Chapter 16: Beside You
744 Words
They walked until neither of them could remember who had chosen the direction.
The forest welcomed them with quiet paths and shafts of golden sunlight slipping through the leaves.
For once...
No one was chasing them.
No one was judging them.
There was only the sound of two sets of footsteps.
One never far from the other.
Selene eventually noticed something.
"You keep slowing down."
Lucian looked ahead.
"I do."
"So I'll stop noticing."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Because then you'll stop apologizing."
She blinked.
"I've apologized?"
"Twelve times."
"I have not."
He smiled.
"It was thirteen just now."
She stared at him.
Then, to her own surprise...
She laughed.
A real laugh.
Light enough to startle a pair of birds into the sky.
Lucian looked at her for a moment.
"I've decided."
"What?"
"You should laugh more."
The laughter faded into a shy smile.
"I don't know how."
"I think you do."
By afternoon, they reached a secluded lake.
The water was impossibly clear.
Mountains and clouds floated upon its surface as though the world had been painted twice.
Selene knelt to fill her flask.
When she looked into the water...
She no longer saw a frightened girl.
She saw someone trying.
It wasn't much.
For today...
It was enough.
Lucian sat beneath the shade of a willow.
"My mother used to bring me here."
Selene looked over.
"Why here?"
"She said this was where the forest came to remember itself."
Selene smiled.
"She sounds wise."
"She was."
"You miss her."
"Every day."
His answer came so naturally that it caught her off guard.
No hesitation.
No pretending to be strong.
Just honesty.
She admired that.
After a long silence, she asked,
"Were you always this patient?"
He thought for a moment.
"My mother thought so."
"And you?"
"I think I just hadn't met anyone worth waiting for."
Selene looked away before he could see her blush.
"You make everything sound simple."
"Some things are."
The breeze carried the scent of pine and wildflowers across the lake.
Selene watched tiny ripples dance over the water.
Then, quietly...
She asked the question that had lived inside her for days.
"Why me?"
Lucian didn't answer immediately.
He picked up a small stone.
Skipped it across the lake.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Then he looked at her.
"You think I chose you because the Moon did."
"Didn't you?"
"I accepted the bond because the Moon chose it."
He smiled softly.
"I stayed because I chose you."
Selene's breath caught.
He continued before she could speak.
"The Moon showed me who my mate was."
"It didn't tell me who you were."
His eyes never left hers.
"I learned that part myself."
She looked down at her hands.
"They're always saying I don't deserve this."
"They're wrong."
"You don't even know what I've done."
"I know what you did yesterday."
She frowned.
"You saved a child who was afraid of you."
He leaned forward slightly.
"You were kind when kindness had never been shown to you."
His voice was gentle.
"People like that are rare."
A tear rolled silently down Selene's cheek.
She didn't wipe it away.
Lucian pretended not to notice.
Not because he didn't care.
Because he knew she deserved the dignity of choosing when to be seen.
As evening settled over the lake, they built a small fire.
The warmth pushed back the growing chill.
Lucian eventually leaned against the trunk of an old oak.
His breathing slowed.
Within minutes...
He had fallen asleep.
Selene watched him quietly.
A dark stain caught her eye.
Blood.
Dried along the collar of his shirt.
The temple.
He had cleaned the wound.
Not the reminder.
Her fingers tightened.
Slowly...
She removed the scarf from around her neck.
She knelt beside him.
As gently as she could...
She wiped away the dried blood.
Lucian stirred.
His eyes opened.
For a heartbeat...
Neither of them moved.
"You stayed."
His voice was rough with sleep.
Selene smiled faintly.
"So did you."
Neither realized it.
But between them...
The silver thread shimmered into view.
Not brilliantly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to catch the moonlight.
High above the forest...
The crescent moon glowed with quiet intensity.
Far away, inside the Moon Temple...
The High Priestess froze.
The cup slipped from her hands.
It shattered across the stone floor.
Her whisper echoed through the empty chamber.
"The Goddess..."
Her face drained of color.
"...can see them."
Outside...
The temple bells rang once.
On their own.
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