The sky above Aetheria cracked with distant thunder, though no storm approached.
Down below, storms brewed in silence.
---
In the Royal Training Hall
Kael's blade slammed against the training dummy with a force that echoed like thunder.
Again.
And again.
Sweat glistened on his brow, soaking through his linen shirt. His left arm—still burned—ached with every motion. But he didn't stop. Couldn't.
Because the image of her hands on his skin refused to leave him.
The softness of her voice. The way she smiled. The way she saw something good in him, even when he had buried it in steel and silence.
> "You carry a heart of gold."
He struck again. The dummy split down the center.
Behind him, a voice echoed. Cold and quiet.
"You've grown reckless."
Kael turned.
Auren.
Dressed in royal black and gold, his expression unreadable—but his eyes held storms.
Kael didn't bow. "I'm always reckless."
Auren walked closer. "Not with her. Not anymore."
Kael froze. The air in the hall thickened.
Auren's voice broke the silence. "You love her, don't you?"
It wasn't a question.
Kael looked away. "She was yours. You chose her. You won."
Auren's voice softened, but there was a razor under it. "She was never a prize to win. She's a person. My wife. The mother of my child."
Kael's jaw tightened. "I would never hurt her."
"I know," Auren said. "But that doesn't mean you're not dangerous to her. Or to yourself."
The silence between them stretched until it nearly broke.
Then Auren stepped back. "I won't tell her. I trust you to carry this weight alone."
Kael bowed his head.
But in his chest, the war only deepened.
---
Meanwhile: The Temple of Stars
In a hidden sanctuary below the palace, Varyx stood before an ancient mirror carved from obsidian skyglass. The air shimmered with power.
He held in his hand a blood-marked pendant—stolen from Elara's discarded gown.
"By the laws of the old sky, I seek dominion," he whispered. "Over what has not yet breathed. Over what has not yet chosen."
The mirror glowed.
A child's heartbeat echoed faintly in the chamber.
> The heir...
If Varyx could curse the child in the womb—plant seeds of darkness early—he wouldn't have to kill it. He could control it.
But just as the incantation rose—
A gust of black wind shattered the spell.
The mirror cracked.
And from the shadows, Kael emerged.
Blade in hand. Fury in his eyes.
"If you ever touch the child again," Kael said, voice like death, "I will make you disappear from history itself."
Varyx backed away slowly, smiling thinly. "Interesting. You guard the boy like your own."
Kael didn't blink. "Because I would've given my soul for his father. And I'll spill blood for his mother."
Varyx laughed. "Love makes even monsters noble."
Kael stepped closer. "Don't test me again."
---
Later That Night: In the Moonlit Nursery
Elara stood beside the cradle, humming softly. She hadn't told Auren or Kael, but she'd felt the child stir earlier—his tiny heartbeat beating faster, as if reacting to danger.
Kael stood silently in the shadows outside her door, sword across his back.
Guard. Monster. Brother.
But when she turned and saw him—her eyes warm, dark brown, calm—he felt… less monstrous.
For just a moment.
She smiled.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Again.
And walked away.
Leaving Kael to guard what he would never have—but would die to protect.
---