The moonlight never reached Selene Aurin's chambers.
Not because the windows were covered, or the lights dimmed — but because Selene had stopped seeing the light long ago.
Her room was beautiful. Regal. Laced with silk, glass, enchanted roses that never wilted. But it felt like a prison made of velvet.
The girl once called the Jewel of the Court sat on the floor, her knees to her chest, eyes fixed on the flickering flame of a single candle.
It danced like his fire.
Like Aedric.
Like the boy she loved… and betrayed.
---
> "Do you love him?"
"Then you'll do what must be done."
Caelen's voice echoed in her memory, cold and honeyed.
That day, two years ago — when she had been summoned into the garden of mirrors. When Caelen had promised her protection, power… and the truth.
> "He's cursed, Selene. He will burn the kingdom."
> "He will burn you."
---
But he didn't.
He burned… for her.
And now he lived again.
---
She stood slowly and walked to the ornate mirror that hung across her chamber wall.
Her reflection stared back: silver-blonde hair coiled like a crown, soft lips, hollow eyes.
> You don't deserve to wear white anymore…
Tears welled — not from weakness, but exhaustion.
She had played her role too well.
The court still called her Lady of Light. The nobles bowed. The priests kissed her hand.
But deep within her, something cracked more with each breath.
Especially after the trial.
She'd seen Aedric, standing bound in divine chains, surrounded by fire and judgment. And yet… he stood tall.
Unbroken.
Undeniable.
> He's no longer the boy you betrayed.
> He's become something else.
---
A knock.
Soft. Rhythmic.
She stiffened.
Three knocks. Then one. Then two.
The signal.
---
She crossed the room, pressed her palm to the sigil hidden behind the tapestry. A glyph pulsed, and the wall shifted, opening into shadow.
He waited for her in the hidden chamber — surrounded by old tomes and relics stolen from temples long buried.
Prince Caelen Valtoris.
He didn't smile this time.
Just nodded toward the scroll on the obsidian table.
"You need to sign it."
Selene's stomach twisted.
"What is it?"
"A warrant."
Her heart stopped.
"For what?"
Caelen finally looked at her.
"For Aedric's arrest. Under divine law."
---
The silence between them stretched like a blade.
Selene stepped back, eyes widening.
"He passed the Trial."
"He manipulated it," Caelen hissed. "A god interfered. That is not proof of purity — it's proof of danger."
"You saw him… he told the truth. The flame didn't burn him."
"Because it belongs to him," Caelen snapped. "Don't you see? He's no longer human. He is the flame, Selene. The ancient curse reborn."
Selene shook her head.
"I won't help you kill him again."
Caelen's voice softened.
"I'm not asking for death. Just… containment."
A lie.
They both knew it.
---
He stepped closer.
"Twelve Dominion Lords still fear him. But if you sign this… if you, his former lover, declare him unfit… the people will follow."
Selene looked at the scroll.
Aedric's name burned across it — glowing with cursed ink.
A magical seal.
If she signed it, it would trigger a divine order. One that couldn't be undone.
"He loved you, Selene," Caelen whispered. "But you know better than anyone what lives inside him now."
She turned away.
Her throat burned.
"I can't."
---
Caelen's voice turned colder.
"If you don't, I'll sign it myself. But then… your father will lose his land. Your mother — her treatment will end. Your house will fall into shame. And when the Flameborn finally snaps and burns this kingdom to ash…"
He leaned close, eyes narrowed.
"…you'll be the only one left to blame."
---
Selene stood frozen.
Tears rolled silently down her cheek.
But her fingers moved.
Not to the quill.
To the ribbon tied around her wrist.
It was old. Scorched at one edge.
The last gift Aedric had given her.
> "Tie this around your wrist," he had said, years ago, "and I'll know you still believe in me."
Her eyes closed.
Her lips trembled.
And she whispered, "I believe."
---
She turned to Caelen.
Eyes hard. Jaw clenched.
And she said, "I'll deliver the scroll myself."
Caelen smiled.
Not realizing what she truly meant.
---
🕊️ The Messenger in Shadow
Hours later, in a storm-swept alley behind the Citadel, a cloaked figure slipped through the gates.
No guards saw her.
No spell caught her.
She moved like memory.
She moved like regret.
Inside her cloak, she carried the scroll.
But she didn't take it to the Temple.
She took it to the boy who burned the gods.
---
Aedric stood on the balcony of the old watchtower, overlooking the training fields where the elite warriors slept.
He didn't turn as she approached.
"I felt your footsteps five minutes ago."
Selene stopped.
"I knew you would."
Silence.
Rain began to fall — slow and soft.
She reached into her cloak and held out the scroll.
He turned.
Eyes glowing faintly with that black fire.
"Is that what I think it is?"
She nodded.
"I was told to sign it."
"And now?"
"I brought it to you."
---
Aedric stepped forward. Took the scroll. Read it.
Then slowly, he set it aflame.
The cursed ink screamed — like a banshee trapped in parchment — before it vanished into ash.
Selene looked up at him.
Tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"For which time?" he asked softly.
"All of them."
---
She stepped forward. Placed her hand over his heart.
It beat like thunder.
He didn't move.
Didn't reject her.
But didn't forgive her either.
"I can't fix what I broke," she whispered.
"No," he said. "But you can help me break what needs to be shattered."
---
And in the distance, across the highest spire of the palace, Caelen watched them through a glass orb.
He smiled.
And whispered:
> "Good, Selene… bring him closer. Let him trust again. It will make his next fall so much sweeter."
---