Lahat ng Kabanata ng Bound by Crystals and Shadows: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

“You do not get to put that on me,” I said, my voice lower now, but filled with something far more dangerous than fear. My hands curled tightly at my sides, my nails pressing into my palms as I tried to hold onto something solid, something that belonged to me and not to them. “I do not even remember that night. I do not remember anything before I woke up here, and yet you stand there and speak as if I should carry the weight of things I cannot even see, let alone understand.”The pressure inside my chest began to build, subtle at first, like something shifting beneath the surface, something that had been waiting far longer than I had known. “I do not know who I am,” I continued, my voice rising despite myself, the words coming faster now as everything I had been holding in began to unravel. “I do not remember my life before this place, and yet all of you expect me to stand here and accept that I am something I have never been given the chance to choose.”The air changed.It was not im

The quiet did not return after the disturbance.Even after the shadows had retreated and the sound of battle faded into the distance, something restless lingered beneath the surface, threading through the walls of the Guardian Hall like a warning that had not yet finished speaking. I had just begun to steady my breathing again, my hand still resting against the edge of the door as I listened for any sign that it was truly over, when the sudden force of the handle turning made my entire body tense.The door burst open.I barely had time to step back before Corin was inside, his presence filling the room in an instant, his eyes searching, sharp and alert as they moved over every inch of me. His chest rose and fell quickly, his breathing uneven, as if he had come straight from battle without stopping. There was something raw in his expression, something unguarded that I had not seen before, and for a brief moment, I could not process what he was saying, his voice reaching me through the

Bright and early the next morning, I stood alone on the training grounds just outside the Guardian Hall, the cool morning air brushing gently against my skin as the first light of day slowly stretched across Lunara. The sky above was still painted in soft shades of blue and gold, the sun only just beginning to rise high enough to warm the stone beneath my feet. The training grounds were quiet at this hour, almost too quiet, the stillness broken only by the faint rustle of leaves from the nearby trees and the distant echo of movement from somewhere deeper within the hall.The space itself was larger than I expected, far more open than the rest of the outpost, with packed earth underfoot that had been worn down by repeated use. The ground carried marks of movement, uneven patches and faint grooves where feet had shifted and weapons had struck over time. Wooden dummies stood off to one side, some leaning slightly as if they had taken too many hits, while a rack of training weapons rested

Of course he would watch.Something tightened in my chest at the thought, something I didn’t want to name as I forced myself to focus again, raising my sword as Rhys moved toward me once more.But it wasn’t the same.I could feel it.The awareness of Corin’s presence lingered at the edge of my thoughts, pulling at my focus, shifting something inside me that made it harder to ignore everything else.Rhys noticed that too.His gaze flicked briefly toward Corin again before returning to me, something sharper settling into his expression.“Well,” he said, almost lightly, though there was intention behind it now, “this just got more interesting.”I frowned slightly. “What does that mean?”“It means,” he replied, stepping closer again, his voice lowering just enough for only me to hear, “you’re about to learn a lot faster.”Before I coul

The silence between us did not soften after my last words. It settled heavier instead, pressing into the space like something alive, something waiting to see which of us would break first. My chest rose and fell unevenly as I held his gaze, refusing to step back now that everything had finally been said out loud.“You say you have feelings for me,” I continued, the words coming out sharper than I intended, edged with frustration that had been building for far too long, “but in the same breath, you distance yourself from me.” I shook my head slightly, the ache in my chest tightening as I forced myself to keep going. “Every time we argue about the same thing, Corin, you suddenly decide to confess how you feel, like that’s supposed to fix everything. But then right after that, you go back to acting like I’m just the helpless girl you pulled out of the river… or the princess you’re sworn to protect.”The words hung between us, but I didn’t stop.I couldn’t.“God, damn it, Corin,” I said,