RATTLED

10

Luka landed outside the Legion Academy gates once again, stretching his wings before shifting back into his mortal form. Multiple back-to-back days of long flights had resulted in aches along his entire body.

He'd planned on training this afternoon to keep up his muscle memory, but he wasn't sure his body could take any more. In fact, if he didn't get some substantial sustenance soon, he wouldn't have enough energy left to make it another hour. But it was nearing midday, so if he was quick, he might be able to catch his squad at lunch before they went to their posts. His stomach growled in response.

Hurrying across the grounds to the dining hall, he let himself soak in the sight of his entire squadron seated at a table across the room before grabbing a bowl of the day's mystery stew, so hungry he didn't even care what was in it.

"Look who finally decided to join us!" Kam, a wolf shifter and Luka's third in command, signed to the table with a sarcastic grin and a twinkle in his eyes that radiated brightly against his dark brown skin and cropped black hair.

Luka scoffed as he plopped into the last open chair. "For a guy who can't hear, you sure do talk a lot of shit," Luka replied with a smile, generating a laugh from everyone at the table—the biggest one from Kam.

"I learned from reading the lips of the best shit talkers in Denover," he signed back and gestured to the shifters at the table.

Luka couldn't argue with that logic. "I'm sorry I haven't been around much to live up to that praise," he said, his smile fading. It was such a relief being able to let down his guard around his friends, even if just for a little bit. While his statement was meant to be a joke, it reminded the group of the news they had received not even a full day before.

There was an awkward pause before Finn, the other panther shifter in their squad, broke the tension. "We're just glad to see you, Captain," he said, placing a firm hand on Luka's shoulder, his silver-blue eyes looking fiercely into Luka's. "You know we have your back. Whatever you need." Everyone nodded solemnly. It was something that went without saying to squadmates, but it didn't hurt to hear it anyway.

Luka changed the subject, turning to Evelyn across the table. "I never got the chance to ask you yesterday. How was your date?" He tried to sound earnest, tried to hide the inkling of envy that bubbled in his chest.

"It was climactic," she winked and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Leah was right about wolves knowing their way around the bedroom."

Leah, the painfully quiet wolf shifter sitting next to Evelyn, smiled shyly behind the inky bobbed hair that hung in her face, her olive skin showing the faintest blush.

"I offered to demonstrate that for you years ago, and I seem to remember you turning me down for a dragon," Kam signed with a raised brow in Luka's direction .

"Please," Evelyn said. "As if Leah isn't keeping you busy. You think I can't hear you two every time I walk past your room?"

"Evelyn!" Leah shrieked, hitting the panther playfully on the arm.

"Oh, don't even pretend to be embarrassed," Evelyn joked, "you're hardly the only two at this table that have a history." Luka remained silent, finding anywhere to look but the rest of the shifters that glanced at him knowingly.

"She's not embarrassed," Kam signed. "She just doesn't want word getting out about her talents. I can barely keep her to myself as it is."

Leah tossed a crumb from her plate directly into Kam's forehead with a laugh. Her hand found Kam's under the table, a contentment blooming on her face.

It was hard not to admire their easy relationship. The two wolves just… fit together. They made sense—Kam's boisterous personality balanced Leah's reserve beautifully. Their respect for each other could be felt from across the table. Beside Evelyn, Finn asked, "So, did you plan a second date?"

"We have more important things to worry about," Evelyn said with a pained smile. "Besides," she chuckled. "I can sleep with someone without the pomp and circumstance of a date if I need to."

"Fair enough," he said, returning her faint smile before turning to Luka. "Will we see you on the mat this afternoon?"

At the mention of training, the group began to pick up their bowls and plates to clear the table. The rest of the dining hall had already emptied without them noticing.

"I think I'm going to sit out today. My body needs to rest," he looked down realizing he had barely made a dent in his food despite his initial hunger. "You guys go ahead. I'll finish up on my own."

Kam patted him on the back as the group parted and made their way to the training ring. Evelyn was the only one that hung back.

"How are you doing?"

Luka shrugged. "Well, the weather has been unseasonably warm, but — "

"You know what I mean," she cut him off.

"I'm fine," he looked up at her eyes that were filled with a mixture of pity and understanding.

