Bonus Chapter: Garden Of Stars
501 Words
The moonflowers were blooming again.
Liora stood in the royal garden barefoot, the silvery petals glowing like stars scattered across the ground. The night air was cool, filled with the hum of crickets and the soft rustle of the wind in the trees. Somewhere in the distance, music from the ballroom echoed faintly — the sound of celebration.
Kael had insisted on hosting the midsummer festival himself this year. Elyria was thriving. No wars. No curses. Just laughter and lanterns. For once, time was kind.
Liora knelt beside a blossom and touched its soft, glowing petals.
> "They bloom brighter every year," Kael said from behind her.
She turned and smiled. He approached slowly, dressed not in armor, but in simple royal robes of dark blue and silver — the colors of their house, and of the moonlit sky they both loved.
"I think they remember us," she teased.
Kael knelt beside her, his hand sliding over hers.
"Or maybe I’m just finally giving them enough sunlight," he replied, grinning.
She laughed softly. “You still talk to plants.”
"You still talk to stars,” he said.
They sat together in quiet peace, the way only people who have survived chaos can. Liora rested her head on Kael’s shoulder, and he leaned into her, warm and solid.
> “Do you ever think about before?” she asked gently. “The lost time?”
Kael was quiet for a moment. “I do. But it doesn’t hurt anymore. Because we found each other again.”
He turned to her fully, lifting her chin. “And I remember everything now. Even the little things. The way you hold your tea. The way you hum when you're nervous. The first time you touched my hand and I swore the world tilted.”
Liora blinked back tears.
“I used to think forgetting was the worst fate,” she whispered. “But I’ve learned… the heart doesn’t forget, even when the mind does.”
Kael kissed her — slow, tender, familiar.
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Later, they danced in the courtyard as the stars wheeled above them.
No crowns. No titles. Just Kael and Liora. Two souls who had fought their way back to each other, through fire, magic, and time.
Children laughed nearby, chasing fireflies. One of them — a little girl with Liora’s golden hair — ran up to them with a moonflower in hand.
> “Mama, look! It’s glowing!”
Liora knelt and tucked the flower behind the girl’s ear. “That’s because you’re full of light, love.”
Kael scooped her up and spun her gently. “And light runs in your blood.”
The girl giggled, clinging to him as the garden shimmered around them.
Liora looked up at the stars.
And for the first time in years, they didn’t whisper sorrow or fate.
They whispered peace.
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Final Line:
> In a garden of stars and second chances, love didn’t just survive — it bloomed brighter than ever.
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- Writer
