The keep was swallowed by silence, save for the slow crackle of the dying fire in my chamber. Its faint orange glow cast long shadows that stretched and shrank with the flickering flames. I sat in the heavy leather chair, feeling the weight of my crown settle onto my shoulders like a stone. But tonight, the crown felt less like a symbol of power and more like a chain, a reminder of all I’d lost and everything I still had to lose.Lyra’s absence was a ghost I couldn’t exorcise. Her memory lingered like a wound raw and bleeding, no matter how tightly I wrapped myself in armor and duty. The ache of her loss was a constant companion, a shadow that haunted every quiet moment. Yet in the darkest corners of that shadow, there was a flicker of something new, something I hadn’t dared to name until Selina.She had arrived like a storm, fierce and unpredictable, breaking through my carefully guarded walls. I should have pushed her away. I should have kept her at arm’s length, like I always did w
The door closed behind her with a soft click that echoed louder than it should have in the silent room. I stayed where I was, the scent of her still lingering like smoke, subtle but impossible to ignore. It was clean, sharp, like rain on hot stone, and it clawed at something in me I didn’t want to admit was still there.She left without looking back. Not because she was afraid, but because she didn’t want me to see her hesitate. That was what cut deepest. Lyra had never done that, she had always craved my attention, even if it was only to defy me. But Selina? She was different. She was unyielding in a way I didn’t expect, and it unsettled me more than I cared to admit.I sank into my chair, the weight of the crown pressing down like it never had before. The reports on my desk blurred into shadows as my thoughts circled her. I was supposed to be the king, the one who ruled with iron will and unshakable control. But control was slipping through my fingers like sand, and all I could thin
She left like she had somewhere better to be.Not hurried, not afraid, just… gone. The door shut behind her, and the air felt different, like she’d taken something with her.I stayed still, staring at the space she’d occupied as if I could rewind time by glaring hard enough. The desk in front of me was stacked with reports, maps, and intel sheets begging for my attention, but none of it mattered for the first time in months. My thoughts were still tangled in her, the way her eyes cut into mine without flinching, the way her defiance trembled but didn’t break.Pathetic, I told myself. I’d interrogated enemy captains without remembering their faces, but here I was, replaying the curve of her mouth.I sat down, deliberately ignoring the papers, and leaned back in the chair. Her scent was still faint in the air, something warm and stubborn. If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine she was still in the room.And that was the problem.I don’t get distracted. Distraction is a weakness, an
The door shut behind her with a quiet click, but it felt louder in my head.Too loud.Too final.She didn’t look back.Not once.That, more than anything, had my jaw tightening.Lyra was the type who should look back, she had that face that begged to be caught in the act of hesitation, the kind of woman who didn’t yet understand that walking away from me was not something she could do without consequence.But she kept walking.I sat there in the stillness she left behind, the air tasting faintly of her shampoo. Not sweet, no, it was cleaner than that, crisp and grounding. Something that made me think of rain hitting hot pavement, of steam curling off stone. I’d noticed it the first time she got too close, and now I couldn’t stop noticing.My fingers tapped once against the armrest of the chair. I didn’t call her back.Not because I didn’t want to, but because I knew if I did, I wouldn’t let her leave again.And she wasn’t ready for that.Not yet.Instead, I let my gaze drift to the cl
The door closed behind her with a soft click, but the sound lingered in my ears like a gunshot.I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. Just stood there, eyes fixed on the place she had been only seconds ago.The air still carried her scent, faint, maddening.It was an uninvited presence in my lungs, clinging to me even as I told myself to forget it.I hated how much I noticed.The subtle hitch in her breathing when I looked too long.The way she shifted her weight as if torn between standing her ground and fleeing.The little flicker in her eyes, not fear, not quite, something far more dangerous.She thought she could hide from me.She thought her thoughts were her own.She was wrong.My jaw tightened as I turned away from the door. The whiskey glass on my desk was still half-full, but my appetite for it had vanished. I poured the rest out, listening to the faint splash in the sink. The office felt smaller without her, the walls closing in as if mocking me for letting her leave.Letting.As i
The moment she stepped out, the air shifted.Not in the dramatic, storm-breaking sense. No, it was subtler, quieter. Like the instant you realise the warmth in a room has gone, and the cold is creeping in to claim the space she left behind. My eyes followed her until the last fraction of her hair vanished from sight, and I remained standing there longer than necessary, the sound of her footsteps fading into the corridor.It should have ended there.She’s just a girl, a complication I didn’t ask for, didn’t want. And yet, her absence pressed against my mind like a bruise you can’t help but touch.I could still hear the way her voice had wavered earlier, even though she tried to make it sound steady. Still see the flicker in her eyes, not quite defiance, not quite submission. That delicate, maddening middle ground.I turned away, heading to the desk, forcing myself into the familiarity of work. Reports. Maps. Schedules. All neat, all precise, the kind of order that had taken me years to