Chapter Three – The Edge of Dawn
886 Words
Lyra barely slept.
Each time she closed her eyes, she saw flashes of Kael’s vision: herself lying in a pool of crimson, a crown shattered, a shadow looming behind her. And behind that image… the memory of two men staring at her with a hunger neither tried to hide.
She rose before the sun and dressed quickly, pulling a cloak over her nightgown. The palace corridors were still and silent at this hour, the marble floors cold beneath her bare feet.
When she reached the eastern gate, a familiar figure stepped out of the darkness.
Darius.
His arms were crossed over his chest, the black fabric of his shirt hugging the hard lines of his body. His expression was thunderous.
“You didn’t think I’d let you go alone, did you?” he murmured.
Lyra tightened her cloak. “I told Kael I would meet him.”
“And so you will,” Darius replied, jaw flexing, “but not without me.”
Lyra opened her mouth to argue—but he stepped forward, cupping her jaw firmly in his hand. His thumb brushed her cheek, gentle but commanding.
“Lyra,” he said, voice low and rough, “I know you feel something when he looks at you. I feel it too. But whatever power he holds, I will not leave you unguarded.”
Her breath caught. He wasn’t wrong. She felt something when Kael looked at her—a burning curiosity, a pull like gravity. But with Darius… it was different. He overwhelmed her, wrapped her in the certainty of his presence, left her feeling both safe and breathless.
She nodded once.
Satisfied, he released her, though his touch lingered a moment longer than necessary.
They stepped out into the cool morning air together. The Fire Blossom orchards glowed faintly in the dawn, petals shimmering like embers caught in amber light. The scent was sweet and warm, like cinnamon drifting through the breeze.
Kael waited at the edge of the path, leaning against an ancient tree as if he’d been part of the forest the whole night. His dark hair stirred in the wind, and the glowing runes across his arms dimmed as he lifted his gaze to hers.
“You came,” Kael murmured.
His eyes flicked briefly to Darius. “And you brought a shadow.”
Darius’s hand immediately found the small of Lyra’s back. “I’m not leaving.”
Kael pushed off the tree and walked closer. There was no fear in his stride, only purpose.
“Then listen,” he said, his voice quiet but charged with energy. “Because what I’m about to tell her concerns the both of you.”
Lyra felt her heartbeat climb.
Kael stopped only a foot away. Close enough that she could see specks of gold in his irises, close enough that the warmth of his aura brushed over the front of her cloak.
“The power inside you,” Kael said softly, “comes from a lineage the world believed extinct.”
Lyra blinked. “You mean my mother’s line? The Sapphire Queens?”
“No.” Kael shook his head. “Older. Rarer.”
Darius stepped forward, narrowing his eyes. “Say it.”
Kael held Lyra’s gaze, his voice dropping to a whisper that curled around her like smoke.
“You are Varyn-born.”
Lyra felt the world tilt. “That’s impossible. The Varyn were wiped out centuries ago.”
“The world thinks many things,” Kael replied. “And many are wrong.”
Darius turned to her, expression hardening with concern she rarely saw on him. “If what he says is true, your life is in danger.”
Kael nodded. “A Varyn awakening is like a beacon. Creatures of shadow and greed sense it. They hunger for it. That vision I showed you—it wasn’t symbolic. It was literal.”
Lyra’s throat tightened. “Someone wants my power.”
“Worse,” Kael said quietly. “Someone wants to bind it.”
Darius’s voice was harsh. “Who?”
Kael hesitated for the first time. His jaw tightened, and a flicker of uncertainty crossed his eyes.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But the shadow behind you was familiar. Old. Ancient. Something connected to the Varyn curse.”
Lyra clutched her own arms, trying to ground herself.
Darius placed a hand on her shoulder. “We will find who’s hunting you.”
Kael stepped closer, eyes locked on hers. “And you will need training—to control whatever rises inside you. Without it, the vision becomes reality.”
Darius stiffened. “She will train with the palace mages. Not with you.”
Kael’s lips curved into a slow, dangerous smirk. “The palace mages have never even seen a Varyn, prince. I have.”
Lyra’s breath hitched.
Both men turned to her.
“Choose,” Kael murmured.
“Who will guide you?”
Darius’s grip on her shoulder tightened protectively.
“Choose,” he echoed, his voice low with warning, devotion, and need.
Lyra felt the weight of two destinies pressing in on her.
One man represented duty.
The other represented danger.
Both wanted her.
Both would fight for her.
And the decision she made might decide her fate—and her heart.
- Writer
