"Are you hurt?" he asked her, his voice still too controlled.
"No, I—" Her teeth were chattering now, the cold and shock catching up to her. "I don't know what happened. I woke up and I was at the border, and Malus was there, or I thought he was, but then—"
She felt Eliam go completely rigid.
"Malus was here?" His eyes cut to Arion. "On Star Court land?"
"Beyond the border," Arion said. "He must have been calling to her through the marks."
Eliam's hand moved to her throat, fingers finding the autumn marks with careful precision. They were warm to the touch, warmer than they should be, like they'd been actively working.
"He tried to pull you across," Eliam said, and it wasn't a question.
Briar nodded against his chest. "I couldn't stop. I tried to turn around, to go back, but my body wouldn't listen. The marks were—" She stopped, swallowing hard, unable to finish.
"And how exactly did you stop her?" Eliam's attention shifted back to Arion, his voice dropping to something lethal. "From crossing."
Arion met his gaze steadily. "Does it matter? She's safe."
"It matters." Eliam's arms tightened around Briar. "Because the warmth just flared. Violently. Enough to wake me from three floors away. So I'll ask again. What. Did. You. Do?"
The silence stretched between them, heavy with things unsaid.
"I broke the compulsion," Arion said finally. "However I could."
Briar felt the moment Eliam understood. Felt his whole body turn to stone around her, felt the temperature drop as shadows began pooling at their feet.
"You kissed her."
It wasn't a question this time either.
Arion didn't deny it.
The gardens erupted.
Thorns burst from the ground between them, black and vicious, driving straight for Arion's chest. The Star Prince moved, light forming a barrier that shattered the thorns into dust, but more were already growing, spreading across the path in a wave of violent wood.
"Eliam, stop—" Briar tried, but he'd already released her, shadows pouring from him like living things.
Arion raised his hands and light exploded outward, not attacking but creating distance, pushing the shadows back. "I'm not fighting you."
"Then you're going to die standing still." Eliam's voice was barely human. Thorns erupted from his palms, launching toward Arion with lethal speed.
More light, forming shields, deflecting. Arion moved backwards, his expression was hard. "She was going to cross the border. I did what I had to do."
"By putting your mouth on her?" Vines shot forward, wrapping around Arion's ankles, yanking him off balance. He hit the ground hard, light flaring as he severed the vines, rolling to his feet.
"By breaking Malus's hold however I could!" Arion's hands spread, light forming restraints that shot toward Eliam. They wrapped around his wrists, his chest, trying to bind him in place.
Eliam shattered them with a snarl, thorns growing through the bindings, breaking them apart. "There are a hundred ways to break a compulsion that don't involve touching what's mine."
"She's not a possession!" Arion's voice finally rose, anger bleeding through his careful control. Starlight gathered in his palms, forming chains that lashed out, trying to restrain Eliam's arms, his legs, anything to stop the assault without causing real damage.
"Isn't she?" Eliam dissolved into shadow, reforming behind Arion, thorns wrapping around the prince's throat. Not tight enough to choke but present, threatening. "You want her. You've wanted her since the moment you pulled her from that river. Don't pretend this was just about saving her."
Arion's hand came up, light burning against the thorns, forcing them back. He spun, and his expression was cold now, truly cold. "And you cast her out. Sent her into the Wild Hunt to die. So forgive me if I question your right to play the possessive lover."
Eliam's control cracked further, shadows spreading across the ground, swallowing the light from the floating lanterns. The garden plunged into darkness broken only by Arion's defensive magic.
