‘Mareena has asked me to dine with her family on numerous occasions,’ Alina replied, one brow arched in subtle amusement. ‘I simply never accepted because…’ Her words trailed off, hanging like incense smoke in the dimly lit chamber.
The room, carved deep within the palace’s heart, was windowless. No terraces, no breeze, only the warm flicker of firelight from grand torches that lined the sandstone walls. Thestone, the soft gold-yellow hue so distinctive of phoenixian craft, gleamed beneath the flames. Unlike most palace chambers, there were no intricate mosaics or painted depictions of phoenixian legend upon the walls. Instead, the solemn columns bore the stories, each one etched with masterful carvings, of the Sun God, angels and beasts spiralling skyward in silent reverence.
At the far end of the space, a broad set of steps led to a pair of immense double doors, carved with symbols Kai longed to decipher. They loomed, ancient and mysterious, like guardians of secrets he wasn’t yet invited to know.
In the centre of the chamber, a long, low table had been arranged for their meal. Plates of beaten gold shimmered beneath the torchlight, and goblets, some gem-encrusted, rested in clusters between platters of exotic fruit and spiced meats. Around the table were scattered cushions, vast and plush, sewn with golden thread that caught the light like fire woven into silk.
Kai’s fingers absently drummed the stem of his goblet. Something about this feast felt too calm. Too quiet. And like everything in the Kingdom of Light, it was beautiful. But beauty, he’d learnt, was often a disguise.
To the right of the chamber, nestled beneath a delicate arch, an interior pool shimmered beneath the torchlight. Its waters glowed with a soft, inviting luminescence, and Kai found himself sorely tempted to slip in. Alina, meanwhile, was pacing the perimeter of the room, her fingers occasionally brushing the bare stone of columns as if the carvings might whisper something back. She moved like someone haunted by restlessness, unable or unwilling to be still.
Kai drifted closer to the pool, drawn to it like a moth to flame. The surface mirrored the amber glow of the chamber, andhe could already imagine the relief it might offer his aching limbs. Alina, still meandering like a caged flame, was clearly trying to outrun something that lingered beneath her skin.
‘Shall we get in?’ he asked, a roguish smile tugging at his lips, the memory of another body of water, cool waves, night breeze, and a softer Alina, surfacing in his mind like a tide returning to shore.
He saw the exact moment she remembered too. The flash of something in her expression. A momentary stillness. Then it vanished, masked beneath composure, and she turned her attention to the doors, as if expecting Mareena or a servant to interrupt the moment.
‘Still prudish about swimming naked?’ he teased, beginning to tug off his dusty boots, well-worn from weeks of travel.
‘I’m still a drakonian,’ she replied, eyeing him with a measured look. ‘Even if I no longer fully resemble one.’
Kai chuckled as he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the lean strength beneath. Dust clung to his skin like a second layer. He felt worn and weathered, like old parchment left in the sun. Since their arrival, he hadn’t strayed far from Alina’s side, not even when the palace servants offered him a room, clean clothes, or the comfort of a hot bath. He’d been half-convinced she would vanish if he blinked.
‘You’re perfectly capable of bathing alone,’ Alina said, arching a brow as she crossed her arms. ‘You do not require my assistance.’
Kai shrugged. ‘It’s not nearly as entertaining on my own.’
‘You’re not five years old, Kai.’
He grinned, utterly unrepentant. ‘Thank the gods for that, princess.’
She rolled her eyes with a sigh of long-suffering amusement, but he caught the faintest twitch of her lips. She didn’t blushanymore. Those days were gone. Now, she met every jest with fire, every challenge with steel. She had become something else entirely, and gods help him, he adored it.
Kai discarded the final piece of clothing and descended the smooth steps into the pool, the water lapping at his skin like a silken balm. He let himself sink until the warmth cradled him entirely, and with his head resting against the edge, he exhaled a long breath that carried the dust of their journey with it.
His back was turned to Alina, and for a while, he simply closed his eyes and listened to the gentle lap of water against stone. His heartbeat slowed, soothed by the quiet knowledge that she was alive. That she was here.
Then came the soft rustle of clothing being set aside, followed by the delicate sound of feet slipping into water. Kai opened his eyes just in time to catch the ripple of movement. Alina Acheron, naked and ethereal, stepping with unhurried grace into the pool.
He coughed, startled, and quickly averted his gaze. That made her laugh.
‘Now who’s the prude?’ she teased, amusement curling in her voice.
He opened his mouth to speak, but the words tangled in his throat. A blush crept up his neck as he focused very hard on a distant wall.
‘You can look, Kai,’ she said, the water around her shifting softly. ‘The world won’t end because of it.’
‘It might,’ he muttered. ‘Mine might.’
Cautiously, he turned and the world, indeed, seemed to tilt. She was breathtaking.
The sun had kissed her skin a deeper shade of gold, and her blonde hair cascaded in soft waves down her back, as if woven from sunlight itself. Her brown eyes sparkled with mischief,their warmth framed by a face that might have been sculpted by divinity.
Even the brutal remnants of her once-majestic horns, broken, raw, and bared for all to see, could not dim the beauty that radiated from her. To him, she was still the most stunning drakonian the world had ever known.
And yet, as he drank her in, another image flashed unbidden behind his eyes: a pair of vivid purple eyes, fierce and sharp, staring into his soul.
His heart tightened. What would Dawn feel, if she saw him now with Alina?
