The crystal pulsed with residual energy, faint and rhythmic like a dying heartbeat. Lira stood still, her breath shallow, hand trembling at her side. The mark on her palm glowed faintly—half sun, half moon—etched by memory, anchored in the soul.
Kael watched her with guarded eyes. "You saw him, didn't you?"
She didn't answer at first. The weight of what she'd experienced still clung to her skin. Finally, she turned to him, her voice raw.
"I felt everything. The betrayal. The bond. The love."
Kael stepped closer. "Love?" The word hit his tongue like ash.
She met his gaze. "I think I… I still love him, Kael. Part of me does. Or maybe it's her—the woman I used to be."
His jaw tightened. "And what about now? This life? Me?"
There was pain in his voice, but not accusation. He was a warrior too, after all—he understood battles of the heart could be more brutal than steel and sorcery.
Lira looked away, the silence between them stretching like a wound. "I don't know."
Mira, sensing the tension, tactfully stepped toward the exit of the chamber. "I'll give you space," she murmured. "There's more of the ruin to explore anyway."
As her footsteps faded, Kael stepped closer. "Lira," he said softly, "I've followed you into fire, into darkness, into death. But I can't follow you into his arms."
Her heart ached. She reached for him, fingers brushing the edge of his cloak. "I never wanted to hurt you."
His hand came up, gently holding hers. "Then choose. Not for her. For you."
For a moment, they stood like that—two souls caught in a moment too fragile to name.
Then Kael leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers. "You're mine, Lira. Not by duty, but because I see you. Not who you were. Who you are."
She closed her eyes, lips parting to speak—but words failed her. The heat of his closeness reminded her that she was still flesh, still now, still alive.
His lips found hers—firm, hungry, pleading—and she returned the kiss. It was not the desperate passion she'd felt with Arkan in memory, but something slower, deeper. Real.
They sank to the cool stone floor, wrapped in one another. His hands were calloused, reverent; her breath stuttered as her armor fell away, replaced by warmth and the rawness of feeling. They made love there, beneath the ancient seal, hearts tangled in conflict and clarity alike.
When it was over, Kael rested beside her, brushing hair from her face. "You don't have to decide now," he murmured.
But they both knew the decision would come.
---
Far north – The Ruins of Veyr
The sky above the ruin crackled with stormlight. Black lightning stitched the clouds as Arkan stood within the inner sanctum of the obsidian citadel, surrounded by spellcasters weaving ancient wards. A thousand voices chanted in unison, stirring the sleeping power buried beneath the stone.
A woman approached—Zaryne, his most trusted advisor, draped in midnight silk and bearing the tattoos of a bloodseer.
"She touched the crystal," Zaryne said. "The bond has awakened."
Arkan's face was unreadable. "And the seal?"
"Weakened."
He looked out the window, gaze fixed on the horizon. "Then we move. Elthoria will not be caught unaware."
Zaryne stepped closer, eyes searching. "You still want her."
"I need her."
"She may not choose you."
A shadow passed over his face. "Then I will make her."
Zaryne's voice turned soft. "You were never meant to be a villain, Arkan. But every time you chase her… you drift closer to the abyss."
He turned to her, voice colder than the void. "The world chose her as a symbol. I chose her as a woman. That's the difference."
---
Back in the depths beneath the mountains
Lira stood again, armored and composed. Kael beside her, Mira returned from the lower passage with a grim look.
"There's more down there," Mira said. "A war table. Maps. Messages."
Kael frowned. "Messages?"
Lira stepped toward her. "From whom?"
Mira hesitated, then handed her a rolled scroll. "It's signed with his mark."
Lira unrolled it. The ink was fresh.
> You've seen the truth now. But truth alone will not save what's coming.
Meet me at the Veil of Tears. One last time. Choose with eyes open.
—A.
She stared at it, heart thundering.
Kael looked at her. "It's a trap."
"Maybe," she whispered. "But I have to know. I have to face him. Not as who I was. As who I am."
---