Chapter 3

The floor plan lay forgotten between them, the vellum curling under the unnatural heat radiating from Mira’s palms. In the silent sanctuary of the Chancellor’s Sanctum, the air didn't just feel warm; it felt thick, charged with the ozone scent of a coming storm. 

"It was just a canteen brawl, Dorian," Mira said, though her voice lacked its usual flinty edge. She was vibrating. Not with anger, but with a residual somatic hum that made the very marrow of her bones feel like liquid gold. “Kaelen handled the students. The soup thawed. The ice was swept away.”

Across the mahogany desk, Dorian Solas looked like a man made of porcelain about to shatter. His right hand was tucked into his sleeve, but a vivid inflammation glowed through the scorched linen of his cuff—a re-aggravated mark from when their fingers had first brushed during the map handover. 

“Handling it implies control, Mira,” Dorian replied, his voice a jagged frost. He finally pulled his hand back, revealing the charred fabric. “You didn't just stop the fight. You bled into me. I felt your... your joy.”

Mira flinched. The secret she’d tried to bury—the terrifying, wild rush of pleasure she’d felt when their magics collided—was written in the soot on his wrist. She wanted to apologize, but her body was already leaning toward him, drawn by a biological gravity she couldn't calculate. 

“It’s the Starfall Drift,” she whispered, stepping closer. The red light from the windows bathed them both in a bloody hue. “The atmosphere is unstable. We’re just... grounding each other.”

“I have spent twenty years mastering absolute zero,” Dorian whispered back, his eyes tracking the movement of her throat as she swallowed. “And one touch from you has turned my blood to steam.”

He didn't pull away when she reached out. This time, when her hand covered the burn, the scream of agony she expected never came. Instead, there was a sigh of pressure releasing. The heat from Mira flowed into Dorian, not as a weapon, but as a balm. He closed his eyes, his head bowing until his forehead rested against hers. 

The grounding was complete. The chaos in the Great Hall, the impatient letters from the Ministry, and the arrogance of the Spire faculty faded into a singular, pulsing rhythm. 

“We are in trouble,” Dorian murmured against her skin.

“I know,” Mira replied, her heart hammering a frantic, joyous beat. 

A sharp knock at the door shattered the circuit. Kaelen stood in the threshold, his eyes darting between the two Chancellors—the scorched cuff, the flushed faces, the heavy, shimmering air. He didn't speak, but the suspicion in his gaze was a cold bucket of water. 

“The reports on the injuries, Chancellor,” Kaelen said, his voice flat. “And Lyra has finished the residency permits. The Ministry expects them by dawn.”

Mira stepped back, the sudden loss of contact feeling like a physical blow. The cold of the room rushed back in, biting and hollow. Dorian straightened his robes, his face returning to its mask of crystalline discipline, but he didn't hide the scorched mark. He kept it uncovered, a dark brand against the white of his uniform. 

“Thank you, Kaelen,” Dorian said. “Leave them.”

As the door closed, the two of them stood on opposite sides of a widening gulf, the permanent stain of their connection cooling between them like obsidian.