Chapter 21Fractures of TruthIt happened too fast. One moment, Rylan stood rigid, his grip tightening, his eyes fixed on something Mira couldn’t see. The next, he moved. Not like himself. Violent.“Rylan,” she said again, stepping closer, her hands raised slightly as if calming something wounded. “Listen to me…”“Don’t.” His voice cut through her, sharp and raw, laced with something darker than anger. “That is not my name.” The words hit harder than anything else.Mira froze. “What are you talking about?” she said, her voice faltering despite her effort to stay steady. “Rylan, It’s me. I’m right here.” But he didn’t see her. Not really. His eyes burned with something unfamiliar, something misplaced. Betrayal. Fury. Pain that didn’t belong to this moment.“You left,” he said again, stepping forward. “You promised you wouldn’t, and you still did.”“I didn’t,” Mira insisted, shaking her head. “Rylan, whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real. It’s the Seal…”“Stop lying!” he snapped. The fo

CHAPTER 23BETWEEN WHAT WAS AND WHAT ISA few days had passed. Mira wasn’t sure how many exactly. Time in this place didn’t move the way she expected. There were no clear mornings or nights, just a slow shift in light and air that hinted at change without ever confirming it. She had not seen Rylan since the moment they took him away. At first, she had tried to wait patiently. She told herself they needed time, that whatever they were doing would help him. But as the hours stretched into something longer, that patience wore thin. It didn’t matter how calm the forest looked or how quiet everything felt. There was still a weight sitting in her chest that refused to settle.She stayed close to the place Kael had left her, though she wandered more now, tracing the same paths again and again as if she might find something she had missed the first time. The trees here still felt… different. Alive in a way she couldn’t quite explain. Sometimes she thought she saw them shift slightly when she

CHAPTER 25HAPPY MOMENTS The light shifted again. Mira sat on a low rise at the edge of the clearing, her knees drawn slightly in, her arms resting loosely around them. She had started coming here when she needed space. It wasn’t far from where the others gathered, but it felt quieter. Less… watched. The sky above wasn’t like anything she had seen before. It didn’t set. Not properly. Instead, the light dimmed in layers, colours slipping into each other without a clear end or beginning. Soft gold faded into pale violet, then something deeper, something cooler, until the whole sky looked like it was holding onto the last moment of day without ever letting it go. Mira tilted her head slightly, watching it shift. “…Weird sunset,” she muttered.“You call it that every time.” She didn’t need to turn to know who it was. Kael dropped down beside her, settling into the grass like he had nowhere else to be. A moment later, another presence joined them. Lira moved more quietly, taking a seat

CHAPTER 27WHAT HOLDSThey didn’t move right away. The clearing slowly returned to itself, the broken branches settling, the glow of the forest evening out like nothing had been disturbed at all. But Mira could still feel it, the echo of what had just happened, lingering in the air between them. Rylan stayed close. It was different from before. Before, he would have pulled away by now, brushed it off, tried to act like nothing had shifted. Now, he didn’t seem in a hurry to create distance. His hand remained loosely around her wrist, like he needed a point to return to. Mira noticed. She didn’t say anything about it.“…You’re quiet,” he said after a moment, his voice softer than it had been since he woke.Mira glanced at him briefly. “You were just trying to leave five minutes ago.”“I still might,” he replied, but there was no weight behind it this time. No urgency. Just a statement that didn’t quite land.She raised a brow slightly. “Right.”A faint hint of something almost like a sm

CHAPTER 29SHADOWS IN THE HALLThe throne room of the Dominion was colder than it looked. Marble floors reflected the pale light of crystal chandeliers, but they did nothing to warm the air. The scent of wax and old stone hung thick, and every footstep echoed with deliberate authority.Seraphina stood near the center, her posture perfect, hands folded lightly in front of her. Her eyes, sharp and calculating, swept across the assembled court. The royal bloodline was all present: her advisors, the elder generals, the younger heirs, and most importantly, Rylan’s uncle, Cassian. The man had the same rigid composure he had always worn, the faint edge of suspicion never leaving his gaze.“So the rumors are true,” Seraphina’s voice carried easily through the hall. “Someone has moved without detection. Someone who should not be… outside the confines of observation.”Her words hung in the air, deliberate and cold. A murmur passed through the gathered nobles, quick, nervous, but restrained. Whi