His reverie was broken by Eliana's sharp voice, "About doggone time!" He turned to meet her indignant glare. "We are not waiting for you next time," she warned with heavy emphasis on each word. "You're not the only one with a life, you know. You can't keep us on standby like we're your subjects, or did your obscure claim to the throne suddenly start to go to your head?"
"First of all, I wasn't keeping you on standby." Xaiden responded cooly, "If you guys want to explore without me or go do your own thing, be my guest." He shrugged, and returned her glare as he continued. "Complain as much as you want but I bet you're counting on that same obscure claim as your 'get out of jail free card' if you ever get caught."
"E-e-easy guys, let's not waste t-time arguing," Ewen cut in softly, his hand shaking a bit as he waved it between Eliana and Xaiden, who maintained their stare down despite the interruption.
"ET is right," Jax added calmly, then tapping Eliana's shoulder lightly, he continued. "Come on, Eli, let it go. You know how focused he can get. I already gave him an earful, so let's just move on."
Eliana's gaze wavered momentarily before she huffed, "Whatever." She picked up her backpack, stuffing a worn book back inside, then added sarcastically with a half bow and pretend curtsy, "After you, your Majesty."
Xaiden scoffed, but let it slide for Jax's sake. He'd been the one to bring Eliana into the fold despite Xaiden's reservations at the time. She's the daughter of the school headmaster after all, but Jax pointed out Xaiden's own unlikely background and insisted that she would never tell on them and needed the escape as much as they did. It's hard to imagine Little Miss Perfect needing refuge, rather the opposite would seem more likely, but she continued to show up each day after school. More importantly, she provided them all with a perfect cover at school and home with her excuse of "Study Group Meetings" and short tutoring lessons that helped them all get their grades up a bit. Still, Xaiden couldn't quite shake this deeply uneasy feeling around her.
"We're covering the west sector today, right?" Xaiden asked as he picked up his own pack and started off along the carefully, yet discreetly, marked path towards their makeshift fort. Ignoring the lackluster grunts of agreement, he continued on contentedly.
He wasn't surprised that the others still waited for him at the entrance rather than at the fort deeper in the forbidden lands, even after the years they've spent in these woods, they've always kept one foot out the door. Ready to bolt back to the fence and into reality if things ever went sideways. It wasn't like that for Xaiden. For him, this was his world. It meant freedom, and the ability to create his own story apart from the legacy that had been weighing so heavily on him.
He was already considered a stain on the Caelus name, so why bother trying to appease them? The moment he stepped foot into this land, he gave up on that life entirely. If they were caught, yes, he and his friends could escape public punishment to protect Archon Aurelian's image and the Caelus legacy, but it would just underline a fate he had already accepted. He was never going to be truly considered one of them and they'd much rather he stay out of sight and out of mind.