And yet…
When Theron finally emerged from behind the waterfall, the relief washed over me like I was in the water too. Water streamed down his body as he stepped back into the pool, droplets clinging to his skin, sliding along muscle and stone alike. In his hands, he carried a long staff, darkened wood slick with moisture. It was fire-scarred near the top where flame had kissed it countless times.
One of his soldiers stepped forward without being summoned, offering a thick cloth. Theron took it and dried his arms, his shoulders, and his hair, before donning his tunic andsliding his feet into his boots as if this were any other moment in any other day.
Only it wasn’t.
He walked toward us, the staff held easily in one hand, and I felt something in my chest tighten as he stopped in front of me.
This is it?I thought faintly.
The Way Weaver’s Torch didn’t glow. It wasn’t adorned. It didn’t hum, sing, or pulse with visible power. It looked like something you might find leaning in the corner of a forgotten store, mistaken for a walking stick.
And yet the moment he placed it in my hands, I felt it.
Felt its power.
“Our bargain is absolute,” Theron said.
I bowed my head, fingers tightening around the wood.
“Thank you.”
“I will have my men escort you back to the Labyrinth,” he continued. “There is a shorter route. You will not be delayed, and you will be protected.”
A soldier approached, holding something familiar.
“My weapons,” I breathed, a grin breaking free before I could stop it. Theron took the belt from him and tied it around my waist himself. His movements were careful, and his fingers brushed my skin just briefly, something I knew he did deliberately.
“Use it well,” he said quietly. “And be careful.” He turned to Aster. “Guard her with your life.”
“I always will,” Aster replied without hesitation.
Something rose in my chest then, and before I could talk myself out of it, I stepped forward and hugged him.
Theron stiffened for half a heartbeat, then returned it, strong arms settling around me with surprising gentleness. I pulled back, swallowing past the lump in my throat.
“I didn’t expect… any of this,” I admitted.
His mouth curved into a faint smile.
“Few worthwhile things ever are expected.” He leaned closer, his voice low. “Until the next time we meet,”he murmured.“…little beauty.”
And then he stepped away.
I watched him go, the unlikely weight of farewell pressing against me, realizing only then how much I would miss him.
And how strange it was to find a friend in a king made of stone.
However, it was clear to me now that…
His heart wasn’t.
The journey back to the Labyrinth was quicker than I had dared to hope.
Part of it was the horses, their powerful strides eating away at the distance beneath us, but part of it was something harder to name. A sense of inevitability, perhaps, or the way fear sharpened time until every moment felt urgent. We rode hard, rarely stopping. Theron’s soldiers flanking us in disciplined silence, their presence a living shield that wrapped around us and refused to break formation no matter how treacherous the land became.
No one spoke unless necessary, no laughter or idle noise. Just the thunder of hooves and the faint clink of steel, as if even sound itself had been placed under command.
