Winter had begun to strike the city of Loren with its cold winds.
Fog filled the squares, and snow fell on the palace tiles, as if the sky was wiping away the sins of wars.
On the forty-fifth day of Niren's captivity…
Vann fell ill.
---
It started with a slight cough, then a fever, then relentless shivering.
The doctors tried to treat him, but on the third day, they announced that the prince had caught a deadly seasonal disease known among the Westerners as "The Broken Bones Fever"—a sickness that spreads with the changing seasons and kills anyone who cannot endure it within a week.
Seth sat beside Vann's bed, his face gray and silent.
Kaiden, meanwhile, went out to the training yard, striking the shields as if releasing his anger on the forces of the heavens.
---
One night, Niren heard muffled screams from her wing.
She asked the guard, who replied:
"The prince is dying."
She froze.
Without thinking, she ran and opened the wing's door—which had never been opened to her without permission.
She saw Vann on the bed, his face flushed, his body twisting, struggling to breathe.
The doctors had placed cloths on him but made no progress.
She said confidently:
"Everyone, leave."
They stared at her in surprise, but she shouted:
"I am from the land of peace… we know this disease. We have seen it consume soldiers and women in the countryside, and we know how to calm a dying body."
They hesitated, but Seth motioned them out.
---
She sat beside him, dipped a cloth in cold water, and placed it on his forehead.
Then she began massaging his stiff limbs, speaking softly to him:
"Don't die now, Vann…
Not before the story we began is finished."
---
For three nights, Niren barely slept, sitting on a small wooden chair, resting her head on the edge of the bed, silently watching his breathing.
On the fourth night, when she opened her eyes… she found him staring at her.
He whispered:
"Did you… stay by my side?"
She replied, hiding a tear:
"And you stayed inside me… despite yourself."
He smiled weakly.
"Then you are not my enemy."
She said:
"Maybe I was your enemy… but now, I don't know who I am."
---
In the morning, Niren went down to the kitchen with her hands, brought hot soup, and fed Vann as a mother would feed her son.
When Seth saw them, he muttered to himself:
"All kingdoms are built with swords…
But kingdoms built with hearts do not fall easily."
And so, in a moment of sickness…
A small fire was born between the bed and the chair.
Not a fire of war… but something deeper.
Something unspoken… yet felt.