POV: Soraya
Vienne led me through the stone hallways of Ashra’s fortress, her steps quick with excitement. She kept glancing at me, lips twitching with a secret she was dying to reveal. The moment we reached a quiet alcove near the inner gardens, she spun around and grabbed my hands.
“Okay,” she whispered dramatically. “I’ve been holding this in for an hour and I think I’m going to explode—so listen carefully.”
Her eyes glowed like she was about to tell me she’d discovered a new moon.
I raised a brow. “What is it?”
Vienne inhaled a breath big enough for a full speech.
“Tazir and I… are together.”
For a heartbeat, I blinked.
Then the words sank in—
“What?!”
Vienne squeaked, laughing as I hugged her so hard she nearly fell backward into a potted aloe plant.
“You’re not joking?” I demanded, pulling away to stare at her. “You two?! You? And Tazir?”
“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Well—mostly yes—he said if I don’t kill him for the next half a year, he’ll marry me eventually.”
I burst into laughter. “That sounds exactly like him.”
“He was shaking,” Vienne said proudly. “Imagine—Tazir, the desert’s cockiest warrior, trembling because he thought I might reject him.”
I covered my mouth, delight spilling out of me.
“Vienne, I’m so happy for you. Truly.”
Her smile softened as she touched my arm.
“I wanted you to hear it from me first. You’re my friend. My closest friend. Nothing feels real unless I tell you.”
Warmth pressed behind my ribs. It had been a long time since someone said words like that to me.
I squeezed her hand. “I’m honored.”
“And,” Vienne continued quickly, leaning close, “he asked if he should start growing out his hair because I once mentioned I liked guys with longer hair.”
I snorted. “He would.”
She laughed too, breathless. “I told him I loved him just the way he is.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “Soraya, I… I think this might be real. I’ve loved him for years. Quietly. Secretly. And now…”
“You deserve it,” I said softly. “You deserve everything good.”
Her eyes shimmered. “So do you.”
I swallowed the sudden tightness in my throat.
Before I could respond, footsteps echoed from the corridor behind us.
Slow. Heavy. Familiar.
Instinctively, I froze. Vienne’s smile faded as she recognized the shift in my expression. She turned her head—
Raevan walked past the intersecting hallway.
He wasn’t looking for us. He wasn’t even walking fast. He moved as if he didn’t want to be seen at all.
But the moment he sensed movement, his head lifted slightly.
Our eyes collided.
The world narrowed to a single breath.
He stopped—just for a second—like he’d hit an invisible wall. The faint light spilling through the carved window slashed across the scars on his knuckles, the tension in his shoulders, the haunted softness that flickered in his gaze when he realized it was me.
My pulse stuttered.
He didn’t speak. Neither did I. The air between us felt fragile—pain wrapped in longing, longing wrapped in a thousand impossible memories.
Then he walked again.
Silent. Controlled. Straight ahead, without looking back.
I felt something inside me fall.
Vienne slowly turned toward me, her excitement dimming into concern.
“Soraya…”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
She gave me a very unimpressed look. “You’re terrible at lying.”
I exhaled shakily, staring at the empty corridor where Raevan had disappeared.
“It just hurts,” I whispered. “Not because I expect anything from him. Not because I want… I don’t know. Just seeing him—after everything—and knowing he has a life without me. A child. A wife. A kingdom. And I… I’m supposed to be over it.”
Vienne squeezed my shoulder gently.
“Being over someone and healing from them are two different things.”
I swallowed, eyes stinging. “Maybe.”
“Not maybe.” She linked her arm through mine. “Definitely.”
I forced a smile, but it faded before it could reach my eyes.
“Sorry,” I murmured. “I didn’t want to ruin your good news.”
“You didn’t,” she said firmly. “And besides, I’m not letting you sit here drowning in emotions. Absolutely not. Come.”
I blinked. “Where?”
She tugged me toward the exit of the garden.
“For a walk. Through the training yards, the palace paths, maybe even the outer dunes. The wind always clears your head. And if it doesn’t, then I will.”
I huffed a soft, weak laugh. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’ll keep talking until you’re forced to forget everything except how annoying I am.”
“I don’t think you can manage that.”
“Oh, Soraya,” she grinned wildly, “watch me.”
And just like that, she pulled me into the sunlight.
We stepped into the wide Ashra courtyard, where warriors sparred beneath the shadow of the obsidian towers. Some paused to bow. Others simply watched with open curiosity. Baltimus stood near the far archway, speaking with two generals, but when he saw us, he nodded silently—giving me space he seemed to always know I needed.
Vienne’s voice was softer now as she guided me across the sand-polished stones.
“We’ll keep walking until it stops hurting,” she murmured.
“I don’t think it ever will,” I admitted.
“Then we’ll walk longer.”
I let out a trembling breath.
The fortress around us hummed with life: clashing steel, murmured strategy meetings, distant howls from patrol wolves shifting. Yet all of it felt muted beneath the lingering echo of Raevan’s footsteps.
Vienne nudged me.
“Ready?”
“For what?”
She grinned.
“For remembering who you are.”
I looked up at the sky, feeling the faint pulse of my magic stir beneath my skin.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I’m ready.”
Even if my heart wasn’t.