all over. And then the door opens. Suddenly this is a bad idea. The tray in my hand trembles, the metal lids on china plates shuddering, soft clinks filling the void of silence. I should have co

se. "Excuse me?" It's all I know how to say. I don't care how handsome he is, I want of here. There is a shadow beneath his eyes, that creeps up to thick, sooty lashes, framing those light teal eyes, that frightens me. But not as much as the colour that rains down from his hairline; that strange marking from restrained power almost like a magical tattoo. "You're not from here," he repeats. His gaze wanders down to my chest, making me flinch. "I can tell a Jade Province born when I see one." Before I can be offended, I realise what he is looking at. My hand touches just below my neck protectively, where a necklace hangs. Admittedly, it's a Jade Province tradition, to wear the necklace at all times past your eighteenth birthday. Something about warding off evil spirits. Each is curated by the leader of your village, fashioned around the traditions of your home. Mine resembles my Tani. An eye, with a green emerald in the middle. I'm not surprised he doesn't recognise me from my looks alone. I got Golden Province looks from my foreign father - fair hair, which since moving here, has leeched a lot of it's shine as it has not seen the sun in weeks, and eyes as blue as the ocean there. "Will that be all?" I practically whisper. Although I refuse to lower my gaze, I can't look at him, instead pinning it past his shoulder, at his immaculately made bed. I was meant to do that. I go to step past him, but he moves in front of me. "You're scared of me." Well when you do things like that, yes, I get scared. "Do you say everything like a fact?" I retort, with less vigour than I intended. It's not the fact he is blocking me in here that is so frightening. I know that if I were that desperate he would let me past. It's the way he looks at me, like he's trying to figure me out. Yet I don't think I'm that interesting to be interrogated by this man. If he ignore