The moon hung high over Lupis Imperium, casting its pale light over the palace courtyard. The silence of the night was broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind and the distant sounds of the guards on patrol. Inside the palace, however, the air was thick with the weight of unsaid words, the intensity of the bond between Kael and Selene making the very walls of the castle seem like they were holding their breath.
Kael had barely slept the night before. He had drifted in and out of uneasy slumber, plagued by vivid dreams that were always the same: a battlefield drenched in blood, smoke swirling in the air, and a figure—a girl—running toward him, only for the flames to consume her before he could reach her. Each time he woke, his chest would tighten in a panic, his breath sh
