The city of Aeralis was divided long before anyone admitted it. Not by walls, laws ,or armies, but by quiet royalties that ran beneath the streets like hidden rivers. People choose their sides with their actions, their silence and sometimes with the people they loved. On one night everything began, the moon hung low and red, as if it already knew what the city was about to loose.
Petals drifted through the air, torn from the silver-leaf trees that lined the central bridge. They fell slowly, deliberately, landing on stones and water alike, uncaring of who stood beneath them. The bridge was the only place where the two halves of aeralis touched without clashing. on one side stood the order of dawn, sworn to control, structure, and peace through discipline. On the other side waited the veil, believers in freedom, chaos, and the right to choose one's own fate, no matter the cost.
Most people avoided the bridge at night.
Kael Rowan did not.
he stood near the center, hands tucked into his coat, watching the petals set his feet. the city lights behind him flickered, warm and distant, like memories he was not sure but still owned. Kael had grown up believing that neutrality was possible. That if he worked hard enough, stayed quiet enough the world would leave him untouched. That belief had not survived adulthood.
Footsteps echoed against the stone.
He didn't turn immediately. He already knew who it was.
Liora vale stopped a few steps away, the moonlight catching in her dark hair and tracing the sharp calm of her expression. She wore no insignia tonight, no symbol that marked her allegiance. That alone told Kael everything. The order didn't hide what they were. The veil survived by knowing when to disappear.
" you shouldn't be here," kael said, his voice low, steady. too steady.
"Neither should you," liora replied.
they faced each other, standing on the opposite sides of a line no one had bothered to draw. the space between them felt heavier than the city itself. Once, they had stood shoulder to shoulder laughing at how seriously everyone else took the world.
that version of them felt unreal now.
"i heard the council meets at dawn". kael said. " they are forcing declarations. no more silence. no more standing in the middle."
lioras gaze flicked briefly to the moon, then back to him. "i know"
" and?" he asked.
"and nothing" she said. " you already know my answer".
kael exhaled slowly. he hadn't wanted to hear it spoken aloud. words made things permanent. words were how choices stopped being ideas and started becoming scars.
the wind picked up carrying more petals across the bridge. one brushed kael's sleeve. another landed at liora's feet. red against stone. beautifully and unsettling.
" i never asked you to follow me," liora said " i never wanted that"
kael let out a quiet laugh, humorless. " ypu didn't have to ask."
there it was. the truth neither of them wanted to touch. loving someone didn't mean walking the same path. sometimes it means standing still while they kept moving, watching the distance grow and pretending it wasn't tearing something vital in you.
"the order will call you a traitor" liora said softly.
" the veil already calls me a coward" kael replied "seems fair"
silence settled between them thick, and fragile. the city held its breath. even the water in the river beneath the bridge flowed slowly.as if waiting