Evryn ran....Not with a plan. Not with direction. Just… running....branches slapped her face, roots tried to trip her, and her lungs felt like they were on fire , she had no idea where the forest led…only that away felt correct.
Then she heard it.
Hooves.
Her soul nearly left her body.
"A horse?" she gasped. "Of course. Why not."
She ran faster. Or at least she thought she did. The sound didn't fade, It got closer , calm, confident and Insultingly steady , she glances back once.
Nothing.
She glanced back again.
Too close.
"Okay, okay, I'm not looking again…"
THUD.
She ran straight into a tree.
Not grazed it.
Not bumped it.
She slapped into it…face, shoulder, pride, all at once, she made a painful noise and dropped to the ground like a sack of bad decisions , instant blackout.
The horse arrived seconds later and stopped neatly beside her, as if judging.
Auren jumped down in a hurry, took one look at Evryn sprawled at the base of the tree, and sighed.
"…That's going to be painful when she wakes up."
He crouched, checked her breathing, then shook his head slightly.
"Running from me.....Into a tree." he muttered. "....this will harder than you think auren "
He carefully lifted her into his arms, adjusting her so her head wouldn't flop back.
"Abby."
The air folded open.
Abby appeared mid-step a young woman with black short hair, soft and innocent face, took one look, and winced.
"Ouch. Wow. That tree really won."
"She's breathing," Auren said. "Heal her before she wakes up."
Abby leaned closer, glowing hands ready.
"On a scale from one to ten," she asked casually, "how dramatic was the escape?"
Auren glanced at the tree.
"…She lost."
Abby snorted.
"Figures."
Auren straightened, holding Evryn securely.
"Open the gate," he said. "And bring Blackstone with you"
The horse snorted softly, as if offended at being mentioned, Abby smiled as she opened the gate.
"Well," she said, "at least she made it into the forest."
Auren looked down at Evryn, unconscious, muddy, and very unimpressed by life.
"Yes," he replied dryly. "Briefly."
Auren carried her into the room and closed the door with his foot. The space was quiet, untouched, exactly as she had left it, he laid her down carefully on the bed, adjusting the pillow, making sure her breathing stayed slow and even.
For a moment, he just stood there , then he smiled a real one , soft , unguarded.
"She runs from a palace," he murmured, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face, "beats a forest… and loses to a tree."
He shook his head lightly, amused and relieved all at once, Looking down at her sleeping face, his voice dropped.
"I don't know when you'll allow me to touch you again," he said quietly. "So I'll take a pre-"
He paused, as if reconsidering… then leaned in anyway.
"...kiss."
The kiss was gentle, brief, barely there. Just a touch of lips, careful enough not to wake her.
He pulled back, still smiling.
"I missed those lips," he admitted softly. "A lot."
Then he straightened, suddenly serious again, as if nothing had happened.
When Evryn eventually woke up, she would only remember the pain.
"the same room again why…...why" evryn said while she is kicking her legs to air.
Then in a moment the hunger returned.
a pull.
Her gaze snapped to the door , someone was there , she could feel it , a pressure in her chest, subtle but undeniable, tugging her attention The pull wasn't hunger for blood.
It was hunger for someone.
She pressed her palm flat against the door, teeth clenched.
"Stop," she told herself. "You don't get to want things you don't understand."
The pull did not stop.
"I don't know you," she whispered. "I don't remember you."
Evryn barely had time to scream.
"Stop…" she whispered.
The pull did not answer, It simply held her there until resistance was no longer possible.
"Enough," she said through clenched teeth.
The door opened.
Asric stood there, unsurprised.
"I was wondering how long it would take," he said calmly.
She didn't step back. "There's someone out there."
Asric raised an eyebrow. "That's a broad accusation."
"You know exactly what I mean," she snapped. "I can feel him. Like a wound that won't close."
She stepped closer, eyes burning.
"Who is he?"
Asric held her gaze. "Not yet."
Her hand curled into a fist. "If you say that again, I swear…"
"You'll do what?" he asked mildly. "Break down the door? Jump from the window? Tear through the palace until you find a ghost?"
She faltered , because yes , that was exactly what her body wanted.
"You feel pulled," Asric continued. "Because something in you recognizes something in him."
"That doesn't explain why," she said. "Or why it hurts."
Asric's voice lowered. "Because the bond formed before your memory was taken."
Her breath caught , she stared at him , searching for the lie.
"Why does it feel like longing?" she asked quietly. "Why does it feel like I lost something important?"
Asric didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "Because you did."
Silence stretched.
"Where is he?" she asked.
Asric stepped aside just enough to let her see the corridor beyond long, endless, lined with statues of ancient figures whose eyes followed nothing.
"In the library," he said. "Waiting."
"For what?"
"For you to stop pulling him apart from the inside."
She turned from him, fists clenched. The cold bit at her again, but her blood felt hot too hot.
"I want to leave," she said. "I want to go home, please let me free"
"There is no home left in the human territories," he said quietly. "Not for you. Not anymore."
"l all let you rest now, and take a bath, evryn " asric said with teasing tone and left the room.
evryn before could react to him , the pull tightened.
her vision dimmed, her ears rang and every muscle burned with exhaustion so sudden it felt unnatural, as if her body had been emptied in seconds, she tried to fight it, tried to stand, but her limbs no longer obeyed her.
Her thoughts blurred. The room tilted, chest heaving, heart pounding wildly before slowing into a heavy, uneven rhythm, her eyelids fluttered despite her effort to keep them open, as the world faded, one thought slipped through the haze.
This isn't control.
This is connection.
Whoever he was.
The one who had changed her.
The one her body reacted to before her mind could, If I follow this… I might find answers And if I do… I might never be free again, her gaze drifted to the door, escape was still possible…maybe, If she waited, If she rested and If she ignored the feeling and ran the moment her strength returned.
Darkness crept in, thick and heavy, wrapping around her thoughts, Sleep dragged at her consciousness…not gentle, not kind, but forced by sheer exhaustion and her body had nothing left to give.
But the pull did not feel like a trap , it felt like truth and that terrified her more than chains, evryn closed her eyes , torn between two choices :
Run while she still could…
or follow what her blood already knew.
The palace waited.
So did he.