Time:
Night
Age: Elira – 6 years, Kael – 3
years
The city's lamps flickered as Kael and Elira
returned to their hidden corner, weary but satisfied. Their network of allies
was slowly growing—merchants, couriers, and minor palace servants who respected
Kael's intellect and careful planning.
Elira sat quietly, her mind unusually restless.
Kael noticed her silence. "What is troubling you?" he asked, though he already
sensed her inner turmoil.
Elira sat quietly, her mind unusually restless. Kael noticed her silence.
"What is troubling you?" he asked, though he already sensed her inner turmoil.
"I… I don't know," she whispered. "Sometimes… I
feel like I've lived before. Like something is waiting for me in dreams."
Kael nodded. "It's your past life. Memories can
appear in dreams, slowly revealing truths we forgot. You must face them. It's
part of knowing yourself, part of being prepared."
That night, when sleep finally claimed her, Elira drifted into a vivid
dream.
She found herself in a grand, foreign palace.
Gold and crimson banners hung from every wall. She was older, dressed in fine
gowns, yet her eyes carried a sorrow no child could understand.
A young, handsome crown prince approached her,
speaking with warmth—but his gaze often lingered on another: her older sister.
Elira's heart ached as she realized the truth she had never known.
In her dream, she lived the entirety of her
past life in flashes: the love she had been promised, the unspoken affection he
held for her sister, the cold indifference masked with politeness. She endured
years of loneliness, bearing a child alone. Her body weakened; her life ended
quietly, tragically, without recognition or joy.
She awoke with a shiver, tears on her cheeks.
Her heart felt the heavy truth of a life lost too soon.
Kael, sensing her distress, reached out.
"Elira… you've seen it. The life that was taken from you. But remember… we are
different now. We have knowledge, power, and each other. That fate is gone. You
will not die alone. You will not be forgotten."
Elira clutched his hand. "I… I don't want to
lose anyone. I can't let that happen again."
Kael's eyes, reflecting decades of wisdom, softened. "Then we will change
everything. That tragedy will not define you. It will guide us."
The siblings sat together in silence, the
night quiet but full of meaning. The empire outside was unaware of the duo
whose minds held strategies, plans, and now, the memory of a life they would never allow to repeat.
Elira fell asleep again, calmer this time,
knowing her brother would guard her—not only from the palace, not only from
enemies—but from the cruel fate that had once been hers.