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The air in the main hall was stale; disuse had allowed layers of dust to accumulate until the frantic march of guards had kicked it up, letting it dance in the air. It hung thick around Drift, making every breath feel laboured and heavy. She focused on the rhythm to distract herself from the tension in the room; the Professors eyes hadn't left hers since she entered, and the guards were standing to attention. She hadn't had this many eyes on her since, well-
In, hold, out.
This was fine, she thought, making an effort to loosen her posture and plaster on a lopsided grin. The vibe felt different - more charged than usual - but she chalked it up to the brewing rebellion and bandits. The bounty on Ambear and Legs had freaked them all out, and with Ambear missing it was natural that it would make the Professor more tense. This was probably just some routine questioning to see if anyone knew anything about the rebels or bandits.
(Which she did. She was a rebel. AJ was one too, and she was right outside, probably eavesdropping despite Drift's assurances that she would be fine. God, the Professor probably knew that, was about to pull the guilt directly out her mouth and send both her and AJ to wherever they send rebels and then-)
In, hold, out.
She could do this. She's made it this far, and AJ's put far too much faith in her for her to fail at the first hurdle. She just had to be a closed book for a few minutes, and then the Professor would tell her some bullshit about her destiny before letting her scurry out to relay everything to the decay mage. It would be easy!
In, hold, out.
God, her lungs itched.
"Drift," the Professor began, voice reverberating all around her, "I called you here today to discuss something that has recently come to the academy's attention in the form of a letter we received."
A guard hurried to pull out a sheet of paper of her uniform, and swiftly held it in front of the Professor. It looked ornate and familiar, but she was too far away to discern anything in particular. She held her breath, waiting for the large dragon looming overhead to speak.
"To the most esteemed Elder Dragon, high Professor of the Summer Realm's renowned Academy,
Word has reached us that you are harbouring a fugitive of Thornreach within your walls. We received an anonymous tip from a credible source citing their enrollment in your academy, supplemented with proof to confirm their validity.
The student currently believed to be enrolled in your dragon rider program under the name "Drift" is - to our best knowledge - the Crown Princess of Thornreach, who we have been searching for for some time now.
We, therefore, are requesting the immediate extradition of this fugitive back to our kingdom. Thornreach will arrange transport, and you will disentangle her from your school as soon as possible. It would be preferable to the kingdom of Thornreach to also cover any evidence of her enrollment there, as to quell any potential political unrest.
A carriage has been sent along with this letter, and is expected back in Thornreach posthaste. If a fortnight should pass with no signal of her return, we will have no choice but to view this as a kidnapping, and as an act of war between our kingdoms. Troops will be sent soon after.
We look forward to her return; her siblings and father have missed her so.
With strength and might,
The Throne of Thornreach."
The Professor stopped reading, and the guard hurried to tuck the letter back into their chest plate- but Drift didn't notice any of it.
She had been found.
Shock plunged over her like ice water. No, no, she had been so careful - changed her name, her age, everything: she didn't even look the same! Drift had taken every precaution, how-?!
The guards took a step towards her, and as she reached for her belt, her hand slipping past where her dagger should be, it all clicked into her place. Her family heirloom, crest of the Thornreach royal family emblazoned into the steel, was gone. Proof, the letter had said.
She could've laughed at the irony: brought to heel by her own weapon.
"Drift," the Professor boomed, "I'm sorry. It's true I had much faith in you and your ability to raise Fern, but the matter is out of my hands; a similar letter was sent to the Queen. She has stressed that with the corruption coming, we cannot afford to be at war with our neighbours: we need allies, not enemies. The decision has been made."
A sharp metallic sound rung out, drawing Drift's attention away from the dragon in front of her. The guards had advanced further, and, to her horror, had formed a circle around her with their weapons drawn. Worse still was the feeling it gave her once all the blades had interlocked: a horrible, bone deep heaviness that made it hard to move her muscles. Every movement took all of her energy, and the air stung like-
"Iron." The Professor explained, voice sounding sad. Fat lot of good pity would do her now - if he really cared he wouldn't be doing this. "An unfortunate necessity. You've never been one to turn down a fight, and I'd rather not have to rebuild the room."
