Every part of him demands I stay—every part of him calls me to presence.
“Let go, Elyssara. I’m not going anywhere,” he reminds me, as he lies beside me, pulling me under his arm, so I can rest my head on his chest.
I cry.
I allow tears to fall, and I watch as they spill onto his chest and leave trails across his markings. New terrain on the map of him. Like, together, we’re forming new paths through the Stars themselves. New stories.Because beyond fate, beyond destiny, there is us.
I lean into him, taking comfort. Taking support. Taking connection. Justtaking.
He doesn’t say anything, but he stays. He holds me. And that sayseverything.
Though, despite myself, my mind races. Thoughts of The Underbelly, Maldrak, Thalmyr, threvenar, Nymeris—they collide violently with my peace.
Kael notices the shift, because his hands begin tracing idle circles on my shoulder, and he says, “What is it, El? Are you okay?”
I pause—desperate to cling to this fragile peace.
But peace is an illusion.
So I shatter it.
“You gave up your magic for me,” I finally say, breaking my own silence.
“I did,” he confirms. “I would give up anything for you, Elyssara. Don’t you know that by now?”
But thoughts of Nalya flash in my mind. The ambush. The deal he cut to swap me. I know he tried to change course, but intentions are no match for the reality of actions.
“That’s not entirely true, though. Is it, Kael?” I ask tentatively, unsure if I want to open this conversation. Wondering, perhaps, if this is another way to punish myself—to push him away.
But he doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t rise to the bait. “It’s more true than you realize, Duskae,” he says, never stopping the circles he’s tracing on my shoulder.
I look to him, confused.
He pauses, weighing his next words very carefully. “Nalya’s life is bound to mine. If she dies, so do I. And if I die, Elyssara, so do you,” he says, and the air steals from my lungs.
What?
“She was there—at the ambush. At knifepoint. I chose the only path that would mean you live, my love. You are my end.”
He notices my shock. The way I still at his words, mouth agape.
“Maldrak’s Arcanist bound our lives. He’s always had my life in his hands—he’s played games with me all this time. If he wanted me dead, he had Nalya in the dungeons as the solution. It’s what’s made rescuing her so fucking impossible all these years,” he explains, voice solemn and pained. “And you, Duskae? Starbound tethers aren’t just a bond of body, mind, and heart. They’re a bond of life. I’d make any choice to keep you safe, even if it made you hate me. Even if you never understood why.”
My breath hitches, and I cling to him, gripping the blankets that drape across his torso.
He’d risk losing me to save me.
“You saved me,” I breathe in realization.
“And I’d do it again, no matter the cost,” he says, his voice like cold steel.
I bury my face in his chest, pulling myself into him, like he’s exactly who he said he is: my safe harbor.My home.
As if he’s reading my mind—perhaps he is—he says, “No one knows. If word got out, the three of us would be culled within hours. The less people who know, the safer we are.” He pauses, and I think he’s finished, but he adds, “I also thought you’d probably use the information to end me yourself.”
My eyes shoot to his, and I hit him playfully on the chest, huffing a petulant laugh, and gods it feels good. He returns the laugh, smiling at me with a devilish grin.
But the moment is cut short by a heavy thud on the door?—
