Even if it destroyed him.
And now… she stood before him.
For the first time in days, they spoke.
And it was only so he could break the news, Kael was coming.
Chapter fifty-six
Between
-Alarik-
Calenthe was quiet. Just the hush of stillness after a storm.
And there was Maris.
Standing between them.
Kael to her left silver-eyed and shadow-slick, the predator wrapped in velvet. Alarik to her right his pulse a war drum, his voice trapped in his throat.
She looked like a goddess and a ghost all at once.
Crowned.
Power curling around her with starlight.
The city of Nerium stood silent behind her, waiting.
Watching.
And Kael… Kael stepped forward first.
“I love you,” he said, his voice raw. No army behind him. Just pain.
“I never asked for that,” Maris whispered.
“You didn’t have to.”
Then she turned and faced Alarik.
His heart pounded. His mouth opened.
He wanted to say it all —stay with me, I’ll kneel a thousand more times if you just breathe for me —
But he couldn’t.
Not a single word.
She lifted her hand between them.
Not toward him.
But toward Kael.
Her fingertips brushed the Nightbound king’s jaw.
And Alarik voiceless could only watch.
