Evaline:
The morning air was carrying a soft breeze, rustling the hedges and stirring the wildflowers that were dotting the secluded garden behind the dormitory buildings.
The early morning sunlight was filtering through the branches of the weeping willows, creating golden patches across the stone bench where I was sitting.
The particular garden was one of the Academy's quieter places, one of the few that rarely saw any students, especially on a Saturday morning. Most were either asleep or in the dining hall, dragging themselves through the first day of the weekend.
But I wasn't alone.
Rowan was sitting on my right with elbows resting on his knees and eyes fixed on the gravel path as if it held the answers to all of life's questions. Kyros was on my left, leaning back against the bench's curve with his arms crossed and brows deeply furrowed.
No one spoke for what felt like forever.
