STRINGS BETWEEN US

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE: OF UNIFORMS, UNEXPECTED ARRIVALS, AND THE DAY THE COURT WAL

Keryn's deep brown waves shimmered under the glass roof, framing Irish-pink eyes both warm and terrifying. Her programmable coat shifted with unspoken commands, circuit embroidery glowing faintly at the cuffs. Rings pulsed in rhythm with each step. Her icy white-blue insignia gleamed like frost under a microscope.

And finally, Alexie—golden-brown hair kissed with sunlight, violet eyes that dared you to look away. Rose-gold insignia blazing under a violet coat layered in storm-wind hems, cropped bolero above, sleeveless beneath. Every movement caught light like it was hers to command. Even her boots had attitude, announcing confidence you could taste in the air.

And then I realized...

They didn't come wearing the colors of a school.
They came wearing the history of a Court.

A Court that never lost a war.

And for the first time in weeks, I remembered what it felt like to belong to something that didn't bend.

And maybe I should've been mad. Or overwhelmed. But I wasn't. Because deep down, I knew the truth—they didn't just come for me. They came for him too. Because once, someone stripped the throne from Khaizer Dylan Dela Vega. And the Court helped him take it back.

Then someone shouted from the back: "Mafia!!"
Even Bianchi flinched. But KD didn't move. Not even a blink.

And me? I could feel it—like gravity had shifted. Like I was no longer a student standing quietly in the crowd. I was the flame again. And they came to make sure I remembered how to burn.

"PRINCESS!!"

Before I could move, I was tackled by a wave of perfume and velvet.

Gasps flooded the Commons.
"They're hugging her?"
"PRINCESS OF WHAT—THE BLACK MARKET?!"

Jodie, Xylia, Errol, and Mico stood frozen. Same, honestly.

"You absolute traitor," Alexie cried, hugging me so tightly I lost air. "You left us with emotionally unstable boys!"

"It wasn't the same without you," Keryn murmured behind me, arms around my waist. "The Court... it held its breath."

I stood there frozen, throat tightening. I didn't think it would feel like this. I didn't think I missed them.

Alexie pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. "You're still ours, Ari. Don't you dare forget that."

"Vice President?" Alexie said sweetly as Bianchi approached. "Cute title. Temporary too, I assume?"

"You really thought you were untouchable, huh?" Keryn added, voice all sugar and steel.

Bianchi clutched her tablet like a holy artifact.

Then Saichel approached, velvet bundle in hand, dramatic as ever.

"Arielle Rylance Del Rio—our sovereign spark, wrapped in stillness and flame—
We bring your Ardent Court uniform. To wear the blood-gold crest again...
if you choose to remember."

The room exploded in gasps.

"She has a uniform?"
"She's someone powerful in Celestine??"

"Nope," I muttered, deadpan. "Not gonna happen."

Tofer laughed. "I won."

"Excuse me?" I narrowed my eyes.

"He bet you'd say no," Thres added, not blinking. "Seb said you'd wear it."

"Still might," Seb murmured. "The day's young."

"You bet on me? Seriously?" I groaned.

Then I glanced at the rest of them. "All of you came? Aren't you the spine of Celestine? How'd you even get clearance?"

"Celestine will be fine," Thres answered calmly. "We can protect it—even from the outside."

Then Lyle stepped forward. "We did it for you, Princess."

And when he said that, he didn't just look at me. He looked at Xythe—the prince in the shadow. And then at KD—the Ice President who finally stood tall again. Because this wasn't just about protection.

It was a statement.
She is not alone. And he is not alone either.

"Wait—how did you even convince the school to let you in?" I managed to say.
"We bribed the board," Lyle replied casually.

"THEY WHAT?!"
"That's allowed?!"
"How much money do they have?!"

"You bribed them?" I gawked.

"New telescope. Observatory wing," Lyle said. "I think they're naming it after our ghost dog."

And somehow, that was the least shocking part of today.

Through all of it—through the crowd's hysteria, Bianchi's twitching eye, and the weight of my past crashing into my present—KD never moved.

Until now.

He stood. Slow. Calm.

And for a moment, the Commons forgot how to breathe.

His eyes found mine across the sea of red and black and fire.
He didn't speak.
He just nodded.

And somehow, that one motion said everything.

He wasn't giving up.
He never had.

And Supreme Allievo's Ice President? He didn't flinch when the Court came.
He met them.
Because they weren't here to challenge him.
They were here to back the boy who fought when no one else did.
The one who stayed when even I couldn't.