Sorein wanted to crawl out of his very skin.

He imagined his skeleton finding a way to unzip from his body and dig deep into the floor.

His insides were screaming at him to get up and get out. To flee back to Azuris. He wanted to get as far away from that cold, glazed over look in her eyes as she beheld him.

He watched as Iliya's fingers tightened into her dressing gown, kneading at the fabric. She visibly stiffened, curling into herself slightly.

The large space around them was beginning to flood with people, filled with the sound of shuffling footsteps and breathing.

No escape.

Sorein tried to pinch himself, only to find that the awful nightmare he'd fallen into was his own fault.

The entire problem could be considered his fault, he decided. Ruining their awkward and secret evening by losing his temper. Sorein had spent the last two years attempting to leash it, to keep his opinions and concerns to himself. But the young woman staring back at him had pushed him too far and the carefully crafted hold he had, slipped.

So Sorein did the only thing he could think of.

He lifted his gaze and stared right back.

~ 🔮 ~

She couldn't believe her eyes.

Not when they stared at the tall, lean man in white slink down into the Fae section. His crisp, white collared shirt and unwrinkled slacks contrasted only by his shaggy black hair. The midnight waves even seemed to be on their best behavior.

Iliya felt the pit in her stomach widen and expand, so much so that she shrunk into herself in an attempt to make the sensation stop.

Sorein Chakrine towered over most but he was an entire head and shoulders taller than her. She hadn't seen him enter. She once wondered if he could out stealth silence itself; his movements were often methodical as if from another dimension.

This wasn't a hallucination.

She was certain this time, watching him find his seat.

When Sorein looked at her, she noticed him visibly pale. Iliya was certain no other would witness anything like it in all their years. The Prince was skilled at a great many things, but remaining masked to the world was his specialty.

Frozen in place, Iliya inspected him. She examined the way he straightened beneath her gaze, still and unmoving. As if this were a wild game of predator and prey.

She was entirely uncertain who was what in this circumstance, but her heart pounded violently against her ribs in anticipation.

Should she be the hunted, Iliya knew there was nothing to be done. Perhaps watch him stalk her until the final moment came and she no longer existed.

Though if she were the hunter...

Iliya hadn't ever considered how he might be as afraid of interacting with her as she was with him. The thought seemed ludicrous.

But she watched him stay still, very still. Too still, in fact. As if in one strike she could end him where he sat.

Her initial reaction was to be flattered, she supposed.

Sorein was an avid hunter and an even more remarkable fighter. He spent a few of their past interactions teaching her moves her own cousin didn't know.

She had told him to leave the estate and he did. As well as the entire country. It had taken her a long time to stop looking around, always wondering where he'd gone.

Rhydian was the one to tell her he'd gone back to Azuris. The same night she'd cast him out.

Iliya couldn't tell if two years was long enough to drown out the hideous things they'd said to one another.

The large doors sealed the building, shimmering in enchantments. They wouldn't open again until morning and she wasn't about to cause a scene.

No, she was trapped.

Priestesses began walking around the room, slowly greeting everyone with short, quick bows. Their dress robes trailed after them like sweeping, white trains.

So Iliya took a deep, steadying breath and looked straight into those storm gray eyes.

~ 🔮 ~

Neither of them looked away.

Sorein watched the clouded look in her eye slowly vanish. Her fingers relaxed, she sat up straighter, and for the first time, she really saw him.

Iliya's brows furrowed slightly, the intensity in her gaze hardening.

The blaze in her eyes felt like a challenge.

He could take a challenge.

Anything was better than the twisted, yet conflicting anger and hatred battling inside those green irises.

Sorein watched her lips part as if she were going to say something, but sucked in a breath instead.

Either realizing where she was or needing the strength to keep this up, Sorein didn't know. He only knew he would hold her gaze until she looked away.

He wouldn't be the first.

Not a chance.

She could set the rules if she wished. He'd already caught her blinking, so there was no penalty for it.

With anyone else he might scowl at the childish behavior, knowing full well this was a place of worship that deserved his respect. Their respect. Yet somehow this was more important. More fragile and tenuous.

This might have been a challenge, but it was not a game.

Without turning her head, Iliya glanced sidelong toward the nearest Priestess, assuring herself they weren't looking. When her eyes trailed back, she blinked slowly.

With Calculation.

He didn't understand.

She looked one more time. "Why?" she mouthed.

The incessant racing in his head picked up again. Sorein didn't need to hear anything to understand.

So many thoughts fought for ground in his mind. He didn't have an answer for that. He couldn't find a way to explain in one or few words, not when he didn't know. Sure, his father would be joining in a few short days and for the third year in a row, he'd be nearly dragged. It was likely he missed the temple and the atmosphere.

