Disclaimer: I do not own any characters referenced


The door to the Blackbeak estate opened with a soft creek and Sorrel entered, carefully untying her shoes and setting them down beside the many other pairs lining the wall. She glanced at her wristwatch. 11:32. She suppressed a groan. According to the Matron's rules, every Blackbeak had to be in their room by 10:00, unless there happened to be a special occasion.

If anyone were to catch Sorrel, she would be punished. The reason she only returned to the estate late into the night, was because after Nox' surprising proclamation of friendship, he had invited her to a small local coffee shop at the border of town.

Sorrel had been inclined to refuse, but couldn't quite bring herself to turn him down, especially seeing the gleeful spark in his eye. It had been so long since she had encountered anyone with that sort of spark. A different sort of spark from Asterin's excitement or Manon's confidence. Nox' spark was one of hope. Life.

Sorrel's pulse started racing as she made her way up the spiralling staircase. If the Matron ever discovered that she had associated herself with such a lowlife– not to mention, missed curfew due to the fact that she had lost track of time with him – there would be hell to pay. Sorrel could be disowned. Or banned from ever spending time with Nox again. The thought made her frown.

Although Sorrel had always thought of Nox as an irresponsible, annoying child who had randomly sat next to her on the first day of school, spending time with him, she had realized that there was more to him than just that. She had enjoyed talking to him. And it had seemed as though he had enjoyed himself as well.

Sorrel turned a corner, swift and light on her toes, but stifled a shriek when something knocked into her and she fell to the ground. She hissed and looked at the person sitting in front of her – who had also fallen upon impact. She cocked a brow when she recognized Asterin's wild golden mane.

"Asterin?!" Sorrel whisper-shouted and the addressed stared at her in shock. Noticing the pillow and blanket Asterin was carrying with her, and the direction she had been headed in, Sorrel deciphered that she must've been on the way to Manon's room. She nonetheless asked; "What are you doing here?"

Before Asterin could respond, slow footsteps were heard, echoing from the creaky floorboards upwards the hall.

"Is anyone there?" They recognized the Matron's raspy voice immediately.

"Shit." Asterin grabbed Sorrel's hand and tugged her to her feet, before starting to sprint down the hallway, dragging her along. Sorrel struggled to find her balance before fastening her grip on her bag and running along with Asterin.

To say that running away from the Matron near midnight was out of character for Sorrel was an understatement. She didn't quite know what had come over her in that moment, but she kept moving.

"Stop right there!" The Matron's threatening shouts grew quieter as they progressed when Asterin suddenly halted and tore open a door, disappearing into the room with Sorrel. The bright light blinded her, but her eyes adjusted quickly. Asterin released her hand and Sorrel looked around the room to find herself in the entrance of Manon's suite. As she had figured.

"Whoo!" Asterin exclaimed, falling onto the sofa and kicking her feet up. "That a rush!"

Manon carelessly walked into the main hall from her bedroom, a large mug of tee in hand. Asterin's presence didn't seem to faze her, but a corner of the Blackbeak heiress' lips twitched upwards at the sight of Sorrel. "Sorrel, what a surprise. How have you been lately?"

"Don't act so smug. Asterin dragged me along when she knocked into me in the hallway."

"Please! I saved your sorry ass!" Asterin butted in, running a hand through her untamed locks.

"You sure are lucky that my walls are soundproof, otherwise the Matron would've murdered both of your 'sorry asses' already." Manon scoffed with a smile.

"Fair enough." Asterin chuckled and Sorrel shrugged. "So, can I leave now…?"

The only response needed for Sorrel was a hard knock on the door. Manon widened her eyes.

"Hide." She hissed and Asterin and Sorrel complied, scurrying into her bedroom. Manon took a breath, ruffled her hair and clothes and let her eyelids sink to seem more sleep deprived, before hopping to open the door. She stared the Matron dead in the eyes.

"Yes?"

The Blackbeak mother looked her up and down for a moment with a suspicious glint in her gold ringed eyes. "Manon. I heard noise in the hallways. I'm here to tell you that, if any of your sisters are to come to you tonight, you are to report to me immediately. If you don't and I find out, you'll be punished the same way they will. Now go to bed. I will be monitoring the hallways for the next hour."

And she left.