"You're not even gonna let me explain?!" She screamed, teeth gritted, near growling at the guards who - to her credit - were looking more and more nervous to approach her. It was all a façade (she couldn't even summon a flower in this state) but they didn't have to know that. "You're just gonna send me back to him?! What about Fern?!"
"Fern will be fine, as will you. I truly am sorry, Drift, but one novice Dragonrider simply isn't worth the hassle. You should know better than anyone that Thornreach isn't a kingdom one declares war on lightly."
She was gritting her teeth so hard she feared they might crack. Maybe that would help; it was starting to look like the only way out was with her hands and teeth. Begging clearly was getting her nowhere, but she had to try. Had to make them understand what they were sentencing her to.
"And yet you'll send me there. You don't know what he's like- what he'll do-"
"I do understand, but my loyalty is to the dragons and the Queen, not one single rider. Besides, you are a princess: you will surely receive a lighter sentence-'
Drift barked out a laugh, so loud and sharp and frantic that a few of the guards stepped back, almost breaking the circle. Almost.
"You know nothing! I ran away - committed treason of the highest order - and that's an automatic death sentence. Public execution, no exceptions. Trust me: I've been witness to enough of them! I'll be dead within the week, and I'll make sure my head ends up on your doorstep!!"
"You'll be what?!"
Drift turned, and her heart stopped. Stood there, heaving with exertion, daggers in hand, was AJ. She looked furious, terrifying even. Drift had never felt such visceral relief in her life.
"AJ, this is a private meeting."
"Yeah," she huffed, wiping sweat and ash from her forehead, "you said as much when you pulled Drift away. We had plans, ykno', a nice walk round the river, but I figured you'd be a few minutes and we'd be back on our way. But then," she twirled her dagger around, pointing it lazily at the Professor, "I heard shouting. So naturally I tried to see what was up, and your guards attacked me - someone should probably deal with them, by the way, they lost a lot of blood - so I guessed you were probably doing some shady stuff."
A few of the guard surrounding Drift looked to each other nervously, seemingly silently discussing if they should break formation to help their fallen comrades, but the circle of iron remained. The burning was getting almost unbearable, and Drift let out a hiss of pain reflexively. AJ's eyes flashed to her at the sudden noise, before returning to the Professor with even more vitriol.
"Seems I was right, if she's saying you're gonna kill her. Wanna explain why you're treating my girlfriend like a criminal?"
"She is not a criminal," The Professor huffed, the warm air running over the room like a current, "but she is a flight risk. This is a precaution, and it does not concern you."
"A flight risk, isn't that what this whole place is about?" She grinned throwing her hands out, and, despite everything, Drift let out a weak giggle. Leave it to AJ to make her laugh even at the worst of times.
"Drift is no longer enrolled in this school at her father's request. She is being sent home posthaste. If you wish to say goodbye, do so now."
"Her dad? What, is he not happy with her grades or something?"
"AJ-" Drift warned, but she wouldn't listen.
"I mean, she's an adult! Who does this guy even think he is, bossing a dragon around?!"
"AJ, please-" she begged, near on a sob, and the decay mage's grin finally broke. "It's- I was going to tell you, I swear- I thought we had more time, I thought I'd done it well enough, I just didn't want you to hate me-"
"Hey, hey, hey!" AJ rushed to the edge of the circle, getting as close to the earth mage as she could. Drift had collapsed onto her knees and into hiccuping sobs, no longer having the energy to keep herself together. AJ tried to make soothing noises, but the guards kept her from even being within arms reach of the blades. She dropped to a crouch, locking eyes with the shaking mess Drift had become. "I couldn't hate you - not even if I tried for a million years. Whatever it is, we'll be ok. I won't let them take you."
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter."
"Wanna bet?" She sneered, standing to her full height again, all traces of softness gone from her face. "Why don't you let me talk to him, huh?"
"I don't believe the King of Thornreach is accepting audiences presently."
