Chapter nine :The quite between
815 Words
🌸 Chapter Nine: The Quiet Between
The sanctuary was silent once more, save for the faint drip of water echoing from the cavern’s depths. The brothers had scattered to their corners, shaken by the attack, each lost in thought.
Elara lay on a bed of furs near the Veilwater pool, her body aching as though she’d been torn apart and pieced back together. The starfire inside her had gone quiet, but her nerves still buzzed.
She stared up at the crystal-lit ceiling. How could she hold something so dangerous inside her?
A soft scrape of boots broke the silence.
Kael.
He approached hesitantly, though his presence was impossible to mistake — all heat and intensity, like a storm about to break. He crouched beside her, his fiery eyes dimmer than usual, shadows of guilt flickering there.
“You should be asleep,” he said, his voice low.
“So should you,” she whispered back.
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I should never have let you fight. Not this soon.”
Her chest tightened. “If I hadn’t, you might all be—”
“Don’t.” His hand hovered above hers, clenched in restraint. “Don’t say it. We’re supposed to protect you, Elara. That’s the only reason we exist. And yet you…” His voice cracked, rare vulnerability slipping through. “…you were the one who saved us.”
For a moment, the weight of his words filled the cavern. She could feel his conflict — fire and duty and something softer he couldn’t name.
Elara reached out before she could stop herself, her fingers brushing his wrist. Warmth flooded her, but it wasn’t starfire this time. It was him.
“I don’t want to be just a burden,” she said softly. “I don’t want to hide while you bleed for me.”
Kael’s breath caught. His eyes burned with something raw, something dangerous. For one heartbeat, it felt as if he might close the distance between them.
But then he pulled back sharply, rising to his feet.
“You don’t understand what you mean to us,” he said hoarsely. “What you mean to me.”
And before she could ask, he was gone, swallowed by the shadows of the sanctuary.
Elara lay trembling, her heart pounding louder than the starfire ever had.
The silence left in Kael’s wake pressed heavily on Elara’s chest. She curled onto her side, fighting the sting in her eyes. He had almost— almost—said something she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear.
“Don’t look so gloomy, Starfire.”
Elara startled, turning to see Riven leaning lazily against a pillar, his usual smirk in place. How long had he been there?
He sauntered closer, shadows from the crystal light playing across his sharp features. “Kael always did have a flair for tragic exits. Broody, dramatic… honestly, I think he practices them when no one’s watching.”
Despite herself, Elara let out a shaky laugh. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”
He dropped to the floor beside her in one fluid motion, his shoulder brushing hers. “Sneaking’s part of my charm. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”
Elara rolled her eyes, but warmth crept into her cheeks. “You’re impossible.”
“Mm,” he murmured, tilting his head so close she could feel his breath, “but at least I make you smile.”
Her pulse stumbled. She wanted to push him away, but gods, part of her wanted to lean in, to drown in the reckless freedom of him.
He flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “You were incredible tonight, you know. Terrifying, yes. Nearly blinded me—”
“You’re welcome,” she muttered.
“—but incredible,” he finished, grinning sideways at her. “You’ve got this fire in you, Elara. And not just the literal kind. Don’t let Kael or Darius scare you into thinking otherwise.”
Her throat tightened. “What if I lose control again?”
Riven propped himself up on one elbow, his expression suddenly serious. “Then I’ll be right there to catch you.” His gaze softened, the playfulness fading just enough to reveal something deeper beneath. “Always.”
The words hung between them, dangerous in their simplicity.
Elara swallowed, heart thrumming like wings against her ribs. She wanted to ask him what he meant, whether it was just another of his jokes, but the look in his eyes told her it wasn’t.
Before she could speak, Riven flopped back down with a grin. “Besides, if you blow something up, at least it’ll be exciting.”
She laughed again, tension breaking like glass. Yet when she finally closed her eyes, it wasn’t Kael’s fire or Darius’s shadows she felt lingering in her chest.
It was Riven’s promise.
- Writer