Once she safely locked the door, Manon rushed to her bedroom. To her surprise, she found Sorrel pinning Asterin to the bed, holding a pillow over her face. Sorrel looked over her shoulder to Manon nonchalantly, while Asterin flailed her arms and legs in an attempt to escape. Manon snorted, tugging the pillow from Sorrel's grasp and allowing Asterin to breathe again.

"By the wyrd, Sorrel!" Asterin yelled, clawing at her throat as she gasped for air.

"You were talking. If the matron had heard you, we would've been dead meat."

"That doesn't give you the right to try to murder me!" Manon watched the exchange with a soft smile present on her lips. Sorrel took a break from bickering with Asterin to stare at Manon.

"It's honestly crazy how much you've changed…" She mumbled, deep in thought. "I heard what the Matron said. Not too long ago you would've fed the two of us to that shark the second she opened the door. Not to mention that she threatened to punish you as well if she were to find out if we were here past curfew."

Manon offered her a half-shrug. "You guys are more important to me than her empty threats."

"Please," Asterin cut in, "you and I both know that her threats are nothing but empty."

Manon chuckled and rolled her shoulders. "Well, I'll deal with that when – and if - it comes down to it. Anyways, the witch is scaling the halls right now, so Sorrel, you're going to have to stay the night."

"You're telling me…" Sorrel sighed with an ironic undertone to her voice, "But so is Asterin."

"We had a little sleepover planned, so it's not relevant to me that I can't leave. You'll just be joining in."


" ...How did it get to this?" Sorrel swore under her breath, her fingers entwined in Manon's moon white locks. The three were sitting in a makeshift circle, braiding each other's hair.

She grunted when Asterin tugged at her braid.

"My scalp, you swine!" Sorrel spat and Asterin suppressed a laugh.

"You not having fun, Sorrel?" Manon asked in a somewhat taunting manner. Sorrel growled. "I thought this was supposed to be a 'fun sleepover'."

"It is!" Asterin exclaimed. "I read on an article that this is what girls generally do at sleepovers!"

"Yes… Six-year-old girls." Manon chuckled at Sorrel's response and shrugged, "We didn't have that sort of childhood. It's not Asterin's fault that she wants to catch up on what we've missed."

"Now you're treating me like a child!" Asterin laughed, "Then how about this…." A cocked a brow from Sorrel. "You two tell me about your little boy-toys!"

Silence.

Manon furrowed her brow, "You'll have to elaborate."

"Oh please!" Asterin exclaimed, "Don't think no one noticed your affection towards the Havilliard heir. You're always teasing him and mentioning him!"

"It's called passive aggression, dumbass. Dorian is almost as much of a stubborn brat as Abraxos." Manon stated blatantly. Before Asterin could respond, Manon cur her off: "But other than that, who's this boy-toy of Sorrels you're talking about?"

Sorrel grunted.

"I can't say I'm not curious either."

"Seriously?" Asterin chuckled, "You're obviously into Nox."

"W-what?" Sorrel stuttered, "No way."

Her tone was stern, but nonetheless both Asterin and Manon noted the hint of nervousness.

"Ghislaine saw you two leaving the school together." Asterin stated with a smirk. Sorrel huffed, "So?"

"What other reason would you have for missing curfew other than spending time with your boyfriend?" Sorrel gaped, "We're not dating!"

"…yet." Manon chuckled, causing a shocked gasp to slip past Sorrel's lips.

"You're tag-teaming me. This is bullshit. I won't stand for it." Sorrel made an effort to rise from where she was sitting to leave the room, but Asterin tugged her back. "No, no, no, b~" She taunted as the matron's steps echoed throughout the hallways, "We have a long night ahead of us."


"By the wyrd, I'm tired." Lysandra groaned, letting her head fall onto Aedion's shoulder.

"Thoughts of me keeping you up all night? I can't help it that I'm so fabulous~" He teased, poking her in the side.

It was break time at school and Aedion, Laysandra, Manon and Rowan were crowded around the former two's desks.

"Since when were you two all lovey-dovey?" Manon scoffed, propping her elbow up against the table surface. Aedion flashed a wicked grin and said; "Please, Lys has been head over heels for me since freshman year."

"You wish." Lysandra snarled in response, sitting up straight and pulling her dark hair back. Rowan smirked smugly. Since the two had been more involved with one another, Aedion had been kinder about Rowan's relationship with Aelin.

With a slightly puzzled looke on her face, Manon mused; "I thought you disliked relationships in general, due to your disapproval of your Celaena and Rowan, but I guess you just dislike Rowan, huh? What did he ever do to you?"

