Chapter 2 A lecturer with unreadable eyes

The lecture hall emptied in slow waves, the sound of footsteps and quiet conversation fading into the corridor beyond. Aurelia waited until the last student had gone before moving. It was a habit, one learned early, cultivated carefully. Fewer eyes. Fewer whispers.

Dr. Voss was rearranging her notes when Aurelia approached, movements unhurried, precise. Up close, the woman seemed taller than she had from a distance, her presence contained yet commanding. There was no trace of nervousness in her posture. No flattery in her expression.

"Thank you for staying," Elara said. "Please, sit."

Aurelia did, folding her hands neatly on the desk between them. She noticed small details she hadn't before: the faint crease at the corner of Elara's mouth when she concentrated, the subtle silver at her temples, the way her eyes sharpened when she considered a thought.

"You asked an important question," Elara continued. "One that rarely comes from theory alone."

Aurelia's lips curved in a restrained smile. "Most of us here don't live theoretical lives."

"No," Elara agreed. "Especially you."

The acknowledgment was gentle, not intrusive, yet it landed with surprising weight. Aurelia lifted her chin slightly. "Then you understand why I asked."

"I do," Elara said. She leaned back against the desk, arms loosely crossed, not defensive, simply comfortable. "But understanding doesn't mean encouraging recklessness."

"Is choosing for oneself reckless?" Aurelia asked quietly.

Elara studied her for a moment longer than strictly necessary. "It can be," she said. "When the cost is high. When others pay it with you."

The words lingered between them, heavy with implication. Aurelia felt a familiar tightening in her chest, the same pressure she'd lived with for as long as she could remember. Expectation. Obligation. Sacrifice presented as honor.

"And if the cost is inevitable?" she asked. "If the price is paid whether one chooses or not?"

Elara's gaze softened, not enough to be indulgent, but enough to be human. "Then the question becomes whether you're willing to be the one who decides."

Silence settled again. Not awkward. Charged.

Aurelia became acutely aware of the space between them. Of how still Elara was. Of how rare it was to be spoken to without ceremony or fear.

"I'll expect your paper by the end of the week," Elara said finally, straightening. The shift was subtle but unmistakable, lecturer reclaiming her role. "You have an incisive mind. I'd like to see how you use it when you're not constrained by discussion."

Aurelia stood. "I won't disappoint you."

"I don't expect you will," Elara replied.

Their eyes met once more. For a heartbeat, Aurelia wondered if Elara felt it too, the quiet pull, the sense of something forming where nothing should.

Then Elara looked away first.

Aurelia left the hall with measured steps, her expression serene. Only when she reached the privacy of her residence wing did she allow herself to pause.

She pressed a hand lightly to her sternum.

Steady, she told herself. This was nothing. An engaging lecturer. A stimulating conversation. That was all.

Yet as evening fell and the academy settled into its orderly hush, Aurelia found her thoughts returning-unbidden, to unreadable eyes and words that felt uncomfortably like an invitation.

Elsewhere, in her temporary quarters, Elara Voss stood by the window overlooking the gardens, hands clasped behind her back.

She exhaled slowly.

Of all the students she had expected to challenge her this term, the crown princess had not been the one she'd prepared for. Nor had she anticipated the immediate, unsettling clarity of that first exchange.

This is dangerous, Elara reminded herself. Unprofessional. Unwise.

She turned away from the window and gathered her papers, forcing her focus back to the safe, familiar territory of scholarship and structure.

Tomorrow would be easier.

It had to be.

Because some lines, once crossed, could never be redrawn.