Chapter 19: What Love Makes Dangerous
1052 Words
The camp did not sleep again.
Destiny knelt beside the open crate, fingers shaking as she lifted the note.
The ribbon tied around the braid was familiar.
She had seen its twin wrapped around the letter in the vault.
Her breath shortened.
Kael crouched beside her, close enough to steady, silent enough to let her choose.
She unfolded the page.
Three lines.
Do not come for me.
They want your blood, not my life.
Trust the silver-eyed fool if he finally kissed you.
Lyra made a delighted choking sound.
“Oh, I adore your mother.”
Cassian turned away so no one would see him laugh.
Corvin muttered, “This family is medically exhausting.”
Destiny stared at the words until they blurred.
Alive.
Sharp-tongued.
Still herself.
A laugh broke from Destiny and turned halfway into tears.
Kael took the note gently.
His eyes moved over the final line.
“I object to ‘fool.’”
“You should be grateful she approved the kiss,” Lyra said.
“I did not ask for approval.”
“No,” Lyra replied. “You merely looked miserable for days.”
Destiny stood abruptly.
“She’s alive.”
Kael rose with her.
“Yes.”
“And in danger.”
“Yes.”
“And we’re going after her.”
His gaze sharpened.
“We were already going.”
Relief hit so hard it nearly weakened her knees.
He had never intended to let this rest.
She should have known.
---
They moved before dawn.
No large caravan.
No banners.
No noise.
Just six riders cutting through mountain passes under hard gray skies:
Kael. Destiny. Lyra. Cassian. Corvin. One trusted scout named Rowan.
Snow deepened as they climbed.
The path narrowed to ledges and frozen switchbacks.
Dangerous country.
Good place for hidden enemies.
Destiny rode beside Kael in charged silence until Lyra finally groaned from behind them.
“If you two keep brooding instead of speaking, I’ll start singing.”
Destiny looked back.
“You sing badly?”
“Beautifully. Threateningly.”
Kael sighed.
“What do you want to say?” he asked Destiny.
Many things.
Why did that kiss feel like truth?
Why did fear ease when you touched me?
Why are you calm while I’m unraveling?
Instead she said, “You should have asked first.”
Lyra gasped theatrically.
Cassian whispered, “Gods help him.”
Kael glanced sideways.
“For the kiss?”
“Yes.”
“I thought I did.”
“When?”
“When I walked toward you slowly enough to be slapped.”
Destiny hated that logic had structure.
“That was not verbal consent.”
“Then I’ll improve.”
He leaned slightly closer in the saddle.
“May I kiss you again later?”
Heat rushed to her face.
Lyra shrieked with delight.
“Finally! Progress!”
Destiny stared ahead.
“…Maybe.”
Kael looked unbearably satisfied.
She wanted to push him off a cliff.
Tenderly.
---
By midday they reached a ruined monastery built into the mountain face.
Broken statues.
Collapsed towers.
Wind through empty halls.
Rowan dismounted first and checked tracks.
“Fresh movement.”
Kael’s posture changed instantly.
“How many?”
“Hard to tell. Snow covered some.”
They entered cautiously.
Inside, old prayer chambers had been converted into a temporary holding site.
Cold fire pits.
Supply crates.
Bedrolls.
Recently abandoned.
Cassian found chains bolted to the floor.
Destiny’s stomach twisted.
Lyra discovered ledgers and names.
Corvin found blood and immediately became furious on principle.
Kael searched the largest chamber.
Then stopped.
On the wall, carved with a knife:
SELARIS BLEEDS HERE
Destiny’s pulse spiked.
“No.”
She touched the grooves.
Still fresh.
Kael stepped beside her.
“This was meant to be found.”
“To scare me.”
“To move you.”
“It worked.”
His hand covered hers against the wall.
Warm.
Steady.
“Then let it end there.”
She looked at their joined hands.
Then at him.
He released her first.
Dangerous man.
Again.
---
A hidden door beneath the altar led to lower tunnels.
Torchlight only.
Narrow passage.
Perfect place for betrayal.
They descended single file.
Halfway down, Rowan raised a fist.
Voices ahead.
Male.
Laughing.
Kael signaled silent advance.
They rounded the bend into a storage cavern.
Three mercenaries sat around stolen wine.
They barely had time to stand.
Cassian hit one into stone.
Lyra’s blade pinned another’s sleeve to a barrel.
Kael had the third on his knees by the throat.
“Where is Lord Marrow?” Kael asked.
The man spat.
“Closer than you think.”
Kael tightened his grip.
“Where is the woman you took?”
The mercenary grinned through pain.
“Which one?”
Destiny stepped forward before thought.
Silver light burst from her palm and slammed the man into the wall.
Everyone stared.
Including Destiny.
“I… didn’t mean to do that.”
Corvin sighed.
“You absolutely did.”
The mercenary coughed blood, suddenly terrified.
“Upper keep!” he gasped. “Taken there this morning!”
“Alive?” Destiny demanded.
“Yes! Yes!”
Kael released him.
Cassian knocked him unconscious efficiently.
“We move now.”
---
The upper keep stood on a cliff edge above the monastery ruins.
Old fortress walls.
Single gate.
Easy to defend.
Hard to storm quietly.
Wind screamed across the heights.
Rowan studied the approach.
“Too exposed.”
Lyra grinned.
“Wonderful.”
Kael turned to Destiny.
“You stay back.”
She folded her arms.
“No.”
“Destiny.”
“I’m done waiting behind walls while people decide my life.”
His eyes held hers.
Pride there.
Worry too.
Then he nodded once.
“Stay with me.”
The words hit differently now.
She answered softly.
“I was planning to.”
Before anyone could react, horns blared from the keep above.
Figures lined the battlements.
Crossbows ready.
And at the center, dragged into view by two guards—
A woman with dark hair streaked silver.
Wrists bound.
Head lifted high despite bruises.
Destiny stopped breathing.
The woman’s eyes—her eyes—locked onto hers across the snow.
Then the woman shouted down the mountain:
“Destiny, if you inherited my temper, now would be the time!”
- Writer
