Seraphina's POV
I couldn't breathe.
The shadows released me, and I collapsed onto cold marble floors, gasping for air. My whole body felt wrong—like I'd been torn apart and put back together in the wrong order.
"Breathe slowly," Caelan's voice said above me. "Shadow travel is difficult the first time."
I looked up at him, still on my hands and knees, and anger exploded through my fear.
"You—" I choked out. "You just kidnapped me!"
He raised one dark eyebrow. "You said you wanted to leave."
"I didn't say you could drag me through SHADOWS to another realm!"
"Would you have preferred I left you there?" His voice was calm, almost amused. "So your family could complete their ritual and kill you properly?"
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it. He had a point.
I forced myself to stand on shaking legs and finally looked around.
We were in a throne room, but not like any throne room I'd ever seen. The walls were made of black stone that seemed to shimmer and move when I wasn't looking directly at it. Three silver moons hung visible through massive windows—except they weren't windows. There was no glass. Just open air, but somehow it wasn't cold.
And the throne.
It was carved from a single piece of obsidian, tall and sharp and terrifying. Just looking at it made me feel small.
"Where are we?" I whispered.
"Noctwyth. My kingdom. The realm between your world and the shadow realm." Caelan moved past me, his boots silent on the marble. "You'll be safe here."
"Safe?" I laughed, and it came out slightly hysterical. "I just found out my mother locked away my magic when I was a baby! That I'm apparently some kind of mythical Starborn! And now I'm bonded to you—whatever that means—and you expect me to feel SAFE?"
He turned to face me fully, and those silver eyes pinned me in place.
"The Soul Bind means your life is tied to mine," he said quietly. "If I die, you die. If you die, I die. We can sense each other's emotions and location. The bond cannot be broken by any known magic."
My heart stopped. "You... you trapped me. You bound me to you forever without asking!"
"I didn't bind us. The magic did." He took a step closer, and I forced myself not to back away. "Soul Binds only form between Inverse Souls—two beings whose magical essences are perfect opposites. It's supposed to be impossible. It hasn't happened in over a thousand years."
"Why us?" My voice cracked. "Why me?"
Something flickered across his face. Pain? Longing? It was gone too fast to tell.
"I don't know yet. But I intend to find out." He gestured to a door that appeared in the wall—literally appeared, like it materialized from nothing. "You must be exhausted. Lyra will show you to your chambers."
A woman stepped through the door, and I jumped. She was beautiful, with long black hair and eyes that glowed faint purple. She wore dark robes covered in silver symbols.
"This is Lyra, my court sorceress," Caelan said. "She'll help you settle in."
Lyra studied me with open curiosity. "So you're the one. The Starborn who finally appeared." She smiled, and it seemed genuine. "Welcome to Noctwyth, Princess Seraphina."
"Don't call me princess," I said automatically. "I'm not—"
"You're more than a princess," Caelan interrupted. "You just don't know it yet." He turned to leave, then paused. "Oh, and Seraphina? That mark on your wrist? Don't try to hide it. Everyone here will know what it means. You're under my protection now. No one will dare touch you."
He vanished into shadows, leaving me alone with Lyra.
"He does that a lot," Lyra said conversationally. "Dramatic exits. You'll get used to it." She held out her hand. "Come. You look like you're about to collapse."
She was right. Adrenaline was wearing off, and exhaustion hit me like a wave. I followed her through corridors that seemed to twist in ways that defied logic. We went up stairs that curved impossibly, through doors that led to places they shouldn't.
"How big is this palace?" I asked.
"No one knows," Lyra said cheerfully. "It changes. Rooms appear and disappear based on need. Noctwyth is alive in its own way."
That should have terrified me. Instead, it felt... right. Like this strange, impossible place understood me better than my own home ever had.
Lyra stopped at a door carved with stars. "Your chambers."
She pushed it open, and I gasped.
The room was enormous, with a bed that could fit five people. Bookshelves lined the walls, packed with more books than I'd ever seen. A balcony overlooked a garden filled with plants that glowed softly in the twilight.
"This can't be for me," I whispered.
"King Caelan chose it himself," Lyra said. "He said you'd need books and plants. Was he right?"
Tears burned my eyes. He'd known. After five minutes, this stranger had seen me better than my family had in twenty-three years.
"Yes," I managed.
Lyra squeezed my shoulder gently. "There are clothes in the wardrobe. Bath through that door. Sleep as long as you need. Tomorrow, we'll begin your training."
"Training for what?"
"For understanding what you are. What you can do." She moved toward the door, then looked back. "Seraphina? I know you're scared. But you're not a prisoner here. You're a guest. There's a difference."
After she left, I stood in the middle of the room, feeling lost.
