And in the silence between the wind and my breath, I stood on the edge of breaking, longing to tear apart their peaceful world… to feel her hand in mine again.
I could bear no more.
The rules of time were cruel.I had to wait for the next full moon to travel again.Until then, I was trapped—neither part of her world, nor able to escape it.
So I stayed.
Hidden in the forest’s edge.
Watching her.
Day after day.Night after night.
It was torture, standing so close and yet so far from the woman I loved desperately.
When the night of the full moon finally came, I turned away from the sight of Elizabeth in Dancing Fire’s care and reached for the blade beneath my cloak—the ancient dagger etched with markings older than any kingdom I’d ever crossed.
As its tip kissed my palm, time bent to my will.
I let the veil of time close around me, and in an instant, the moonlit field vanished.
The sudden sting of cold replaced the humid air.
I returned to the shadows of Anatolia’s underground palace—its walls damp, its silence suffocating.The transition left me reeling.The contrast between her warmth and this stone tomb only deepened the abyss inside me.
I stormed through the labyrinth of corridors, my footsteps thundering with each stride.Fury boiled beneath my skin, no longer contained or hidden behind the mask I had worn for far too long.My dark eyes scorched with a fire I hadn’t felt in months, and I could no longer restrain the storm rising within me.
I burst into Lazarus’ study, the door slamming against the wall with a deafening crack.He looked up from his ancient tomes, unbothered, serene as if he’d expected me.
“How long?”I snarled, every word laced with venom.“How long were you going to keep it from me that Elizabeth is pregnant with my child?”
My voice echoed through the stone chamber like the roar of a beast, raw and unrelenting.The air crackled with tension, thick with the weight of betrayal.
Lazarus’ gaze didn’t waver.He met my rage with maddening calm, his expression unreadable—like stone worn smooth by centuries of storms.
“I assumed you’d figure it out,” he said, his voice devoid of regret as if this were a minor inconvenience, as if he hadn’t stolen everything from me.“You went to see her.I warned you of the dangers.”
The fury in me snapped its chains.
My fist slammed down onto the heavy oak desk, shaking the room.The sound was thunder, the force enough to splinter the inlay of ivory along the edges.Books tumbled to the floor.The flames in the hearth danced wildly in response.
“You knew!”I bellowed, voice hoarse with anguish.“You knew she was carrying my child and said nothing!”
I took a staggering breath, trying to tame the chaos threatening to consume me, but it was useless.“I saw her,” I choked out, each word a blade.“For a moment.Just one moment.Her belly was full of life.My child.Ours.And he—Dancing Fire—was at her side.Tending to her.Protecting her.”
My hands clenched into tight fists, my knuckles turning white as I struggled to contain the surge of anguish that threatened to consume me.
“Well, consider your reaction,” Lazarus said, his voice taut.
“Are you mad?She’s bearing my child.My child!”The words escaped through gritted teeth, each syllable heavy with disbelief and raw emotion.
“Children.”Lazarus quirked an eyebrow, his expression unreadable, as if regarding a stubborn pupil.“When I took her blood to cloak her, I heard the heartbeats.There are two of them.”
“Twins?”The word left me in a whisper, disbelief, and wonder battling in my chest.A surge of protectiveness rose like a storm tide as I pictured Elizabeth carrying not one but two lives—a double miracle… or a double curse?
“Yes.”Lazarus’ voice deepened as if the shadows leaned in to hear him speak.“When I saved you both from that masquerade… when I began to heal her…” His eyes darkened with memory.“That’s when I heard them—the heartbeats.Two of them.And in that moment, I knew.It was my chance.My only chance to perform the ritual of soul rebirth.”
My heart lurched.“Lazarus, you’ve told me before that using such powerful rituals weakens you.Why do this to yourself… to Elizabeth?”