"I always assumed it was simply mutual indifference, but you've certainly driven it to an extreme." Rowan added, cocking his head, the slightest spark of curiosity glinting in his iris.

Aedion huffed, running a hand through his hair. Finally, he exclaimed; "You're just a creepy cookie okay? You're a creepy cookie, Whitethorn! You're like an oatmeal-raisin cookie, but primarily raisins: A raisin-oatmeal cookie! NOBODY WANTS THAT!"

"Apparently your cousin does." Manon muttered and Lysandra roared a laugh.

Aedion scoffed. "Whatever." Suddenly his expression lit up. "I almost forgot! Do you guys have anything planned for autumn break?"

A hesitant and mistrusting chorus of 'no?' echoed throughout the three students.

"Perfect!" Aedion exclaimed, "Because the four of us – and Laena and whomever else wants to tag along – will be going to Prythian this autumn!"

"Prythian…?" Manon asked with narrowed eyes, "Isn't that like, across the globe? And pray tell, who's paying for this excursion?"

"I will! My cousin Aelin Galanthynius – you may have heard of her; she's sort of famous – her parents bought a place over in Prythian, for vacation purposes, and asked me to scout it out for them, see how it is, since they can't leave Terassen at the moment. I thought the more, the merrier!"

"Hold on, you personally know Aelin Ashryver Galanthynius?! What does she look like? I mean, I understand your family's policy about hiding identities until a certain age, but like, what's she like? Is she at least pretty?" Lysandra exclaimed.

With soft chuckle, Aedion responded, "How to describe Aelin… She's amazing. Has the temper of a Ridderak, but the breath-taking beauty of a high Fae. I would say any guy who lays with her is the luckiest man alive. And if she loves him, I would support them, but if he hurts her, I would slit his throat in his sleep and feed his innards to Fleetfoot."

He cast a subtle glance towards Rowan, as Manon and Lysandra stared at him in slight confusion. Aedion laughed sheepishly. "All of this is hypothetical of course. What I'm trying to say, is that Aelin is the most awesome person I've ever met. I'm sure the three of you would get along splendidly with her."

While the two girls smiled with looks of awe and lingering disarray, Rowan's smile was genuine.

"Can we meet her?" Manon asked giddily, with starry eyes. Aedion winked at her, "I'm sure you will soon enough, but back to the issue on hand, you're all down for travelling to Prythian, right?"

Nods from Manon and Rowan. Silence from Lysandra. Aedion furrowed his brow. "Lys?"

"I don't think I can make it… I have… something." Truth be told, she had an autumn break job, but she refused to tell Aedion that. Naturally, since she refused to pay for Evangeline's medical bills and tuition from her lover's pocket.

"What do you mean? Lys, can't you make time? It would be so fun!" Aedion begged and Manon joined in half-heartedly. Luckily for Lysandra, Rowan seemed to have noticed her forlorn expression and laid a hand on Aedion's shoulder. To everyone's surprise, Aedion didn't pull away.

Rowan said; "Aedion, if it's her choice to stay, don't you think you should trust her judgement?"

A first test of trust for Lysandra and Aedion… and for Aedion and Rowan.

Aedion debated his words for a moment, then with a soft smile, offered him a half-shrug and said to Lysandra; "Your call, babe."

With a curled lip Aedion then turned to Rowan, who had leaned back in his chair. The playful undertone to his voice made Rowan huff a chuckle as Aedion seethed, "But you're still a creepy cookie."


A/N: Omg it's been so looooong! I'm sorry guys ^^ I know I said that the story would be updated every weekend, but that simply is no longer possible. Why, you may ask? Because I'm finishing up school, getting ready for my apprenticeship, going to America for a while soon and really trying to focus more on my own writing, comics and drawing (follow me one instagram my_average_art_s to see my drawings (shameless plug XD))

So as for my uploading schedule: Other than being nonexistent, I'll try to upload at least once a month, but idk what's going to happen in the near future.

Also, I sure as hell hope you guys have read ACOTAR because the boys (and girls) are going to Prythian! (Sorry in advance if you haven't read it yet. I won't be spoiling anything, but some of the characters from ACOTAR, ACOMAF and ACOWAR are gonna show up. I haven't quite finished reading ACOFAS yet, so the characters from there won't show up. So yeahh...)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review! Ja ne!