Chapter Eleven – Sunburn’s Warning
613 Words
He came without warning.
One moment I was alone in the maze, practicing stillness the way Berio taught me, and the next—the air shimmered. Heat rippled through the hedges, bending reality itself.
I gasped, stumbling back.
“Renny.”
I spun around.
Sunburn stood there, leaning casually against the stone archway as if he hadn’t just torn through space itself. His copper eyes glowed faintly, and his smile was crooked—familiar and dangerous.
“You can’t just appear like that,” I snapped, heart racing.
“But I did,” he replied easily. “And you felt it, didn’t you?”
I hated that he was right.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“To see if the rumors were true,” he said, pushing off the archway. “And to warn you.”
My stomach tightened. “Warn me about what?”
“About him.”
Before I could respond, footsteps approached.
Beryl emerged from the shadows, his posture immediately tense. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Sunburn’s smile widened. “Ah. The lover.”
Beryl stepped in front of me instinctively. “Say what you came to say and leave.”
Sunburn’s gaze flicked to me. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?” I demanded.
Sunburn’s tone shifted, losing its playfulness. “Beryl isn’t just Lupin.”
Silence fell like a blade.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
“He’s bound,” Sunburn continued. “By blood and oath. To the Pleads.”
My chest constricted. “That’s not true.”
Beryl didn’t speak.
I turned to him slowly. “Beryl?”
His jaw clenched. “It’s complicated.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Sunburn crossed his arms. “The Pleads don’t hunt him because he betrayed them. They hunt him because they own part of him.”
“That’s a lie,” I said, shaking my head.
“I wish it were,” Sunburn replied. “Ask him what happens if you lose control.”
I stared at Beryl. “What happens?”
He swallowed. “I’m commanded to stop you.”
The words shattered something inside me.
“Stop me… how?” I asked.
His voice was barely audible. “By any means necessary.”
I took a step back, my chest burning. “So you’re my jailer?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I chose you. I choose you every day.”
“But you could be forced,” I said.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than a lie would have.
Sunburn stepped back. “I’ve done my part.”
“Why help me?” I asked him.
“Because once,” he said softly, “someone I loved wasn’t warned.”
And then he vanished, heat fading into cold.
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
Beryl stood at the doorway of my room, unsure whether to enter.
“Say something,” I said without looking at him.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he said.
“But you would,” I replied, turning to face him. “If they ordered you to.”
“Yes,” he admitted. “And I hate myself for it.”
I crossed the room slowly. “Then why stay?”
“Because if I leave,” he said, voice breaking, “there will be no one left to fight it.”
I searched his face.
“If the day comes,” I said quietly, “and you’re forced to choose…”
“I’ll fight it,” he said instantly. “Even if it kills me.”
That scared me.
But I believed him.
- Writer
