Liam Mairi had survived a year at Basgiath, but barely. The first year was designed to break them, to weed out the weak, to remind the marked ones that they would never truly belong. He had endured the grueling training, the endless threats, the weight of duty pressing down on his shoulders. He needed a break—they all did. So when Ridoc and Sawyer pushed for a night at a small village tavern just outside the war college, he hadn’t fought them on it. Xaden had ordered him to watch Violet, but with her safely tucked against their commander’s side, Liam finally let himself breathe.

And that’s when he saw her.

Not fighting, not training, not sharpening her blade, or glaring in that sharp, no-nonsense way that made even the most reckless cadets fall in line and in love. No, tonight, she was different. Untamed. Her hair was unbound, flowing down her back in loose waves he had never seen before. She was laughing, singing loudly, her voice cutting through the noise of the tavern as she danced, utterly lost in the moment.

Liam had never been the type to be easily distracted—he was focused, disciplined, always one step ahead. But right now? Right now, he couldn’t look away.

The firelight flickered across her face, her cheeks flushed from the drinks, from the warmth of the room, from the sheer joy that he so rarely got to see on her face. He knew her as the best rider of their year, fierce and unyielding. But this? This was something else entirely.

And for the first time in a long time, Liam found himself wanting something just for him. A moment. A chance. A reason to step closer, to make her laugh like that again, for him.