Inside the academy's back garden, Nancy stepped quietly through the marble archway that led into the open courtyard. The garden stretched out before her elegant and tranquil, lined with carefully trimmed hedges, marble benches, and fountains shaped like spiraling dragons. Morning light spilled across it in soft beams, scattering over the wet petals of blooming lilies.
But none of that beauty caught her attention. Her gaze was sharp, fixed ahead.. searching.
Is that him?
Nova's voice murmured faintly in her mind as eyes narrowed slightl spotting the figure under the large sycamore tree in the distance a boy, sitting cross legged in the shade, speaking with a girl who had long, light-brown hair. They seemed completely at ease, their quiet conversation occasionally breaking into soft laughter.
