(Kael’s POV)The quiet lingered even after Aaron was gone.I stood there, my hand still in Alaric’s, trying not to cry again. My heart ached, not just because Aaron was leaving, but because goodbyes, even the softest ones, had a way of scraping old wounds raw. I don't know why I'm thinking too much about it but disputes between kingdoms aren't known to end well. I don't want him in any sort of danger. He's too much of an angel for that.He was my safety net. My anchor through the worst of it. And now he was returning to a kingdom that needed him — as he should. But it still hurts. I sometimes forget that he's not Veridian.Alaric didn’t say anything. He didn’t rush me or tell me to sit or speak. He just held my hand.When I finally turned to look at him, his eyes were already on me.“He’s always been there,” I said softly.Alaric nodded. “He loves you. You know that, right?”I nodded too, I know Aaron loves me, and sometimes it makes me wonder what I've done in a past life to deserve
(Kael's POV)I woke to the brush of soft lips against my cheek.Then my jaw. My nose. My eyelids.I smiled without opening my eyes, already knowing who it was.“Alaric…” I mumbled sleepily.“I didn’t want to wake you,” he whispered between kisses, his voice low and reverent, like I was his precious pretty mate and I am. “But I missed kissing your face.”His nose nudged mine gently, and I cracked my eyes open.He was leaning over me, shirtless, his dark hair tousled and eyes warmer than morning sunlight. He looked beautiful. A little tired maybe, but the kind of tired that only came from loving someone too hard in the quiet dark.“You were watching me sleep?” I teased.“Guilty.” He smiled, no shame in it.“How long?”He kissed my forehead. “Long enough to memorize how peaceful you look.”My chest squeezed. “You’re such a sap.”“I am. And I don’t care.”I giggled and reached up to tuck a piece of his hair behind his ear. He caught my wrist and kissed the inside of it, his lips lingering
(Kael's POV)𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆—𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔. 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈… 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒊𝒕?---He kissed me again.Softer this time, slower, like we were relearning the shape of each other’s mouths. There was nothing rushed. Nothing demanding.Only a quiet ache.When his hand slid from my cheek to the back of my neck, I didn’t stop him. I didn’t want to. His palm was warm against my skin, grounding, steady, so unlike the storm inside me.I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on. Maybe too tightly. Maybe like I thought he’d vanish if I let go.“I can’t lose you,” I whispered into the crook of his neck.“You won’t.”“You don’t know that.”His arms tightened around me. “I’m still here.”I pulled back just enough to look at him. “But what if they t
(Kael's POV)The night crept in like a shadow with no end.I didn’t remember falling asleep. One minute I was crying against the door, begging the world in silence to just let me disappear, and the next… my stomach growled loud enough to startle me awake.I blinked in the dark, heart hammering, trying to get my bearings. My back ached from the hard marble floor. I must have passed out right here, right by the door. I hadn’t even made it to the bed.Everything was quiet.I glanced out the window to a black sky, not a single torch still burning in the garden paths. The palace was asleep, but my hunger was insistent now, curling in my gut like a tight fist. I haven't eaten since… gods, I didn’t even know when.But there was no food in my chamber. Not even fruit.I sat up, clutching my knees. I didn’t want to face anyone. I didn’t want to walk the halls and see more looks of pity or disgust. Not after what they all knew. Not after the whispers and the pointing.Not after the truth.I thou
(Kael's POV)I didn’t wait for her to speak again.Didn’t look at her face, didn’t give her the grace of watching me break anymore.I turned my back on my mother.The same way she had turned hers on the truth.My feet moved faster than my thoughts. I pushed through the thick forest without knowing where I was going, heart hammering, eyes trying to focus on the path I'm walking but all I could see—Was the look in her eyes: Shame, yes.Guilt, maybe.But no real answers. Not the ones I needed. Not the ones I deserved.The moment I reached the palace walls, it felt like the world slowed.Guards at the gates stiffened. Their gazes fell, pretending not to notice me, but I could see it—The flinch.The awkward hand movements and throat clearing.The pity.The curiosity.As if I’d grown two heads.But what had I expected? I'm pretty famous now, I was the prince’s lover, the festival’s honored guest, no longer just Kael—But the boy who had slept with his own brother.A bastard.A mistake.A
(Kael's POV)I had no idea of the time I spent walking.My legs brought me further than the walls of the palace, out through the gardens to the east, going farther still into the forest until I heard the low murmur of a waterfall somewhere in front. Who knows? the waterfall languished there, as ever, behind a bed of stunted vines and tumbling old mossy stone, cold, constant, indifferent.This could not have been the case with me.I rested on the verge of the rock, the splash cold on my bare limbs, and tried to keep out of my ears the shrilling of my head. But there was still no silence. Only questions.Only… everything.So how did this happen?The water sounds like thunder but it is too quiet to make any sound louder than the one that floats in my head.Still I sit there, knees drawn up, a knot in my chest. How long am I planning to spend here? I do not know. Perhaps an hour or so. Perhaps half the day. Alaric's scent is on me, he did not want me to leave, but I had to be alone.No. I