"Liar. I can tell something's off," she pulled up the chair next to him. "It should go without saying, but just because we're not together doesn't mean I don't care about you," she continued. "I agreed to join your squad after we broke up, you know. I did that because you're family to me. If you trust me with your life, you should at least trust me with your emotions. And you know the others feel the same way. You don't have to deal with this shit alone."

"Seriously, I'm okay, Ev. Go on, you'll be late—"

"Don't be a bud," Evelyn said gravely, leaning back and crossing her arms, using their unspoken code phrase that required complete and total honesty.

It had been born from a lazy afternoon they'd spent lying in a field of flowers when they were still young. Evelyn had been struggling a lot in classes that year and had asked him to just sit with her for a while to clear her head. Up until that point, their friendship had been fairly surface level, most of their conversations focused on training and lectures.

But he knew how much turmoil laid beneath Evelyn's stony exterior, thanks to his mother telling him a few weeks earlier why Evelyn had enrolled in the Academy at such a young age. And if there was anyone who understood Evelyn's situation, it was him. After that, he'd been determined to get to know the real her.

Once they'd spent a while in comfortable silence, he'd plucked an unopened bud from the patch and handed it to her.

"What is this?" she'd asked.

"It's you," he'd said softly. "Right now, you're all closed up. But I know there's more to you hiding in there. Maybe if you let someone finally see your petals, you could focus less on keeping your guard up in class and more on actually learning."

She'd just stared at him skeptically.

"It doesn't have to be me," he'd added nervously. "But you should let someone see you bloom. You deserve that much, at least."

Evelyn still didn't open herself up that day. But a few weeks later, she'd cornered him in the hallway after training. "I'm tired of being a bud," she'd admitted, pain lacing her words. He'd followed her to her room where she spent the rest of the evening unloading years of pent up trauma she'd never shared with anyone else before. From that night forward, they'd never kept another secret from each other.

Luka sighed. Something broke in him at the way she looked at him now, the complex emotions of the last few days catching up with him. Sometimes he hated how well she could read him after all these years. Luka looked away, avoiding her heavy gaze. "If you really want to know, I feel like I'm betraying my father, working alongside the exact same family that participated in his death."

"Yeah," she breathed, letting the statement settle between them. They both understood the weight in those words.

Luka stirred his stew mindlessly, not wanting to show her the moisture welling in the corners of his eyes. "But I also can't help but feel like this is exactly what he would have wanted, you know? A real chance at peace…" he trailed off, his brow furrowed. "And knowing that makes me feel guilty that I kind of want to take a bite out of the royals every time I see them."

He saw her shrug out of the corner of his eye. "I mean… I will gladly cheer you on if you decide to give into those desires next time. Just make sure to save me a front row seat."

That made him chuckle. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" He looked up to find her watching him intently.

"Glad we're on the same page, then," she said. "You can dine on the fae so long as I get to watch. I'd drop a lot of coin for that."

"You've got yourself a deal."

She stood with a small grin and placed a soft hand on his shoulder. "I'll check on you later, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed as she left him to his lunch that had grown cold. He suddenly no longer cared to eat. Evelyn was right. He used his rough exterior as a shield, deflecting anyone who dared to get close, something he realized was a mirror image of how his mother treated those around her after his father passed.

That was what he missed about his father the most—Molden's complete and utter emotional availability. Any time Luka would cry about something, no matter how inconsequential, Molden was right there to dry his young son's tears. He wore his heart on his sleeve for all to see. It's why he was so beloved by every shifter in Denover, and why his death was so hard to swallow. Once he was gone, Shara became cold and distant. Broken.

He tried not to hold it against her, but it was hard feeling like he'd lost one parent just to lose another to grief. Things between them became easier over time, he supposed, even though they felt more like colleagues than family sometimes. He wondered if Aria felt the same, if her parents treated her purely as a princess or if she was able to have a somewhat normal relationship with the king and queen.

Why am I thinking about her? Luka shook the comparison from mind with disgust, dumping the remnants of his lunch in the trash before trudging back to his room, exhaustion and uncertainty weighing heavy on his shoulders.

