The first time Elara saw him again, her world stopped breathing.
It was late afternoon when the Academy gates swung open for the Spring Convergence — the annual celebration when every allied territory sent their best and brightest to study, trade, and train. Students in pale blue robes gathered near the marble steps, laughing, brushing cherry blossom petals from their sleeves. The scent of lilac drifted through the air, and the sun turned the old stone towers golden.
Elara stood near the eastern fountain, her fingers twisting the leather strap of her satchel, eyes searching the crowd.
And then she saw him.
Rowan Velliar.
Hair like burnt honey, longer now, curling behind his ears. Broader shoulders. A shadow of stubble that hadn't been there three years ago. But the eyes—
Gods, the eyes were the same.
Sea-glass green, cutting and kind all at once. They met hers across the courtyard.
And for a moment, she forgot how to breathe.
He didn't wave.
Didn't smile.
He just walked straight toward her, parting the crowd like they weren't even there.
"El," he said when he reached her. His voice was deeper, rougher. Like he hadn't spoken her name in a long, long time. "You came back."
She hadn't expected to cry.
But the tears came anyway.
Because three years ago, she'd left without goodbye. Because she hadn't written. Because she'd buried the best part of herself when she left him behind.
And now he was standing here, close enough to touch, and every reason she'd ever had for running away cracked open like an old wound.
"I missed you," she whispered.
Rowan didn't say anything.
He pulled her into his arms instead.
And just like that, she was sixteen again, held together by his warmth.
The Academy was more beautiful than Elara remembered.
Towers of sun-kissed marble. Bridges suspended in the air with spellsteel and starlight. Spiral staircases carved from black stone, libraries that smelled of ink and old magic. Students strolled through enchanted gardens, their laughter trailing behind them like music.
But it was Rowan who made it feel like home again.
They walked the old paths they used to sneak down after dusk. They shared tea under the plum trees near the astronomy wing. He still remembered the exact way she liked her bread toasted, still teased her when she rolled her eyes too hard. He asked about her father — the war mage — and her mother, lost to illness. He didn't press her about the three years she spent away in the Frosthold province.
She didn't tell him what she'd learned there.
Didn't tell him why she'd been sent away.
Didn't tell him that her magic had changed — that it wasn't just songspells in her veins anymore, but something darker. Wilder.
Something no one else must ever know.
Especially not Rowan.
Because she could still feel how much she loved him.
Too much.
Too deeply.
And she didn't deserve it.
Not after what she'd become.
It started two nights after the Convergence.
A duel between houses. Standard practice — harmless displays of talent. Elara sat in the upper gallery, notebook in hand, jotting runes in the margin while Rowan prepared for his match.
That's when she felt it.
A shift in the air.
Like lightning in her blood.
Her head snapped up.
And she saw him.
Tall. Black robes edged in crimson. Dark hair tied at the nape of his neck. Face half-shadowed by the hood. He moved through the crowd like he didn't belong — and didn't care.
The magic around him felt… wrong.
Predatory.
Feral.
Her skin prickled.
And then—
He turned.
Met her gaze.
And she forgot how to think.
His eyes were like obsidian, ancient and unreadable. She couldn't look away.
He didn't smile.
But he tilted his head — like he recognized her.
Like he saw something in her no one else did.
Then, in the space between one breath and the next, he was gone.
"El?" Rowan's voice tugged her back. "You alright?"
She blinked. Nodded. "Yeah. Just… distracted."
Rowan won the duel, of course.
He always had.
But all Elara could think about was the stranger in black, and the electric burn he'd left behind in her chest.
His name was Kael.
Kael Dareth.
An emissary from the Raven Court — the shadow dominion that trained sorcerers with dangerous affinities. No one knew what Kael's power was. Only that he was deadly skilled, rarely spoke, and didn't suffer fools.
Elara tried to avoid him.
She failed.
He showed up in her arcane theory class a week later.
Sat beside her.
Didn't say a word.
But when she opened her notebook, someone had drawn a single rune on the page.
Old language.
Forbidden.
The rune meant mirror.
She turned to him, heart racing. "Did you—"
He looked at her, slow and deliberate.
And whispered, "You feel it too, don't you?"
She should've denied it.
Should've said no, stood up, walked away.
But she didn't.
Because the truth was—
Yes.
She did.
Rowan noticed the change.
He always noticed.
"You've been quiet lately," he said one afternoon, watching her carve sigils into the snowbank by the lake. "Since the duel."
Elara kept her gaze on her blade, carving deeper. "I'm fine."
"You always say that when you're not."
She stopped.
Lowered the knife.
Turned to him.
And saw the hurt he was trying to hide.
She stepped closer. "You're still the one I trust most, Ro."
"I don't want to be the safe one," he said. "I want to be the one. Always have."
She swallowed hard. "You… you don't know what I've done. What I've become."
His hand cupped her cheek.
"I don't care."
And then he kissed her.
Soft. Familiar. Sweet.
Like coming home.
And Elara kissed him back.
Because her heart still beat for him.
Because he was the only light she'd ever known.
But that night—
She dreamed of Kael.
Of fire and shadow and lips that burned like sin.
And she woke up breathless.
Kael cornered her in the library.
"You shouldn't have let him touch you," he said, voice low, dangerous.
She slammed the book shut. "Excuse me?"
"You know what you are," he growled. "You think that kind of magic won't destroy him?"
"You don't know me."
"I am you," Kael said.
And when he pressed her against the bookshelf, mouth inches from hers, she didn't push him away.
Because Rowan made her feel safe.
But Kael made her feel seen.
And gods help her, she wanted both.