Her heart lurched.
“Don’t go, Alena! Don’t go!”
She spun around. Kaixo came hurtling towards her, his face blotched red and streaked with tears. She dropped to her knees just as his small body crashed into hers, nearly knocking her over. He flung his arms around her neck, clinging as though letting go meant losing her forever.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to go.” He sobbed into her shoulder, his whole body shaking.
Alena’s arms closed around him, and the dam inside her broke.
“I told Leukos I hated you…” Kaixo choked out between gasps, “but it’s not true… I never hated you… I’m sorry… Please don’t hate me.”
Her breath caught, jagged, and she pressed her face into his curls. “I could never hate you. Not ever.”
He wept harder, and so did she. For all the time they’d lost, the promises broken, the grief they shared.
Leukos stood behind her, and beyond him, a hush had fallen over the group, their murmurs and movements stilled by the moment.
She held Kaixo until his cries softened to ragged hiccups, until his hands loosened enough for her to cup his face, fingers trembling along the curve of his jaw.
“Listen to me,” she whispered, brushing the tears from his cheeks even as her own fell unchecked. “I’m leaving because I love you. Because I’m going to fight for you. And for your mother, for Phoebe, for everyone who’s suffered under the Empire.”
Her voice broke, but she pressed on, letting the words fall like a vow between them. “Leukos and I might be gone, but we’ll carry you with us. We’ll fight with everything we have, knowing you’re safe.”
She took his hand and pressed it to her chest, over the steady thrum of her heart. “You live here,” she said softly. “Always.”
Kaixo’s face crumpled again, and she pulled him close. “Stay with Damona and be happy, Kaixo,” she whispered into his hair. “And by the Moon, if we survive this, I swear to you—we’ll find our way back. No matter where you are, I will come.”
His glistening green eyes searched her face—those same eyes that had once glared at her from the crate, full of fear and distrust. “You promise?” he whispered.
Alena’s grip tightened on his hand. “I promise.”
For a long moment, Kaixo didn’t speak. Then his voice broke, hoarse and trembling. “Mama said Ama came to her in a dream… told her not to worry. That you would make the world right again. That’s what she said before she died.” He dropped his gaze, and Alena wrapped both hands around his in comfort. “I don’t remember it all, but she repeated that you were chosen not for what you can destroy, but for what you can save.”
What she could save? Alena hadn’t been able to save Katell when it mattered most. She hadn’t saved San, either. Those wounds still bled beneath the surface, too deep to ever truly heal.
But by the Moon, she would fight with every scrap of her soul to protect what remained.
A quiet rustle of footsteps, and Damona appeared, breathless from her search, but clearly relieved to find the two of them locked in their farewell.
Alena kissed Kaixo’s cheek and rose. “Thank you for telling me.”
Kaixo nodded, lips pressed tight, fighting back tears. Their fingers clung a moment longer, reluctant to let go. When she finally did, it felt as though a piece of herself stayed with him.
Damona moved in, her hands resting on Kaixo’s small shoulders, while he scrubbed the tears from his cheeks with the back of his hand.
Alena managed a final, tender smile, then turned—one step, then another—Leukos already at her side.
Her body moved towards duty, while her heart begged her to stay.
She didn’t trust herself to look back.
Not until she was astride her horse at the gate, where the scent of the lavender fields gave way to the sharp tang of leather and steel.
The guards raised their horns, the mournful sound echoing over the plains—an unspoken farewell to those riding for war.
Only then did Alena turn.
Only then, reins clenched tight and throat burning, did she allow herself one last look at the tiny figure waving goodbye.
