As Kael and rose. As he bared himself with words Alarik had never thought him capable of —
Alarik felt the slow, merciless pull of something cold take root beneath his ribs.
Kael meant every word.
And worse, he said all the right things.
No commands or claims.
Truth. Apology. Love, humbled and raw.
He had expected fury. Pride. That infamous temper laced with shadows.
But instead — Kael had delivered something far more dangerous.
Grace.
Damn him.
Because Maris’s breath hitched. Her shoulders stiffened. Her mouth parted like the words Kael had spoken had settled in her heart and taken hold.
Alarik wanted to erupt. To stop Kael from ripping another that he loved from him. To remind her of how long she had waited to hear those words. To demand why it had taken so long.
But he stood still.
Because this wasn’t his moment.
It was hers.
His soul ached. Twisting under the weight of what he might lose before it had even truly begun.
–Kael–
He didn’t expect her to forgive him.
The graze of her fingers beneath his chin had nearly undone him.
And now… standing before her, every cell in his body wanted to take that step closer.
But Kael stayed still.
Because this wasn’t about his wants anymore.
She looked different now, not just powerful, not just divine but free. Something he had not given her. She was untethered from the girl who’d once looked to him for protection. A woman carved by flame and mercy. No longer someone who needed a king to tell her what to be.
But gods, he still loved her.
Even if she didn’t choose him.
Even if the silence between them stretched forever.
He loved her enough to stand in this moment, stripped of every weapon but truth, and ask her — To let him be more than his mistakes.
Chapter sixty
Lie of the Dreamer
-Maris-
