The Outer Sanctum lay beyond the palace walls, silent and ancient, wrapped in mist and forgotten magic.
Seraphina stood at its threshold as the gates closed behind her with a heavy finality. The sound echoed in her chest like a warning.
Alone.
The council had been clear—no contact, no interference, no protection. The sanctum was meant to test control through isolation.
But they had underestimated one thing.
Distance did not weaken the bond.
It sharpened it.
Seraphina felt Kael like a second heartbeat—steady, furious, restrained only by sheer will. The connection hummed beneath her skin, warmer when she thought of him, blazing when she tried not to.
I'm here, she whispered silently.
The sanctum answered with a low tremor. Runes along the stone walls flickered to life, reacting to her presence. The air thickened, heavy with latent power.
She moved deeper inside, senses alert.
Then she felt it—
Not magic.
Not shadow.
Intent.
A figure emerged from the mist, cloaked and unfamiliar. "You shouldn't be alone," the stranger said softly.
Seraphina's hand tightened instinctively. "That depends on who's asking."
The figure stepped closer, revealing sharp eyes and a knowing smile. "Someone who knows what Mirella plans."
Seraphina's pulse spiked. "Speak."
"She wants your bond to fracture," the stranger said. "She believes isolation will make you unstable… desperate."
Seraphina smiled faintly, power stirring. "Then she doesn't know me."
Far away, Kael stood on the palace balcony, fists clenched, rage coiled tightly beneath his calm exterior.
Every instinct screamed at him to go to her.
To burn through council law and tear down the sanctum gates.
Hold, he told himself.
For her.
But when the bond flared suddenly—sharp, urgent, warning—Kael's control snapped.
"Prepare my horse," he ordered the nearest guard, voice ice-cold.
Back in the sanctum, the stranger took a step back, eyes widening as Seraphina's aura ignited—bright, fierce, uncontrollable.
"You feel it now," she said softly. "My bond isn't breaking."
The ground shook.
And far away, Kael moved.
Not as a prince.
Not as an obedient son.
But as a man willing to defy kingdoms for the woman who held his fire.