Chapter 3

"You're real," he whispered, his markings pulsing rapidly with emotions I couldn't interpret. "They told me you were awake, but I thought—I feared it was another trick."

"I'm real," I confirmed, my hands moving of their own accord to touch his face. His skin felt cool beneath my fingertips, smooth like polished stone but yielding like flesh. "I don't remember everything, but I remember you."

Behind us, Lady Arinna and the attendants had entered the chamber. "My Prince," she said urgently, "we have little time. Lord Vexan's guards are searching for both of you."

Costa's expression hardened, his arms tightening protectively around me. "Let them come. I will not be separated from her again."

"If they find you together now, you will have no chance," Lady Arinna insisted. "The conservatives still control the Council. We need time to rally support among the moderate factions."

I could feel Costa's reluctance in his body's tension, but I also sensed his royal training kicking in—the political awareness that had been drilled into him since birth.

"Where would you have us go?" he asked, not releasing me.

Lady Arinna's markings pulsed with relief. "The area known as Voidheart in your time is now called Voidhaven. I believe the Le Glow Club was in that area.”

Le Glow Club. The name hit me like a physical blow, memories suddenly cascading through my mind with startling clarity. The fortune teller's words, my nervous walk to the tube sky station, the pulsing lights and alien music that had seemed so foreign yet intoxicating. And then—Costa, standing across a crowded dance floor, his eyes finding mine through the swirling crowd as if drawn by some invisible force.

"I remember," I gasped, gripping his arms tighter. "That's where we met. The fortune teller was right."

Costa's markings flared brighter, and I saw recognition dawn in his strange, beautiful eyes. "You wore something blue," he said softly. "And you looked terrified."

"I was terrified," I admitted. "I'd never seen anything like that place. Like you."

"The old entertainment district has changed significantly," Lady Arinna interrupted, though her tone was gentler now, as if she understood the importance of what was happening between us. "Many of the original establishments are gone, but the underground levels remain largely unchanged. There are those there who remember the old ways, who might be sympathetic to your cause."

The harmonic warning tone grew more insistent, and we could hear voices getting closer. Costa's head snapped toward the sound, his body tensing like a predator ready to fight.

"How do we get there?" he asked.

One of the attendants said, "The old maintenance tunnels that run beneath the palace connect to the city's transit system. "But the journey will be difficult for Lady Ariella in her current condition.

I forced myself to stand straighter, drawing on reserves of strength I wasn't sure I possessed. "I can manage it."

Costa's hand found mine, our fingers interlacing with a familiarity that transcended the centuries. The moment our palms touched, I felt steadier, as if some part of me that had been missing was finally restored.

"Together," he said simply.

Lady Arinna nodded, already moving toward another hidden panel in the crystal wall. "I'll create a distraction, give you time to reach the tunnels. But once you're in Voidhaven, you'll be on your own until I can arrange safe passage off-world."

"Off-world?" Costa's voice sharpened. "We're not running away, Lady Arinna. Not this time."

"My Prince, if you stay—"

"If we stay, we force them to confront the truth they've been hiding for six centuries," I said, surprising myself with the conviction in my voice. "Whatever happened between us before, whatever we represented—it was important enough that they couldn't bring themselves to destroy us completely."

Costa squeezed my hand, his markings pulsing in what I was beginning to recognise as approval. "Ariella is right. We are not the same people they put to sleep. And this is not the same world that condemned us."

The sound of approaching guards grew louder, accompanied by shouting.

“Please my Prince you will both need to be fully awakened for what is to come, along with being fully healed, beyond getting all your memories back. They want to get to you both before that happens others like them have done it three times before just as those who tried to set you both free.” Arinna stated flatly.

Her words sent a chill through me that had nothing to do with the crystal walls. "What do you mean, fully awakened?" I asked, though part of me already dreaded the answer.

Lady Arinna's markings flickered with what I was learning to recognise as distress. "The cryostasis process doesn't simply preserve—it fragments. Your memories, your abilities, and even the bond between you both. What you're experiencing now is only the surface layer of who you were."

Costa's grip on my hand tightened. "The other times—the people who woke us before. They never gave us enough time to fully recover."

"Precisely. And each time you were returned to stasis, the process became more... complex. The conservative factions learned to time their interventions to prevent complete awakening." Lady Arinna moved to the wall, her fingers dancing across its surface in patterns that made the crystal sing softly. "But they also don't fully understand what they're dealing with."

The shouting outside grew more distinct. I could make out individual voices now, orders being barked in the musical language of Costa's people mixed with harsh human commands.

"There," Lady Arinna said as another passage opened, this one sloping sharply downward. "The maintenance tunnels. But I must warn you—as you continue to awaken, you may experience... changes. The person you were before the separation, Lady Ariella, she was not entirely human."

I stared at her, my mind reeling. "What are you talking about?"

"There's no time to explain properly," she said, glancing nervously at the chamber entrance. "But the charges of bewitchment—they weren't entirely fabricated. You possessed abilities that shouldn't have been possible for a human. That's what truly terrified them."