(Kael's POV)
The heat had died down, but the silence was worse.
Kael stood still, breath steady but body alert, watching as Sebastian sat hunched near the broken window, his back to the room, clawed hands dripping with his own blood. His shoulders still twitched like the beast within hadn't fully gone back to sleep.
"What happened?" Kael asked finally.
Sebastian didn't look at him. "She happened."
Kael ran a hand through his now-sweaty hair, pacing. "You think the girl—Freya—is responsible for all this?"
"No." Sebastian's voice was low, rough. "I know she is."
Kael paused.
He'd seen Sebastian fight armies without breaking a sweat. Saw him face betrayals, assassination attempts, and curses—but this version of him? Shaking, afraid of himself?
This wasn't the prince. This was the boy that had been broken.
"She said nothing," Kael said carefully. "She didn't use magic in your presence. She's not even aware of who you are, let alone your... condition."
Sebastian slowly turned. His eyes were back to their steel grey, but rimmed with darkness.
"You didn't see her," he said, voice cold. "You didn't see the look in her eyes. It wasn't fear. It wasn't curiosity. It was like... like she knew something. About me."
Kael exhaled. "You've been cursed before, Sebastian. You've carried beasts inside you since you were twelve. This could be—"
"Don't," he snapped, eyes flashing. "Don't downplay it. The last time I saw her face—"
He stopped.
Kael's brows rose. "Last time?"
Sebastian looked away. "In my dream. Before the transformation hit. It wasn't about her exactly. But she was there. She was... the trigger."
---
(Elara's POV)
The doors creaked open.
She stepped in, the sight before her slicing through her heart like a blade.
The room was a disaster—walls cracked, shelves broken, fire marks scorched across the floor. And in the center of it all was her brother, the strongest person she knew, looking like he'd barely survived a war.
Her breath caught.
"Sebastian..."
He looked up, and for a moment, something flickered in his eyes. Not the beast. Not the prince. Just the brother she used to play with in the rose garden before their world turned dark.
"Elara," he murmured.
She walked over quickly and sank beside him on the cold stone floor.
"Don't shut me out," she said softly. "Please. Talk to me."
He hesitated.
Then: "I thought it was gone. Buried. Controlled."
She reached for his hand—clawed, bloodstained—but he flinched.
"Don't," he said. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"You've protected me all my life. Let me protect you now." Her eyes shone. "Even if it's just by listening."
His jaw tightened. "Father always said... she cursed me. That mother bound me with her magic before she died and left this monster inside me."
Elara's grip on his arm tightened.
"He lied," she said through clenched teeth. "You know he did."
Kael, standing by the ruined fireplace, looked away. "We don't know anything for sure. But what I do know is, the King would rather rule in fear than admit he failed his wife and children."
A silence fell over the room. Then Sebastian stood, shaky but firm.
"If Freya is the trigger... then I need to know why. Before this beast takes full control."
Kael's voice was steady. "You want to bring her back?"
"No," Sebastian said.
Both Kael and Elara looked at him.
"I want to follow her."