The Fairy Kingdom shimmered with broken beauty.
Twisted trees still bore the scars of fire. The once-crystal lakes were murky, healing. And yet—flowers bloomed again beneath Elaine's feet with every step, though she refused to notice.
Ronan watched from a distance. He had brought her here to rebuild… but also, to heal. To awaken what was always meant to be hers.
"You can hear the wind before it moves," he said gently one afternoon. "That's not nothing, Elaine."
"I don't want to hear it," she snapped, not even turning to look at him.
He didn't push.
But later, when she placed her palm against a tree, and it bloomed in seconds—when the ground beneath her calmed just from her trembling breath—he knew she felt it too.
The stars blinked overhead. A fire crackled between them, but the warmth didn't reach Elaine's heart.
"Why did you bring me back ?" she asked bitterly, her voice shaking.
Ronan didn't flinch.
"Because your father loved you," he said softly. "He loved you so much, Elaine, he gave you his heart. Not half. His heart."
Her breath caught.
She stood, pacing, hands clenching. "Then why can I see what you see? Why do I feel you, Ronan? Why do I look like this—like I'm not even just Pendragon anymore?"
He stilled.
"Ronan," she pressed, voice cracking. "It couldn't have come from my father's heart alone."
He finally looked up, eyes glowing in the firelight.
"…Because you're sharing mine."
"What?" she whispered.
He stepped closer, quiet and solemn.
"Morganna took the other half of the last Fae King's heart… twenty-six years ago. That's how she made Mordred."
Elaine paled.
"What does that mean, Ronan?"
Ronan looks to the Heart of the Forest, a massive, ancient tree that pulses with the magic of the fae.
He knows what he must do.
He places a hand over his chest, his fingers glowing as he channels his magic.
Slowly, he begins to draw out a fragment of his heart— His expression tightens with pain, but he doesn't stop. Slowly, he pulls a fragment of his heart from his chest—a shimmering, crystalline shard that radiates brighter and more intense with each passing second.
"This is my gift to you. My heart… my life… my love. With it, you'll live—but you'll never be the same.i hope you can forgive me .
He holds the shard above her heart, his voice steady but filled with raw emotion.
"I've loved you from the moment I saw you in the forest, defiant and unafraid. And every moment since, you've shown me what it means to care, to fight, to believe in something greater than myself."You've given me your courage, your light, your love. Let me give you the last of mine."
Back int he present .
"It means… we're mated," he said. "Bound by blood and fate."
Her voice rose, trembling with anger and heartbreak. "And you didn't think to tell me?"
"I didn't want you to feel obligated to acknowledge it," he said, struggling to keep his voice calm. "You were grieving. You are grieving. I didn't want this to be something you felt forced into."
She took a step back, breath uneven. "What happens if I do?"
"If you accept it," he said slowly, "you become my queen. Until death. And if either of us dies… so does the other."
Silence.
And then she whispered, "Why would you do this?"
His voice broke.
"Because I'd do anything for you. Because—I loved you. I still do. From the first moment I saw you I—"
She surged forward, kissing him.
It wasn't soft. It was desperate. Angry. Devastated.
"Elaine," he breathed against her lips. "You know where this leads."
"I know," she said, her voice trembling. "And I don't care."
Their mouths crashed together again. This time, she pulled him to her. He didn't resist.
Fingers tangled in hair, backs pressed against stone and moss. Clothes fell away between gasps and whispered names.
Nature around them stirred—flowers blooming, wind howling, the trees bowing.
Two halves becoming whole.
Bound. Forever.