POV: Kael 💙🌌🗡️
Kael didn't sleep.
Not after the sparring match.Not after the way her eyes lingered on him.Not after the way his heart tried to climb out of his chest when her fingers brushed his.
He'd been in battle. Faced monsters, soldiers, and sorcery.
But nothing made him feel as unsteady as that moment.
He watched her from the shadows now. Not out of habit — but because he didn't know how to stand beside her without wanting more.
Ariya was glowing lately.
Not just because of her flame — but something beneath it. A confidence blooming like fire catching air. And yet…
She was quieter too.
More distant. Not cold, but distracted — as if something pulled at her from the inside.
And Kael couldn't reach it.
It started during morning training.
Ariya faltered mid-spin, her fingers brushing her mark — the part of it that now shimmered faintly with frosted edges.
"You okay?" he asked, stepping forward.
She blinked, shaking her head like clearing fog. "Yeah. Just dizzy."
"It's him, isn't it?" Kael said quietly. "Ruvan. That mark… it's his."
She didn't answer.
Didn't have to.
He saw it in her face.
Something — some dream, some whisper, some shadow — was reaching for her.
And part of her was… listening.
That night, Kael sat outside the sanctuary, blade in hand, sharpening for the sake of movement. Of control.
He remembered the way her voice trembled when she said Ruvan's name. Not with fear… but confusion.
Like she couldn't hate him completely.Like he wasn't just an enemy.And that—terrified Kael.
Because how do you fight a man's presence when he's not even there?
How do you protect someone from something inside them?
Lyra sat beside him, tossing a pebble between her hands.
"You're going to wear that dagger down to a needle."
"Better than doing nothing."
She glanced at him. "You're afraid she's slipping away."
Kael said nothing.
"You're not the only one," Lyra added gently. "But you're the one she looks for first. Even when she doesn't realize it."
He stared into the forest.
"I can't fight the shadows in her head."
"Then light a fire in them," she said, rising. "The way she does for us."
Later that evening, he found Ariya on the roof again — the place they always seemed to meet when words were hardest.
She didn't turn when he sat beside her. Just kept staring at the stars.
"Do you ever feel like something's waiting for you?" she asked suddenly.
"Every time I pick up my sword."
"No, not danger. Something else. Something you can't explain."
He glanced at her — at the mark glowing faintly on her skin.
"You mean… like a thread tied to your soul, pulling when you're not looking?"
She turned then. Slowly.
And her eyes searched his.
"Yeah," she whispered. "Exactly like that."
He wanted to tell her.
That his thread was tied to her.That he would follow it anywhere.
But instead, he just nodded.
"Then let's follow it together."
Far away, Ruvan sat in his throne room, surrounded by ice and silence.
And for once… he didn't smile.
Because even across the distance, through the bond he'd carved into her, he felt it.
Her heart pulling in two directions.
And for the first time, he hated the other one.