***

"I yield!" Stef yelled from the ground, Aria's sword poking into his throat. She grabbed his outstretched hand and yanked him up from the mat. "Gods, Aria, take it easy," he said, rubbing his neck.

"Sorry, Stef." Aria rolled her shoulders back, trying to break up some of the tension that had been building steadily there over the last few days.

Taren stepped between them, concern spreading across their face. "Aria, take a break. Stef, find a new partner."

Aria huffed and started to walk away but was stopped by Taren's firm hand on her elbow. "Not so fast, you. Follow me."

Begrudgingly, she walked behind Taren who moved swiftly toward the corner of the training area away from the noise of practice combat.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Taren asked with a low voice, dropping the stiff guise they wore during training sessions.

"You heard, right?" Aria asked, hoping she wouldn't have to fill Taren in on all the details of their current predicament.

"About the border wall vanishing overnight and some unknown battle we have to prepare for with the shifters?" Taren asked sarcastically. "Yeah, I heard enough. "

Aria just nodded slowly. "There's more," she said, Taren's eyebrows raising in response. Aria told them everything. About Luka cornering her in the courtyard at the Solstice Sanctum, and then sneaking into her bedroom in the middle of the night. About her grandmother being the leader of the Unifier movement. Oh , and also that Vera would be arriving within the week to meet with the Royal Assembly to apparently figure out where she stood on working with the shifters. "And did you know I apparently talk in my sleep?" Aria squeaked the last word, her voice becoming nearly hysterical.

"My gods, Aria," Taren paced back and forth along the wall they'd been hugging to avoid the eyes of the rest of the group in training. They pulled a feather pen from their back pocket and spun their dark hair into a bun revealing the shaved underside. " Vera? Are you serious? " The ground began to rumble softly underneath them, matching the pace of Taren's fists shaking at their side.

"Shh! Not so loud, no one else knows," Aria looked around to make sure they hadn't caused a scene. "And I swear to Mallium if you say anything about this to anyone, I will end you ," she spat with a finger prodded into Taren's chest, both joking but also completely serious.

"If the shifters already know, then the rest of the kingdom will know soon enough." Taren buried their face in their hands. "What the fuuuuuck ," they groaned, the sound barely audible through their fingers. "Also, how in the dark realm did Luka get into your room? And who the fuck does he think he is just laying into you like that out of nowhere? I'd like to share a few words with him myself—"

"I know," Aria interrupted. "I don't understand it either, but whatever high he's on right now will come crashing down pretty soon if we don't stop Vera first," she sighed. They sat in silence for a moment, contemplating what was ahead of them. "I told him to meet me tomorrow night during my border shift to check in."

"I'll be there," Taren said, not missing a beat. "I don't trust him with you alone, especially in the middle of the forest in the dark."

"I don't need him thinking I need protection," Aria protested, but Taren continued glaring at her. "Okay, fine. You can come. But stay hidden. He'll be more candid if he thinks we're alone."

Taren's eyes narrowed. "Fine, but the second I smell something smoky coming from him, he's getting a rock to the face," Taren conceded, garnering Aria's first smile during their entire conversation.

"I think those are fair terms," she said.

"Also, I'm surprised you didn't know you talk in your sleep," Taren confided, scratching the back of their neck. "It's, um, honestly kind of a lot. Has no one really told you that before?"

"Oh my gods," it was Aria's turn to hide her face in her hands. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"I wish I was, babe." Taren grimaced. "What did you say? Hopefully nothing that would get you in trouble with the Royal Assembly."

"Worse. Apparently, I was… reliving the shifter romance I'm reading," she mumbled, her face reddened remembering the look on Luka's face.

"Yeah, that's not shocking," Taren said casually.

Aria panicked. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing," they said, walking away.

"Hey! You can't just say that and then leave!" Aria called after them, taking two steps for every one of Taren's to keep up .

Taren looked down at Aria who was now jogging along their side. "I just know from experience that you have very lusty dreams, that's all," they smirked.

"Oh, fuck me ," Aria sighed, exasperated. And incredibly embarrassed.

"Already did," Taren gave her one of their famous, boisterous laughs. "Now go grab a new partner and try not to scare the shit out of them this time."