I walked onto the balcony. The garden below was full of flowers I'd never seen—blue roses, silver lilies, plants that chimed like bells in the breeze. Without thinking, I reached out toward them.
The plants responded.
Every single flower turned toward me, like they were greeting me. The blue roses climbed higher on their vines. The lilies bloomed brighter.
I pulled my hand back, shocked.
"Impossible," I breathed.
But nothing was impossible anymore, was it?
I looked down at the mark on my wrist. In the moonlight, it glowed faint silver. Beautiful and terrifying.
Somewhere in this strange palace, Caelan could feel me. Could sense my emotions.
Could he feel my confusion? My fear?
My strange, growing curiosity about him?
I pushed that thought away and went back inside. In the wardrobe, I found dozens of dresses—simple ones, fancy ones, all in my size. How had he known?
I chose a soft nightgown and collapsed onto the bed. It was the most comfortable thing I'd ever felt.
Sleep pulled at me, but my mind raced.
Who was I really? What was this Starborn power everyone kept talking about? Why had my mother locked it away?
And why did being near Caelan feel both dangerous and safe at the same time?
I was just drifting off when I felt it.
A tug. Deep in my chest. Like a string connecting me to something else.
The Soul Bind.
I could feel him. Somewhere in the palace, Caelan was awake. And his emotions bled through the connection—curiosity, concern, and something else. Something that felt like hope.
I touched the mark on my wrist, and suddenly I knew exactly where he was. It was like a compass pointing north. I could find him if I wanted to.
Did he feel the same pull toward me?
The thought made my cheeks burn.
I rolled over, trying to sleep. But hours later, I was still awake, staring at the ceiling.
Finally, I gave up. I pulled on a robe and opened my door.
The hallway was empty. Silent. But somehow, I knew which way to go.
I followed the pull of the Soul Bind through the twisting corridors, up a spiral staircase, until I reached a door at the top of a tower.
It was open.
Beyond it, I could see Caelan standing on a balcony, his back to me. The wind moved through his dark hair. He looked... lonely. Ancient and lonely.
"I know you're there," he said without turning. "I felt you the moment you left your room."
"I couldn't sleep," I admitted.
"Neither could I." He finally turned to face me. "The Soul Bind makes it difficult to sleep when your other half is distressed."
"Is that what we are? Halves?"
"I don't know what we are yet." He gestured to the space beside him. "But you might as well come here instead of hovering in the doorway."
I shouldn't. I should go back to my room and hide until morning.
But I walked onto the balcony anyway.
From here, I could see all of Noctwyth spread below—a city of silver lights and dark towers, beautiful and eerie.
"It's strange," I said quietly. "I should hate you. You bound me to you without permission. You brought me to a place I don't understand. But..."
"But?" His voice was careful.
"But for the first time in my life, I don't feel powerless. Is that crazy?"
"No." He looked at me, and in the moonlight, his silver eyes seemed almost warm. "You were never powerless, Seraphina. They just made you believe you were."
"Who are you really?" I asked. "Everyone says you're a monster. The Immortal King who's killed thousands."
"I am," he said simply. "I've lived for five hundred years. I've done terrible things to protect my kingdom. But I'm not going to hurt you."
"How do I know that?"
He held up his wrist, showing the Soul Bind mark that matched mine.
"Because if I hurt you, I hurt myself. We're connected now. Your pain is my pain. Your death is my death." His expression softened. "But more than that... you're important. More important than you know."
"The Starborn thing."
"Yes. And other things I'll explain when you're ready."
I wanted to ask more, but exhaustion finally won. I yawned, and he smiled—a real smile that transformed his face.
"Go back to bed, little Starborn. Tomorrow, we begin figuring out who you really are."
I turned to leave, but his voice stopped me.
"Seraphina?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for trusting me enough to come find me tonight."
I didn't trust him. Not fully. But something in his tone made my chest ache.
"Goodnight, Caelan."
"Goodnight."
I made my way back to my room, following the bond like a glowing thread. When I finally crawled into bed, sleep came quickly.
I dreamed of silver light and shadow.
And of a prophecy I didn't understand yet.
But somewhere in the palace, Caelan stood on his balcony for hours more, staring at his wrist.
At the mark that bound him to the one person who could either save him or destroy him.
For the first time in five hundred years, he felt something he'd forgotten how to feel.
Fear.
Not of death. He'd stopped fearing death centuries ago.
No, he feared something far worse.
He feared losing her.
And in the morning, everything would change.
Because Seraphina was about to discover the real reason her mother had locked away her magic.
The reason the entire kingdom had wanted her dead.
The Starborn didn't just have power.
They had the power to end worlds.
And Seraphina's power had just begun to wake up.