Briar looked down at her arm, now devoid of the twisting vines that had once decorated it. They’d begun fading gradually, she had presumed it was because Malus had died, but now she wondered if perhaps it was because Eliam had simply forgotten making the bargain between Briar and the Forest King null and void.
When she could offer no explanation he released her and turned away. “Thaine, remove her."
"My lord—"
"My head feels like it's splitting open, and there's a strange woman in my bed making ridiculous claims." His voice rose, sharp with pain and irritation. "Remove her. Now."
Thaine's hand settled on Briar's shoulder, gentle but insistent. "Come on."
She couldn't move. Her body had locked up, every muscle rigid with shock. This wasn't real. Couldn't be real. After everything, after all they had been through, he didn't remember any of it.
He didn't rememberher.
"Briar," Thaine said quietly. "We need to go. We'll figure this out."
She let him guide her from the bed, her movements mechanical. As they reached the door, she looked back. Eliam had already dismissed her, his hand pressed to his temple, eyes closed against the pain.
To him, she was nobody. A strange human who'd somehow ended up in his bed.
The door closed between them, and her legs gave out.
Thaine caught her before she hit the floor, his arms steady around her shoulders.
"Easy," he said quietly. "I've got you."
She couldn't stop shaking. Her teeth chattered despite the warmth of the corridor. Everything felt wrong, disconnected, like she was watching someone else's body fail.
"He doesn't know me." The words came out broken. "He looked right through me like I was nothing."
"Memory loss happens sometimes with magical trauma," Thaine said, but his voice lacked conviction. "The reunification was unprecedented. We don't know what effects—"
"He slapped my hand away." Her voice cracked. "Like I was some stranger trying to touch him. Like I disgusted him."
Thaine's jaw tightened. He bent and scooped her into his arms, carrying her toward her chambers. She didn't protest. Her body felt too heavy, too hollow, like all her bones had been replaced with glass that might shatter if she moved.
Her room was exactly as she'd left it days ago. The bed still unmade from when she'd rushed to Eliam's side after they'd returned. Her clothes scattered on the chair. Everything waiting for a person who no longer existed—the person who belonged to the Forest King.
Thaine set her gently on the bed. "Rest. I'll speak with the healers, see what can be done."
"What if nothing can be done?" The question escaped before she could stop it.
He paused at the door. "Then we figure out another way. You're still here. Still part of this court."
"I'm nobody to him."
"That's not true—"
"You saw his face." The tears finally came, hot and sudden. "I'm just some human who was in his bed. Less than nobody. An annoyance."
Thaine's expression was grim. "Rest. We'll figure this out."
The door closed with a soft click.
Briar curled onto her side, pulling her knees to her chest. Through the wall, she could hear movement—Eliam's footsteps as he moved around his chambers. So close. Close enough that if she pressed her hand to the wall, only stone and wood would separate them.
But the real distance was insurmountable. Six months erased. Every touch, every word, every moment gone like they'd never existed.
The tears came harder. She pressed her face into the pillow to muffle the sobs, but they tore from her chest anyway. Raw, ugly sounds that hurt her throat. Her body shook with the force of them until her ribs ached, until her head pounded, until she had nothing left.
