We were now mere inches apart. I leaned down, my face level with hers, my eyes blazing with barely contained fury.
"You don't want to make an enemy of me, Hawke." I growled.
Lyanna swallowed hard, but her gaze remained defiant. "I'm not afraid of y...
"Stop shouting at me!" Lyanna's eyes blazed, a dangerous glint in their green depths.
I closed my eyes, inhaling sharply through clenched teeth.
"I'm not shouting." I hissed, each word dripping with frustration. "I'm trying to get you to understand, but it seems impossible because you're clearly not listening to me."
The air crackled. It had been a few weeks since Lyanna took the deal, and fuck, she'd made the most of it.
She'd made a comment about not being my puppet, but she'd turned me into her personal homework house-elf.
Every night, we'd sneak into the library after hours, hidden from view.
I had to tutor her, my patience wearing thinner than parchment, because it's no good acing coursework then go and fail an exam.
It was taking its toll. I felt drained, hollowed out, like I'd been hit by the Knight Bus and then reversed over for good measure.
Herbology, Transfiguration, Astronomy — the classes I'd specifically chosen to avoid in sixth year. Yet here I was, doing homework for them.
And for what? Every attempt I made at honing in on her abilities was futile, everything we tried wasn't working. That was the most exhausting part.
My patience was a fraying thread, ready to snap at any moment.
"I am listening to you." She replied, her voice deceptively quiet, a calm before the storm. Then it broke.
"But it's difficult when you're being condescending, treating me like some unruly child!"
"Hey, you said unruly child, not me." I smirked.
Unamused, Lyanna snapped the textbook closed with a resounding thud that echoed through the empty library.
"I think that's enough for tonight." She spat.
"I agree." I leaned back, a picture of false nonchalance as I watched Lyanna scramble to stuff her books into her bag.
The bag slipped, spilling its contents across the floor that seemed to reverberate through her very being.
She froze, her breath hitching as if that was the final straw.
I could almost hear the last of her composure snapping.
I bent to help, more out of habit than kindness, when a loose drawing caught my eye.
It was a detailed sketch of a Thestral, inked with an unsettling precision.
But before I could examine it further, Lyanna snatched it from my hand, shoving the drawing deep into her bag, her eyes meeting mine with a look that was warning.
The air between us thickened.
"I think we should take tomorrow night off." She suggested, adjusting her bag strap. "A break from each other would probably do us both good."
I nodded. "Agreed."
Her eyes evaded mine.
Before she left I called out. "It's good by the way." What am I doing? "Your drawing."
Lyanna halted her stride for just a moment, acknowledging my comment, but continued her exit.
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