LOGINZevran's POV
The war room was packed. Every general. Every captain. Every strategist in Noctis crowded around the long table covered in maps and markers. The air smelled like sweat and tension. Three days to prepare for an army twice our size. Three days to find a way to win against impossible odds.
I stood at the head of the table. Studied the map. The Council's fortress sat deep in neutral territory. Heavily fortified. Su
Tina's POVI dropped the basket of herbs when I heard the news."Aldrid is here," Lyra said, her voice tight with anger. "In Noctis. Calista allowed him sanctuary."The words did not make sense. Could not make sense. I stared at her, waiting for the punchline, for her to admit it was a cruel joke. But her expression remained hard and serious."That is impossible," I whispered. "She would never...""She did." Lyra crouched to help me gather the scattered herbs. "He arrived this morning with some followers. Zevran has him under guard but he is here, Tina. The man who destroyed her is sleeping under the same roof."My hands started shaking. I remembered too much. Remembered finding Calista crying in empty hallways, her face bruised and her spirit shattered. Remembered holding her while she apologized for existing, for breathing, for taking up space. Aldrid had done that. Turned a strong, beautiful woman into someone who flinched at shadows."I need to see her," I said."She is in the gar
Zevran's POVI reached the gates before Calista could and that was exactly how I wanted it.The guards had already formed a barrier, their weapons drawn and their faces hard. Beyond them stood a group of maybe ten people, all looking road worn and exhausted. At the center was Aldrid, barely recognizable from the arrogant prince I remembered. His clothes were torn, his face gaunt, and dried blood stained his shirt. But it was his eyes that caught my attention. They were different. Haunted."Open the gates," I ordered."Your Majesty, are you certain?" The captain of the guard looked uncertain."Open them. But keep weapons ready." I stepped forward as the heavy iron gates swung wide. "If anyone moves wrong, you have permission to act."Aldrid dismounted slowly, wincing as his feet hit the ground. Whatever injuries he carried were still fresh. Good. Pain would keep him humble. The people with him stayed on their horses, watching me with a mixture of hope and fear."King Zevran." Aldrid's
Calista's POV"You want to save him." Zevran's voice was flat, carefully controlled.I stood by the window in our private chambers, watching the dawn light spill across Noctis. My hands were clasped tightly in front of me because if I let them loose, they would shake. "I know how it sounds.""Do you?" He moved closer but did not touch me. "After everything he did to you. After the years of cruelty and humiliation. You want to bring him here, into our home, and offer him sanctuary.""Not because I forgive him." The words came out sharper than I intended. "Not because I have forgotten what he put me through. But because I saw something in the vision. Something important.""What did you see?" His tone softened slightly.I turned to face him. "I saw futures where Aldrid becomes an ally. Where his knowledge of Vargath and the Council helps us protect the people who need protecting. I saw him standing with us when everything fell apart. I saw redemption.""You also told me you see hundreds
Aldrid's POVThe ale tasted like dirt but I drank it anyway.My hands shook as I set the mug down on the stained wooden table. Three months of exile had reduced me to this. Hiding in forgotten corners of the realm, jumping at every shadow, sleeping with one eye open. The mighty Prince Aldrid of Vargath, cowered in a tavern that smelled of sweat and desperation.I barely recognized myself anymore. My clothes were torn and filthy. My face was covered in a scraggly beard I had no energy to shave. The mirror behind the bar showed a broken man and I could not stand to look at it for long."Another," I called to the barkeep, sliding my last copper coin across the counter.He eyed me with suspicion but poured anyway. Most people did not recognize me anymore and that was exactly how I wanted it. In Vargath I had been someone. Here, in this nameless border town, I was nobody. Just another exile drinking himself to death.The door creaked open and three men walked in. I did not look up. Keeping
Calista's POVHis words shattered something inside me.The walls I built so carefully over the past week crumbled like sand. All the fear and isolation and crushing responsibility I carried alone suddenly felt unbearable. I turned to face Zevran fully and saw nothing but love in his eyes. No judgment. No impatience. Just steady unwavering support that made my throat tighten with emotion."I am scared." The confession ripped from somewhere deep. "I am terrified that one wrong choice will destroy everything. That I will see disaster coming and be too slow or too stupid to stop it. That everyone will suffer because I was not good enough to wield this power.""Come here." He pulled me close and I went willingly. Let myself collapse against his chest. Let his arms wrap around me like a shield against the visions that never stopped. "Tell me everything. Tell me what you see. Tell me what scares you most.""I see too many paths." My voice was muffled against his shirt. "Every decision br
Zevran's POVI watched her fade.Not physically. She still moved through the palace. Still attended meetings. Still smiled when people spoke to her. But the light behind her eyes dimmed a little more each day. The woman I loved was disappearing into something cold and distant and unreachable. Five days since she gained this cursed power. Five days of watching her slip further away while I stood helplessly.She sat across from me now at breakfast but she might as well have been on another continent. Her eyes were unfocused. Distant. Seeing things I could not see. Futures I could not imagine. Her food sat untouched. Her coffee grew cold. She had not eaten properly in days and it showed in the hollows beneath her eyes and the sharpness of her cheekbones."Calista." I kept my voice gentle. "You need to eat something. You are wasting away.""I am fine." The automatic response came without her even looking at me. "I just need to focus. There are too many variables. Too many possible outcom







