The training yard was quiet at dawn. The palace still slept, but the sky was already turning gold. Vivi stood near the edge of the stone ring, veil in place, hands laced before her.
She wasn't supposed to be there.
But then again, neither was he.
Haken paced the center of the circle, shirtless, barefoot, steam rising from his skin as if his blood still boiled from a fight with no opponent.
He stopped when he sensed her.
"You watching me, Princess?"
His voice was low, but not cruel.
Vivi didn't flinch. "You're not easy to miss."
He smirked, but only for a second.
There was something else in the air now.
A tension he couldn't name but it clung to her like mist.
"You've seen me before," he said. Not a question.
She hesitated.
"Once. Long ago. In the woods."
His eyes sharpened. Something stirred beneath his skin.
I saw a boy turn into a wolf," she said. "He was in pain. But he didn't scare me."
He should've," Haken muttered.
Vivi stepped closer, veil brushing her lips as she spoke.
Maybe I wanted to be scared of something real, instead of everything that only looks beautiful."
That silenced him.
Just like it had back then.
He didn't remember her face, not exactly. But the feeling the calm in her voice, the stillness in her stare it returned like a long-buried memory rising through frost.
"It was you," he said, voice hoarse.
"The girl by the stream."
Vivi nodded.
A heartbeat passed.
Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
She looked down.
"Because I wasn't sure you'd want to remember."
In the distance, something dark shifted in the trees. A bird flew backward midair. A shadow bent the wrong way against the palace wall.
And somewhere, a man with a serpent's smile traced his fingers over an old mirror.
"So... the girl and the beast found each other again," Viper whispered.
"How sweet."
"Let's break it."