The moonlit balcony garden shimmered with silence, vines trembling in the breeze like breath held too long. Seraphina stood alone, her hands gripping the cold stone railing, knuckles white and bloodless.
The stars above didn't shine for her tonight.
Not anymore.
They burned for her.
The girl who fell from the sky.
She had smiled for the nobles, worn grace like a second skin.
She had stood tall for the scholars, feigning wisdom she hadn't earned.
She had even whispered soft kindness to Maria before the storm arrived.
But now?
Now she was just a girl left behind.
"Seraphina."
Her breath caught like a snare. She turned slowly.
Kai stood beneath the moonlight, quiet and pale, shadow wrapped in starlight. His expression was unreadable, which hurt more than anything he could have said.
"I thought I might find you here," he said, voice a breath above the hush.
"Of course." Her words were brittle. "I go where the sky can't lie to me."
He stepped forward, his footfalls soundless over marble.
"You left so quickly."
"Because I didn't want to watch them kneel to her."
The bitterness cut sharper than intended. She flinched. "Sorry. That was cruel. I don't hate her. I just..."
Her voice broke.
Kai came to stand beside her. Close. Too close. Warmth in a cold place.
"You just what?" he asked gently.
She looked away. "I just thought I was the one," she whispered. "The star. The daughter. The story."
Silence answered her.
That silence?
It was a blade.
She turned to him, eyes glistening. "Tell me the truth, Kai. Was I ever special to you? Or was I always just... the step before her?"
He looked stricken.
"You were never just anything," he said.
"Then what was I?"
He hesitated. Then, with his voice raw:
"You were real. You were fire before the flame. You made me laugh when I thought joy had abandoned me. You saw me, even when I tried to disappear."
"Then why," she breathed, a tear slipping free, "does it feel like I'm vanishing now?"
Kai stepped even closer. "Because everything's shifting. And you... you're standing still. But that doesn't mean you're not vital to the world that's coming."
Seraphina shook her head; something shattered in her throat.
"Do you like her?"
The question fell like a guillotine.
Kai paused. Then, softly truthfully:
"I think I might."
A sob cracked loose. She turned away, fingers trembling. He reached for her hand.
But she pulled back.
"Then give me one thing," she whispered, voice trembling.
"What?"
She turned to him again. Moonlight caught the tears in her lashes, turning them to crystals.
"Let me pretend. Just for tonight. That I was enough."
And before he could answer
Before he could pull away
She kissed him.
It wasn't delicate.
It wasn't hesitant.
It surged from somewhere raw and wordless
A kiss that bled longing.
That whispered, please remember me.
That screamed, I wish you had chosen me first.
Kai didn't resist.
He kissed her back.
Not out of guilt.
But out of reverence.
As if laying flowers at the altar of what might have been.
When they parted, her breath trembled in the cold.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't be," Kai murmured. "You were always enough."
Seraphina smiled once barely.
Then turned and walked away.
Tonight, she didn't hide it.
Tonight, she let herself burn.
And though she did not say it aloud never had, never dared there had always been something in the way she looked at him. The stolen glances. The quiet deflections. The smiles she wore like masks.
She had loved him quietly, as girls often do. Carefully. Silently. Heroically.
But tonight?
Tonight, she stopped pretending.
The Queen's private healing chambers, deep within the castle hidden from nobles, guards, and the noise of politics. The room was quiet. Not peaceful watchful. The kind of silence that listened for prophecies to breathe again. Maria lay in a silver-threaded bed, surrounded by glowing roses and softly floating orbs of light. Her skin had stopped glowing. Her breath was slow, shallow. The sigil on her back flickered like a dying star.
The Queen sat beside her, hands folded, crown removed. Her eyes were red, lined with sleepless grief and overwhelming awe. For hours she had said nothing. She simply sat. Watching. Waiting. A whisper stirred the room. Mother...?"
Eleanor straightened. Her breath caught in her throat. She turned And Maria opened her eyes.
Not glowing now. Just wide. Human. Afraid.
"Where... am I?"
"You're safe," the Queen said softly.
Maria tried to sit up. Winced.
"What... happened to me?"
Eleanor reached for her hand.
"Do you remember your dreams, Maria?"
"Sometimes. Castles. Oceans. A voice... a name."
The Queen swallowed.
"That name... is yours."
"What do you mean?"
"You are not just Maria of Eldermere. You are" the Queen's voice cracked, "Elysia Valmont. My daughter. Lost to the sea. And found by the stars."
Maria shook her head. Tears slipped down her cheeks.
"No. No, I'm not I'm not royalty. I'm not whatever that was."
"You are," Eleanor whispered. "And more."
"Then why does it hurt?" Maria sobbed. "Why does it feel like my skin is burning from the inside out?" The Queen couldn't answer. Because the truth was simple. It was.
She reached out slowly and brushed the girl's hair from her damp forehead.
"I'm sorry you had to wake this way."