Ariaxa sprinted through the ruined palace corridors, feet slipping on broken stone, breaths sharp and ragged. The halls echoed with distant screams, healer chants, and the rumble of ongoing battle—yet she heard none of it.
Kaedan’s name pounded in her heart with every step.
She threw open the doors to the healing chambers—
And the world inside stopped.
Kaedan lay on the obsidian table like a fallen statue, armor peeled away, bandages soaked through with black-red blood. His skin was too pale. His lips bluish. His breath shallow.
He looked dead.
Too close to dead.
“Kaedan—” Ariaxa choked, stumbling toward him.
Riven was already there, unmoving, eyes bloodshot, his own arm heavily bandaged where poison had burned through flesh. He didn’t look at her—he only stared at Kaedan, jaw clenched so hard blood trickled where he’d bitten through skin.
He whispered, “He hasn’t woken up.”
Ariaxa reached Kaedan’s side, her trembling hands hovering before she finally touched his. His fingers were cold.
Cold.
Her breath broke.
“Kaedan,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “You promised not to die.”
No response.
Not a twitch.
Not a breath change.
Nothing.
Mirel stepped forward quietly, eyes full of grief.
“Princess… we’ve tried everything.” Her voice wavered. “The spear was coated in necrotic magic. It’s eating through his regeneration. His blood cannot heal it.”
Ariaxa swallowed hard. “There has to be something. A spell. A potion. Something—”
Mirel shook her head.
“Nothing mortal. Nothing legal.”
Ariaxa’s heart lurched. “What does that mean?”
The senior healer, an elderly vampire whose hands shook with age and fear, stepped forward.
“There is… one way.”
Riven’s head snapped up. “No. Absolutely not. Don’t even speak it—”
Ariaxa grabbed the healer’s arm. “Say it.”
The healer hesitated.
Riven snarled, “If you tell her, I swear—”
“Riven, MOVE!” Ariaxa shouted suddenly, her voice cracking like lightning.
Riven froze.
He stepped back, jaw clenched in pain and fury.
The healer exhaled softly and spoke the words everyone else feared:
“A life-bond ritual.”
Ariaxa blinked. “I don’t—what does that—?”
Mirel answered, voice trembling.
“A life-bond ties two souls together. If one dies, the other dies too.”
Ariaxa’s heart slammed against her ribs.
Mirel stepped closer. “If you bind your soul to his, Princess… your life-force can be shared with him. It will replace what the necrotic poison has destroyed.”
Ariaxa looked down at Kaedan.
His chest barely rose.
Barely fell.
She squeezed his cold hand.
“But if his wounds are too deep,” Mirel whispered, “the bond will drag you down with him.”
The senior healer added, “And if the ritual fails… both souls are lost.”
Riven slammed his fist into the wall, cracking it.
“NO. She is not sacrificing herself. I forbid—”
Ariaxa rounded on him, tears burning her eyes.
“You do not forbid anything!” she screamed. “He is dying!”
Riven froze.
Ariaxa turned back to Kaedan, brushing her fingertips across his cheek.
He didn’t stir.
He didn’t breathe deeper.
Her voice was a whisper against the hollow silence.
“You promised you wouldn’t leave me.”
Her tears fell onto his skin.
The healer drew in a shaking breath.
“There is more,” he said quietly.
Ariaxa didn’t look up.
“The ritual… it is not simply a spell.”
His voice dropped to a hush.
“It is a marriage of souls. A permanent bond between lives.”
Ariaxa’s breath hitched.
“A… marriage?”
“A joining,” Mirel corrected softly. “A union deeper than any vow or oath. Bound by blood and spirit.”
The elderly healer swallowed hard.
“It requires Kaedan’s chosen mate.”
Ariaxa’s heart stopped.
His chosen mate…
His destined counterpart…
The only one who could anchor his soul.
The healer’s eyes lifted to hers.
“Princess… it must be you.”
Silence filled the chamber.
The torches flickered.
Riven stared at her with horror.
Mirel held her breath.
Ariaxa looked at Kaedan.
The truth struck her like a spear to the chest.
To save him…
She would have to bind her soul to his.
Forever.
The healer whispered the words that sealed her fate:
“The ritual requires a life-bond between you and the Emperor — tying your souls.”