The Professors voice rang out like a death knell, and Drift tucked herself into her knees. She heard AJ's breath hitch, but couldn't look up. She couldn't face what she was so sure she would see: the decay mage's face twisted into betrayal, disgust, fear. Not after she'd looked at her with so much... love. She had seen her, loved her in some shape or form, for who she was, not what she was. If she was never going to see AJ again, that was the face she wanted to remember. She would not look up.
"...Is- is that true?"
She shrugged, face still firmly in her knees, and made a noncommittal noise that sounded more like a whine. God, she was pathetic. She should've known she could never have this; this was all some dream, an ideal life lived on borrowed time. It was always going to end this way: heart broken and head on the executioners block.
"Open Book."
She curled in tighter. The worst part was she had noone else to blame but herself; she knew this was coming. It didn't make it any easier.
"Open Book, look at me."
God, she wanted to so bad. This was horrible, but seeing AJ's face lined with hatred might actually, truly kill her.
"Drift!"
And just like that, she cracked. In hindsight it was a losing battle from the start: when it came down to it, Drift had never really been able to deny AJ anything. She could indulge her one last time.
When she finally looked up, the scene before her was not as she had been expecting. There was no hatred, no pacing, no whirlwind of righteous fury: instead, the decay mage just stood there, solemn. Her dark eyes flitted across the her face, calm and calculating, searching for something unknown to Drift. Whatever it was, she somehow managed to find it under the layers of thick tears that had plastered themselves to her.
The decay mage finally caught Drift's eye, and she did the unimaginable: she smiled.
It wasn't a happy one born from their stupid jokes, nor the crooked, teasing kind she'd come to love. It was sad, laced with resignation over their fate, but more than that, it was overwhelmingly fond. Despite everything, all the lies she'd built this life on, all the secrets she had kept from her, AJ still looked at her like she hung the moon. She still looked at her like she was something precious - not some delicate prize or stolen jewel, but something important, irreplaceable.
She still looked at her like she was Drift.
The earth mage would've collapsed from the relief of it if she weren't already on the ground.
She watched as AJ opened her mouth, and braced for the goodbye, but it never came. Instead, her face twisted, running through emotions faster than Drift could parse them. When her expression settled, her brow was set in determination. Anyone else would miss the unmistakable fear in her eyes, but not Drift. She had spent months learning AJ's tells, and could read her like a well worn book: the girl had a plan.
Drift gave a small nod, and AJ's expression softened. They both knew it was unnecessary: they would follow each other anywhere, no questions asked.
"I forgive you." AJ tilted her head, smiling sadly at her through the gap in the guards. "I hope you can forgive me, too."
Drift opened her mouth to ask what she meant, but the breath was stolen from her lungs before she could. AJ slammed her hand to the ground and Drift watched as it cracked open, sucking in air and shadows like a vortex. The guard between them didn't even get a chance to scream before she was dragged down, buried deep below the castle floors, as Drift and the others watched helplessly.
She had seen this before - Hell, she had been that guard a few days ago. It was all exactly the same: same ice in her veins, same static buzz filling the air. The only difference was the victim.
The bandit hasn't buried her alive - AJ had.
There wasn't a moment to process before the air shifted and the incessant burn let up. The guards had broken formation, desperately clawing at the ground to save their fallen friend. AJ took advantage of the chaos, pouncing on Drift and pulling her into her arms. Her arms flung around the decay mage in turn, using the last of her strength to encase them in a dome of dirt, shielding them from the remaining guards and the booming shouts of the Professor.
"I'm sorry." AJ panted, clutching tighter as purple sparks illuminated their little enclosure. "I'm so fucking sorry Drift-"
"It's ok," she soothed, face buried in the crook of her neck as the ground shook and earth rained down on them, "it's ok, AJ. I'm sorry too - we'll- we'll talk. We'll get out of here, and I'll tell you everything, I swear... Will- will you do the same?"
They shuddered, but nodded, and that was good enough for now. Drift raised her head just in time to see her magic give out, the wall crumbling around them. The guards and - fuck, even the Professor - lunged towards them, shouting for them to stop, but it was too late.
Purple light exploded out from between them, making the entire room shield their eyes. When the dust settled, it was too late. All that remained was a broken shell of earth, and sparks of decay and earth magic lingering in the silhouette of a tight embrace.