Page 132 of To Fight and To Fold

Runa was already finding her place in defense, Thea thought. She fit with the others, was eager to do something, and… also had more recent knowledge of the castle's inner workings and the guard's schedule. Or she had, before she'd been fired because Thea had snatched Aaryn up from beneath her nose.

It was really all Thea's fault Runa was here. Her family was sitting feet away, giggling at one another in the aftermath of an attack that never should've happened. Her stomach twisted.

"No, no, it's not like that. Quit being embarrassing!" Runa cried, and shoved Marcus.

They were in a fit of laughter and Runa looked desperately at Thea. "Tell them!"

"Tell them what?"

"Ugh!" Runa groaned. "Dad, there's no thing. Thea's in loooooove."

Marcus's gasp was comical, and Thea couldn't help but sputter, even as the word made her stomach flip.

"With whom?" James asked with barely-contained glee.

"Her name's Aaryn. They're really sweet together," Runa said, grinning at Thea.

"Don't say anything," Thea grumbled, trying to act like she wasn't delighted by this turn in conversation. "She doesn't know."

Runa waved a hand at Thea, made a face at her parents, and whispered, "See? Told you. Helpless."

"How's the courting going?"

"Courting?" Thea echoed, face alight with heat. "There's no courting."

"They're at the gift-giving phase," Runa supplied, and Thea gaped.

"How do you even know that?"

"Aaryn was showing off her new—" Runa poked Thea's arm with each following word. "—handmade, clay, modeled-after-her-own-dragon pin!" Thea leaned so far away with each prod of her finger that she was practically supine when Runa abruptly sat back with an amused grin. "It's really adorable. She likes it a lot."

"Oh," Thea said, scratching a hand through her hair. "That's, uh, good."

Something distasteful swirled in her stomach at the thought of Aaryn showing off the brooch so proudly, telling everyone how wonderful Thea was.

Because it wasn't true.

Runa eventually offered Thea a chance to escape, though at the time she'd been cackling at Marcus and James' antics, and she hadn't wanted to leave nearly as badly as she’d thought. She'd promised to return and show them her favorite kitchens later, and she'd told them of the bonfire.

The bonfire that Thea had wanted to invite Aaryn to. Before it felt wrong, before⁠—

"Thea!" Aaryn's bright, bubbly voice carried from a short distance, and several other heads turned in her direction as Aaryn and Starspark began sprinting her way.

Thea was instantly suspicious of their too-happy manner, practically vibrating in place as they stopped before her.

"Vaelen said—ah, hold on, I'm out of shape—" Aaryn breathed, and planted her hands on her knees with a laugh. Her pink hair fell in a curtain, hiding her face flushed from exertion.

"You should've just let Starspark carry you." Thea's voice was even and amused and she was so, so struck by Aaryn.

"Well, it's a little late for that now, isn't it?"

"Snappy, snappy," Thea mused.

Once she had collected herself, gathering her hair out of the way, Aaryn suddenly clasped her hands together, eyes going round and pleading. Behind her, Starpark came into focus with his big green eyes wide as saucers, snout tilted down and long as he looked up at her.

"What are you doing?" Thea drawled slowly, sensing something like—well, it must be danger, what with the way her heart was thumping.

"Vaelen told me things were calm enough now to start flying lessons. And she said you'd teach me."