Kanah hit the snow hard enough to jar her spine.
Her breath tore out of her lungs in a broken gasp.
Her fingers curled weakly, digging into the cold.
Everything hurt.
Her chest.
Her throat.
Her memories.
But none of it compared to the way Owain looked at her.
As if she was a stranger.
Owain stood several paces away, breathing hard, amber eyes wide but unfocused.
His voice was low.
Tentative.
Wounded.
"…who are you?"
Kanah's heart cracked open.
Not sharply.
Not violently.
Quietly.
Like something simply… giving up.
She pushed herself onto trembling elbows, snow sticking to her hair.
"Owain…"
Her voice barely made sound.
He flinched.
Her name didn't reach him.
Her voice didn't spark recognition.
Owain stepped back, instinctively defensive.
"Don't—come closer."
Kanah froze mid-reach.
"Owain. Please. I'm not a threat."
His brow tightened.
"You… feel familiar. I don't understand why. But I don't know you."
Kanah lowered her head, tears dripping into the snow.
"I know."
Owain clenched his jaw, visibly pained.
"Why does it hurt when I look at you?"
Kanah covered her mouth as a sob escaped.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
He stiffened.
"Why are you sorry?"
Helion limped to Owain's side, curse-marks glowing faint blue.
"Because the trial forced her to choose, wolf."
Owain's gaze flicked to him.
"What choice?"
Before Kanah could stop him—
Gerrin answered quietly:
"She chose to lose you."
Owain froze.
His expression wasn't angry.
It wasn't hateful.
It was empty.
Like the words didn't fit inside his mind.
He whispered, "Why?"
Kanah wiped her cheeks with shaking hands.
"Because you would've died for me."
Owain's throat bobbed.
He looked down at his hands.
They trembled.
He clenched them into fists.
"So instead… you lost me."
Kanah's voice shook.
"Yes."
Owain looked at her then—really looked.
Pain flickered in his eyes.
Not recognition.
Ache.
She saw it.
She felt it.
The bond was gone, but instinct lingered like a ghost.
He didn't remember her…
…but his body did.
He took a step closer despite himself.
"I don't remember you," he whispered,
"but when you cry… I feel like I'm losing something important."
Kanah broke.
She covered her face and sobbed.
Owain fumbled forward—
then stopped, unsure.
He almost reached for her, then pulled back sharply, confused and raw.
"I'm sorry," he muttered.
"I don't know why I want to… help you."
Kanah lowered her hands slowly.
Her voice trembled.
"Because once… you held me when I cried."
Owain's breath hitched.
Helion sat back against a rock, exhausted.
"It's going to be like this for a while, little star."
Kanah hugged her chest, shivering violently.
"How long…?"
Gerrin closed his eyes.
"There is no undoing a completed unbonding.
Owain's heart will take time to rewrite itself."
His eyes softened.
"You keep the memories. He loses them."
Kanah whispered hoarsely:
"That's worse."
No one disagreed.
What the First King Really Took
Yllas approached her cautiously.
He offered his hand—not to help her stand, but to ground her.
She took it with trembling fingers.
Yllas spoke quietly:
"Your loss shapes the next trial. The First King punished you… cruelly."
Kanah nodded weakly.
"I know."
"Do you?" His voice gentled.
"Do you know what he took?"
Kanah looked at him through red-rimmed eyes.
"My bond."
Yllas shook his head.
"No."
She blinked.
Helion answered:
"He took the part of Owain that believed he was worthy of loving you."
Kanah's breath froze.
"That's… that's not—"
"Owain never doubted that bond," Helion continued.
"Now he doesn't even think he deserves it."
Kanah turned sharply to Owain.
He stared at the ground, lost.
Broken.
The First King's voice echoed above them.
"Trial Five is not complete."
Kanah tensed.
Owain's head snapped up in fear.
Yllas bristled.
Helion growled.
Gerrin raised his staff defensively.
"Not complete?" Gerrin shouted.
"She already suffered loss—she paid the price—what more—"
"The heir must restore what she lost."
Gerrin's jaw dropped.
"Restore…? But the bond is—"
"It can be reforged."
Owain froze.
Kanah's heartbeat stumbled.
"H-How…?" she whispered.
"The anchored mate must fall in love with the heir again."
Kanah's breath caught.
Owain went rigid, staring at her.
Not recognizing her.
Not trusting himself.
Not understanding.
His voice was a whisper.
"…love?"
Kanah felt tears burn again.
"Yes."
The First King continued:
"You must win his heart a second time."
Helion snorted bitterly.
"That's the cruelest trial yet."
Yllas nodded quietly.
"And the most dangerous."
Gerrin swallowed hard.
"Because if she fails…"
The First King finished:
"The throne rejects her."
Kanah stared at the ground, shaking.
Owain whispered, voice raw with confusion:
"Why… why are you crying for me?
Why are you hurting like this?"
Kanah lifted her eyes.
They shone wet.
"Because I remember everything you forgot."
His expression twisted—hurt without knowing why.
Kanah stood.
Barely.
Weak.
Shaking.
But resolute.
She walked toward him slow, every step careful, every breath fragile.
When she reached him, she looked up.
"We'll start over," she whispered.
"If that's what it takes.
I'll meet you again.
I'll earn your trust again.
I'll… make you fall in love with me again."
Owain stared at her.
Lost.
Conflicted.
Drawn to her without understanding why.
He whispered:
"…why does that idea hurt so much?"
Kanah swallowed.
"Because once… you loved me."
He exhaled shakily.
"And now?"
She smiled.
Broken.
Soft.
Determined.
"And now—
you don't remember why."
Owain turned his face away, chest heaving with an emotion he couldn't name.
Kanah whispered:
"But I do."
The First King's voice echoed final and crushing:
"The Trial of Loss is complete."
"The Trial of Restoration begins."
A sigil lit beneath Kanah's feet—
not gold,
not violet,
not white—
but a soft amber.
Owain's color.
Kanah steadied herself.
Owain stepped back, uncertain.
Gerrin whispered:
"It begins with him.
It always began with him."
Kanah nodded slowly.
"I know."
Owain's eyes flicked to hers.
Her heart clenched so hard she nearly fell again.
He whispered:
"…so tell me."
She blinked.
"Tell you… what?"
Owain's voice was small.
Barely audible.
"…why you chose me the first time."
Kanah's breath left her in a rush.
She smiled through her tears.
"Because you saved me."
Owain whispered:
"…from what?"
Kanah stepped closer.
"From dying."
He swallowed.
"…how?"
She placed a hand over his heart.
"You just did."
His eyes widened.
Something in him stuttered—
hurt—
longing—
a fragment of memory trying to reach the surface.
He whispered:
"…then save me too."
Kanah stared.
Owain's voice cracked:
"I don't know who you are.
But I feel like I've lost something I can't live without."
Kanah bit her lip, tears falling silently.
"You haven't lost me."
His breathing shook.
"Then help me remember."
She nodded.
"I will."