CHAPTER TWELVE: FIRE DOES NOT ASK PERMISSION
1098 Words
The Citadel finally grew quiet.
Not peaceful.
Just… quieter.
Lina stood on the balcony outside her chamber, arms resting against the cold stone railing.
The night stretched endlessly before her.
Dark skies.
Distant mountains.
And somewhere beyond all of that—
Enemies who now knew her name.
“…Fantastic,” she muttered.
The wind brushed against her skin, cool and grounding.
A sharp contrast to the heat that lived inside her now.
That never really left.
She exhaled slowly.
Trying to think.
Trying not to think.
“You are avoiding sleep.”
Lina didn’t turn.
“You are stalking me.”
A pause.
Then—
“I am not.”
She snorted softly.
“Sure.”
Kael stepped beside her.
Silent as always.
Which should have been unsettling.
But wasn’t.
Not anymore.
They stood there for a moment.
Looking out into the dark.
“…You said it was a message,” Lina said finally.
“Yes.”
“That means they’ll come back.”
“Yes.”
She nodded slightly.
“Good. Just checking that my life is consistently terrible.”
Kael glanced at her.
“You are adapting.”
“That’s one word for it.”
Another silence.
Lina shifted slightly, resting more of her weight against the railing.
“…That prophecy thing,” she said.
Kael didn’t respond immediately.
“Am I actually supposed to believe I might destroy the world?” she asked.
“You might.”
She blinked.
“…You really don’t sugarcoat anything, do you?”
“No.”
She let out a quiet breath.
“…And you’re just… okay with that?”
Kael turned slightly toward her.
His expression unreadable.
“I am prepared for it.”
That wasn’t comforting.
At all.
“…Prepared how?” she asked.
A pause.
Longer this time.
“If you lose control,” he said slowly,
“I will stop you.”
There it was.
Lina’s chest tightened.
“…Stop me how?”
Their eyes met.
And for the first time—
There was something dangerous in his answer.
“However necessary.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Lina looked away first.
“…Right,” she muttered.
“Good to know I come with a built-in execution plan.”
“You come with a responsibility.”
“Same thing, apparently.”
Another pause.
The air shifted slightly.
Subtle.
But real.
Lina frowned.
“…Do you feel that?”
“Yes.”
Of course he did.
Her mark burned.
Not painfully.
Just… there.
Present.
Aware.
The heat spread slowly through her chest.
Not wild like before.
Not uncontrolled.
Something else.
Something quieter.
Deeper.
“…This is new,” she said.
Kael didn’t move.
But his posture shifted slightly.
Tighter.
More alert.
“The bond is reacting,” he said.
“Reacting to what?”
A pause.
“…Proximity.”
Lina blinked.
“…That’s inconvenient.”
“Yes.”
She let out a breath.
Trying to ignore the strange pull in her chest.
The way her heartbeat had shifted.
But it didn’t go away.
It grew.
“Why does it feel like—” she hesitated,
“—like something is… pulling?”
Kael’s gaze darkened slightly.
“Because it is.”
That was not helpful.
“Okay, but why?” she pressed.
Another pause.
Then—
“Because you are mine.”
Lina froze.
“…I’m sorry, what?”
Kael didn’t look away.
Didn’t soften it.
Didn’t take it back.
“The bond,” he clarified.
“It connects us.”
“That’s not what you said.”
“It is what I meant.”
Lina stared at him.
Suspicious.
Unconvinced.
And very aware of the heat creeping up her neck.
“…That sounds like a problem,” she said finally.
“It is.”
“Good. Glad we agree.”
But neither of them moved.
The pull remained.
Subtle.
Persistent.
Lina swallowed.
“…Does it go away?”
“No.”
“Of course it doesn’t.”
She pushed herself off the railing, pacing slightly.
Trying to shake the feeling.
It didn’t work.
“…This is ridiculous,” she muttered.
“You will learn to control it.”
“Control this too?” she gestured vaguely between them.
“Yes.”
She stopped pacing.
Turned to face him again.
“You keep saying that like it’s easy.”
“I never said it was easy.”
Fair.
Annoying.
But fair.
The silence stretched again.
But it felt different now.
Charged.
Tighter.
Lina crossed her arms.
“…Why me?” she asked suddenly.
Kael didn’t respond immediately.
“Out of everyone,” she continued,
“why did this bond choose me?”
A long pause.
Then—
“It didn’t choose you.”
She frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It recognized you.”
That somehow made it worse.
“Recognized me as what?” she asked.
Kael stepped closer.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
“As mine.”
Lina’s breath caught.
Not from fear.
Not exactly.
Something else.
Something she didn’t have a name for yet.
“…You keep saying that,” she said quietly.
“Yes.”
“You’re very confident about it.”
“I am.”
Their eyes locked again.
The world outside the balcony faded.
The night.
The war.
The prophecy.
All of it—
Gone.
Just him.
Just her.
The pull between them tightened.
Stronger now.
Harder to ignore.
Lina didn’t step back.
Didn’t look away.
“…This is complicated,” she said.
“Yes.”
“…I don’t like complicated.”
“You will.”
She almost laughed.
“Bold assumption.”
Kael’s gaze didn’t shift.
“Accurate one.”
Silence again.
But not empty.
Not distant.
Close.
Too close.
Lina exhaled slowly.
“…We’re not dealing with this right now.”
“No.”
“Good.”
Another pause.
Then—
“…But we will,” she added.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
No avoidance.
Of course.
Because nothing in her life was simple anymore.
Lina stepped back slightly.
Breaking the moment.
Just enough.
The pull eased.
But didn’t disappear.
It lingered.
“…I need sleep,” she said.
“You do.”
She turned toward the door.
Then paused.
“…Kael.”
He didn’t move.
“Try not to start another war while I’m asleep.”
A pause.
“I will try.”
She smiled slightly.
Despite everything.
Then she disappeared into her chamber.
Kael remained on the balcony.
Watching the horizon.
The bond still burning quietly beneath his skin.
And for the first time in a very long time—
The Dragon King did not feel entirely in control.
Unfortunate.
- Writer
