The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 212

Your Fated Mate Is…-2

Iva smiled. This time, it reached her eyes.

“Eat your breakfast,” she said. “You need energy for that test.”

Lori lifted her head just enough to glare at her.

“I’m eating under protest.”

“That’s fine.”

“This is friendship betrayal.”

“The highest kind.”

Lori picked up her fork and stabbed a piece of egg with unnecessary violence. But she ate. And as she ate, some of the tension in her shoulders eased.

Iva watched her, storing up the image.

The way Lori’s nose crinkled when she chewed. The way she hummed under her breath when she was thinking. The way morning light made her red hair look like spun copper.

“This is who you are,” Iva thought. “Not a title. Not a status. Just… Lori. My Lori.”

And soon, she would have to share her.

Not with the boy in the history class.

With Headmaster Attia.

The thought made her stomach clench, but she pushed it down. One thing at a time. First, Lori’s test. Then,

the conversation.

Then, whatever came after.

す

The morning crawled by like a wounded animal.

Iva attended her classes, took notes, answered questions. But her mind was elsewhere-stuck in the conversation that waited at the end of the day.

She kept imagining different versions of it.

*Lori, I have something to tell you. You know how I’m the Messenger? Well, I saw your thread. And it leads to…*

No. Too blunt.

*Lori, the Goddess has chosen someone for you. Someone powerful. Someone you might not expect…*

No. Too vague.

1:3

Your Fated Motels -2

Lori, your fated mate is Headmaster Attia.*

The words felt impossible, even in her own head.

How was she supposed to say them out loud?

Claim

By the time her last class ended, Iva’s nerves were frayed to the breaking point. She gathered her books, stuffed them into her bag, and walked toward the library-the place where Lori had said she would be after her test.

The library was quiet, as always.

Tall windows let in streams of late afternoon light, illuminating the dust motes that danced in the air. The scent of old paper and leather bindings filled Iva’s lungs as she walked between the towering shelves.

She found Lori at their usual table, surrounded by books, her head bent over a notebook.

Lori looked up when Iva approached.

“How was the test?” Iva asked, sliding into the chair across from her.

Lori shrugged. “Fine. I think. Maybe. I don’t know.” She set down her quill and folded her hands on the table.” What’s been bothering you?”

Iva took a breath.

Then another.

Her heart pounded against her ribs. Her palms were slick with sweat. The secret pressed down on her chest, heavy and suffocating.

“Lori,” she began.

Lori leaned forward, her eyes fixed on Iva’s face.

“I need to tell you something,” Iva continued.

But before she could speak, a shadow fell across their table.

“Lori?”

The voice was deep, warm, unfamiliar. Iva looked up to find a young man standing beside their table- dark-haired, broad-shouldered, with a smile that seemed permanently etched onto his handsome face. His eyes were a striking shade of grey, and they were fixed entirely on Lori.

Iva glanced at her friend.

Lori’s entire face transformed.

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