leads them deeper into the woods, the more surprised Briéa grows. Countless days have been spent among the trees in attempts to hide from lessons. But those were in sunlight. Daskel guides her with nothing but the moonlight to guide them.

Sweat barely begins to drip down the back of Briéa's neck when they stop. A settled pool of water reflects lights suspended in glass jars that hang from the branches of trees. There's a blanket laid along the shore of the clear pond, more light scattered around the ground. Briéa notices he's even managed to sneak in some kind of wine and pudding. As she gets closer, she smiles when she realizes it's strawberry and honey pudding.

When did he have time to do all this?

"Daskel...how..." Briéa's at a complete loss for words at the sight of it all.

He grins and pulls at her waist, she presses her hands against him. In the summer heat, his shirts have been thin, she can feel the rise and falls of his chest. "Happy birthday Bri." He smells of soil, probably from whatever his earlier lessons were in the day.