020_The Bond Was Forced

Elora’s POV

The letter crinkled beneath my fingertips as I folded it once, twice, then pressed it to my chest, just above the fast thump of my heart after taking it back from Lloyd.

My fingers trembled. Not from the cold, but from the weight of what I had just read.

My father had written me a warning in words I never imagined I would read from him.

Zeke and I were never meant to be.

It was a single sentence, but it unraveled everything.

The failed connection. The empty silence that followed the ceremony. The distant look in Zeke’s eyes—like even he knew something was missing but refused to admit it.

And me? I thought I was broken. That I had somehow failed the bond. That maybe love was supposed to feel like obedience or like duty without warmth.

It never felt right.

Not even once.

I stared at the pedestal where the dim light of the orb still pulsed softly, breathing like a slow heartbeat.

My eyes dropped and I noticed something...carvings. It was something I hadn't noticed before—sh