Missed Aida's Temple specifically.

Sorein could lie to her in so many ways, tugging on half truths to save him.

But he didn't know why he was here.

He didn't need to be convinced, his father hadn't asked him. No one had.

Sorein woke up and began packing for the festival, he told Jeremy they were going.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

It was all he had to offer her.

Sorein didn't know.

Nor would he ever lie to her.

Not again.

~ 🔮 ~

She wanted to be outraged at the admission. Something about the relenting in his gaze and the sadness in his eyes made her question everything she'd known.

Iliya hadn't ordered him out of the city.

Just away so she might not have to look at him, to face those terrible things ever again.

Her perception of time was extremely obscured on top of it. She didn't know if minutes or hours were passing by until the darkness of night grew overhead. The soft patter of rain still skidded along the crystal roof, granting the most gentle melody in the silence.

A younger Priestess approached with an offering of fruit. The cup was small but filled to the top with different berries, freshly washed by the look of the condensation sliding down the sides.

Sorein had thrown her into a tailspin.

She didn't even know if she wanted the fruit, her brain short-circuiting as if it were another test.

So Iliya shook her head and waved her away kindly, hoping to ignore the insanity swarming her mind.

There was no chance he didn't know why he was here, no way he would just come here for no reason after so long. Nothing was ever so simple.

But there he was, fighting back a smirk at her awkward internal bickering about the fruit. She knew. Iliya could see the twitching in his lower lip, no matter how intent he might be on fighting it.

Her teeth ground at the thought, eyes narrowing in on him.

Sorein's smile stopped immediately.

Good, she thought.

There was no reason he should be enjoying himself so much.

Iliya began crafting a masterful escape plan, watching the least traveled pathways and marking the closest exits. She would slip out before he ever had a chance to catch her.

To follow her.

She had gotten away with so much unrecognized, managing to find herself here.

There was no telling if it would be easy, but she knew it was possible to slip back into the estate unseen.

Without the Prince at her back.

Luck wasn't meant to be pushed, Iliya knew that better than anyone. Perhaps tweaked and nudged, but never overexerted. She might get away with this flighty attempt at visiting the Temple.

But there was no telling if she would make it home, or to her true desire.

The Ceremony of Lights.

~ 🔮 ~

Losing the war against his eyelids, Sorein attempted counting his breaths, then the raindrops, even the statues though there weren't very many of them. His challenge of watching Iliya hadn't turned sour, but perhaps cold.

Her gaze had drifted away a few times now, even if it always returned. The hardened look turned from a scolded woman into a strategic warrior.

Sorein had no idea what she was planning, but he was certain if anything she was leaning towards flight.

Before he knew it, the highbell chimed, letting in a wave of Priestesses to attend to their guests. Sorein had no idea when the sun began to rise again, only knowing this entire Vigil was nothing he expected.

He almost felt ashamed for not focusing.

Almost, if it weren't for that strange Princess sitting across for him, giving him a reason to focus.

To stay present.

The High Priestess unsealed the doors, the magic bursting with a tiny flicker as the doors creaked open. Out into the world.

As if they were all starved animals, the room began to clear out immediately. He noticed some pushing and shoving, but nothing he deemed aggressive.

Still, neither one of them moved.

Sorein knew Iliya was waiting for the room to be empty, waiting for her chance to sneak out. She wouldn't want to be seen.

So he slowly lifted himself from the seat and straightened his shirt. The hours of sitting had somewhat permanently rumpled the bottom half.

His steps up the stairs were the only sound in the room, tracking against the quartz floors. He glanced back at Jeremy and Noah waiting for him.

Their brows were furrowed in confusion as he lingered.

Iliya stood up, much quicker than he had, and left her wing. There was only one way out. A long runway from the doors to him.

Though to his surprise, she didn't balk at that either.

She came to stand in front of him, tipping her head to stare at him one last time.

Sorein's chest tightened, his legs taking one more step forward before there was only a foot between them. He felt his heart thrash with intense panic and frustration.

He could feel her breath graze across his nose.

"You can't run forever," he willed into her mind, praying she hadn't shut him out entirely two years ago.

She blinked, taking a step back. Alarmed.

Iliya's calm facade faltered at that moment, panic and doubt prominently washing over her. Her hands shook at her sides.

Sorein stared long and hard at those black rings lining each of her fingers, black obsidian glinting in the light and chained together by silver. For a moment he thought a shimmer of magic swirled there.

She followed his eyes, her grip tightening around them.

Iliya bit her lip and glared. "Watch me."

Turning on her heel, she sprinted out of the Temple, disappearing down the steps outside before there could be any more exchange.

He sighed to himself, slowly wandering out after her.

If she wanted to hide from the world, sobeit.