She stepped back slowly, careful not to let the door breathe a sound, and turned away.
The corridor stretched before her; long and pale beneath the moon's watchful glow. Leah walked it alone, her footsteps measured, swallowed by stone and silence. Yet her mind was anything but quiet. The roar of the arena still echoed in her ears, layered now with softer, darker whispers; fear, doubt, warning.
Ashenveil Forest.
The name drifted through her thoughts like smoke curling through ruins.
She did not know why it lingered. She only knew that something deep within her shifted; subtle, deliberate.
And this time, it was not regret that stirred in her chest.
It was a calling.
Leah exhaled slowly and turned away from the corridor's end, retracing her steps toward her chambers, her thoughts knotted and restless.
Halfway down the hall;
"Leah."
The voice was soft, familiar.
She stopped and turned.
Frauner emerged from the shadows between two pillars, moonlight catching the red band at his head. His steps were unhurried, but his gaze searched her face with quiet concern.
"Are you alright?" he asked gently.
Leah hesitated.
"I… don't know," she admitted at last.
Frauner studied her for a moment, saying nothing. He had learned long ago that some wounds spoke only when given space.
"You've been walking like someone carrying a storm," he said finally. "Not loud. Just… heavy."
Leah let out a slow breath. "I heard my parents talking," she said. "About a forest. Ashenveil."
Frauner's expression changed; not dramatically, but enough that Leah noticed. His jaw tightened. His eyes sharpened, as if a blade had been drawn behind them.
"So Garron told the King," he murmured.
"You know it," Leah said.
"I know of it." He glanced down the corridor, then back at her.
"Forbidden land. Old paths. Old deaths. The kind people pretend are rumors because the truth is harder to face."
Leah's fingers curled at her side. "They said the dead had white eyes. Pupils turned upward."
Frauner nodded once.
"That's what the old scouts used to whisper. Victims of possession. Or something that drains the will before the body follows."
A chill ran through her;not of fear, but recognition.
Leah straightened slowly, as if a decision were settling into her bones.
"Maybe…" she began, then stopped, choosing her words carefully. "Maybe this is why I feel so restless. Maybe this is the chance I've been waiting for. To prove that I'm not just....."
"Leah."
Frauner said her name sharply, stepping forward and cutting her words in half.
"No."
She looked up at him, startled.
"This is not a proving ground," he said, his voice low but firm. "Ashenveil is not an arena. There are no crowds there, no cheers, no second chances."
"I know that," she replied. "But people are dying. And if there's even a chance I can..."
Frauner shook his head. "That's exactly how it begins. With even a chance." His jaw tightened.
"You don't need this forest to prove your worth. You already did that today. Whether the crowd saw it or not."
Leah's hands clenched. "Then why does it feel unfinished?"
"Because you're chasing something dangerous," he said.
"Not glory. Not duty. Validation."
The word struck harder than any blade.
"This place," Frauner continued, "it doesn't test strength. It feeds on resolve. On doubt. On people who believe they have something to prove."
Silence stretched between them.
"You think I'd walk into it blindly?" Leah asked quietly.
"I think you'd walk into it bravely," he said. "And that's worse."
She swallowed.
Leah's silence stretched after Frauner's warning. She stood rigid, eyes lowered, jaw set; like someone holding a blade too tightly.
Before either of them could speak again, footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Mauris approached first, his presence steady as stone. Henry followed, easy-going even now, and Thalia just behind him, her gaze already searching Leah's face.
"What are you two plotting in the shadows?" Henry asked lightly.
"You look far too serious for this hour."
Thalia ignored him. "Leah," she said softly. "How are you holding up?"
Leah hesitated.
Mauris studied her for a long moment, then nodded once.
"She did well today," he said. "Better than most would have, under that pressure."
Leah's fingers twitched at her side. Praise, even from Mauris, felt distant,like it belonged to someone else.
The silence returned. Heavier now.
Finally, Leah lifted her head. "They were talking about Ashenveil Forest," she said.
"My parents. About what's happening there."
Henry's brows rose. "That place? Sounds like an adventure waiting to happen."
Thalia shot him a look. "It's dangerous."
"It is," Mauris agreed calmly.
Leah took a breath. "I want to go."
All eyes turned to her.
"I need to," she continued, voice tight but steady.
"If there's something I can do; something that matters,I won't stay here pretending I'm fine."
Thalia's hesitation was immediate. "Leah....."
But Mauris spoke first. "If this feels like her chance," he said, "then she should take it."
Frauner stiffened. "That's not..."
Mauris grinned faintly. "Well. If we're going somewhere cursed and forgotten, I'd rather not let her go alone."
Thalia shook her head. "This isn't a game."
She stepped closer to Leah, really looking at her now;at the weight in her eyes, the way her shoulders sagged as if the day hadn't ended at all.
Thalia reached out and pulled Leah into a brief, firm hold.
"If you want to go,"
she said quietly, "then we go together."
Mauris nodded. "Together."
Frauner looked at them; one by one. He exhaled slowly, like surrendering ground he'd already lost.
"We trained together," he said at last.
"We fight better that way too." A pause. "Together, we can face it."
Henry clapped his hands once. "Then it's settled."
Frauner's voice dropped. "We leave tonight."
They turned toward their quarters as one, the decision already in motion.
Leah stood there for few moments as they leave.
Frauner took few steps and stopped and looked back.
Leah took only a few steps before Frauner fell in beside her.
Just before they reached the turn in the corridor, he reached out and caught her hand from behind.
She stopped.
She turned her face back towards him.
He didn't let go.
"Are you sure this is a great idea?" he asked quietly; no authority now, no command. Just concern.
Leah met his eyes.