Thalen POV
The title hung in the air long after it left his lips.
Princess Sarafina.
He felt the moment it reached her, the moment it detonated behind her eyes, fracturing denial, memory, and the fragile illusion of her human life.
Her pulse spiked.
Her aura flared.
Her breath broke.
And still, she whispered:
"No… please don't call me that."
Thalen had seen countless prophecies unravel, countless rulers rise and fall.
But nothing hit him harder than watching her fold in on herself, trembling like a star forced into a shape too small to hold it.
He wanted to reach out.
He did not.
He could not.
"Forgive me," he murmured instead. "But the world will call you that soon enough. I would rather you hear it from a friend."
Her head snapped up.
"You're not my friend," she whispered. "You kidnapped me."
A blow he deserved.
He inhaled slowly.
Measured.
Steady.
"If I had not intervened, you would be dead," Thalen said. "Or worse…..captured."
Sarafina flinched.
Fear. Rage. Confusion. All twisting through her like a rising storm.
He watched her carefully.
Every shift in her aura. Every tremor under her skin.
She was unraveling.
And awakening.
Both too fast.
"I want answers," she said suddenly, voice shaking. "All of them. Right now."
Thalen lowered his gaze.
"I cannot give you all of them."
Her breath hitched, a wounded sound.
She didn't understand that sometimes secrets were not withheld by choice, but by oath.
"Then tell me what you can," she snapped. "Tell me something that makes sense…..anything please."
Thalen lifted his eyes, meeting hers.
"Your mother placed a seal upon you."
Her shoulders tensed.
"Yes, you said that."
"She did it to keep you hidden. Alive."
A pause.
"She did not expect the world to find you again so soon."
Sarafina swallowed hard. "Who's looking for me?"
"…everyone."
The color drained from her face.
Thalen stepped back, giving her space, allowing the truth to settle without crushing her under its weight.
"The hunters," he said softly. "For reasons I cannot yet tell you."
A lie of omission. Necessary.
"The werewolf pack," he continued. "Because Alistair's presence at your awakening broke their wards."
Her eyes widened at that name, pain flickering.
"And the vampires…"
A shadow crossed Thalen's face.
"…because they felt the breach in the Bloodline."
"The what?"
He didn't answer.
Not yet.
Not until the seal cracked further.
Not until she was strong enough to hear her father's name without the world shattering beneath it.
Instead, he breathed in and offered her the only thing she could handle
"A storm is coming, Sarafina. And you are its center. Whether you want to be or not."
She stared at him.
Hurt and furious and terrified all at once.
Then,
"What are you expecting me to do?" she whispered.
Thalen looked at her gently.
"You have two choices."
Her breath stilled.
"First," he said, "you remain here. In these wards. Until your magic stabilizes, your memories return, and the seal breaks safely."
Sarafina shook her head instantly.
"No. No...I can't stay here. My life is outside. My friends. My job. Cassian and Alistair….."
Her voice broke on their names.
Thalen continued quietly.
"Second option, you walk out that door."
She froze.
"And the moment you do…"
His voice softened, almost mournful.
"…the world will sense you. Every faction. Every predator. Every ancient power. They will converge on you. Tear you apart to claim what you carry."
Her hand trembled.
He felt the spike of fear ripple through her aura.
He wished he didn't have to say the next words.
"But if that is your choice… I will let you go."
Sarafina stared at him like she was trying to see whether he was lying.
He wasn't.
He never lied.
Just… withheld.
"Choose," Thalen said quietly. "Stay safe. Or face the world unprepared."
Sarafina pressed her back against the stone wall, breathing hard, chest rising too fast.
"I don't trust you," she whispered.
A soft ache tugged behind his ribs.
"You don't have to."
She moved toward the door anyway.
Of course she did.
She was her mother's child.
Sarafina reached for the handle—
And the world reacted.
A surge of white light tore through her.
Blinding.
Violent.
Raw instinct wrapped in starlight.
The ward's barrier ignited, slamming her backward as if the city itself refused to let her leave.
She cried out, falling to her knees as the force rolled through her bones.
Thalen was at her side instantly—but not touching her.
Never touching.
Her breathing was ragged.
Her hands shook.
She stared at the door like it had just tried to swallow her whole.
Thalen spoke softly.
"Now do you understand why you cannot walk out yet?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
This time, he let the silence answer for him.
Because she wasn't choosing between staying and leaving—
She was choosing between survival and death.
And she knew it.
Sarafina POV
I hated him.
I hated his calm.
I hated his riddles.
I hated that the door itself had thrown me back like I was a danger to the city.
But what I hated most—
Was that he was right.
I couldn't leave.
Not without killing myself. Or someone else.
My voice cracked.
"…How long do I stay?"
Thalen exhaled softly.
"Until it is safe."
"For me?" I whispered. "Or for everyone else?"
He did not answer.
And that, more than anything—terrified me.
Before I could ask again….
A pulse of air rippled through the room. Thalen's gaze snapped upward.
"They found you."
My heart stopped.
"Cassian?" I breathed. "Alistair?"
"Yes," Thalen murmured. "But so did the Arcanum guards."
Fear spiked.
"What does that mean?"
"It means," he said quietly, "that the next choice you make may break more than a seal."
The torches along the walls flickered violently.
And I felt it.
Cassian's energy,
Alistair's fury,
Both pressing against the outer wards.
Both coming for me.
Both about to collide with the one place I wasn't allowed to leave.
My pulse hammered.
I steadied myself.
Because the world wasn't going to wait for me to breathe.
It was already at the door.