I couldn't sleep last night.
How would I?
After what I saw in the pool… after the memory of Lira and Kael's final moments…
The way he screamed her name.
The way she reached for him.
The pain in their eyes.
It keeps playing over and over in my mind like a song I can't turn off.
I sit by the window, watching the sky change color.
From black to grey.
From grey to gold.
The castle wakes slowly, but I stay still.
My heart is heavy. My chest feels tight.
I understand now.
This curse didn't just take Lira.
It took everything from Kael.
And it's still feeding. Still hungry.
Still watching.
Later that day, I find Kael in the old library. It's quiet, except for the sound of the wind tapping against the stained glass.
He's sitting in one of the tall chairs, surrounded by books and scrolls. His eyes move over the pages, but I can tell he isn't reading.
He's somewhere else.
Lost in time.
"Kael," I say softly.
He doesn't flinch. Just slowly lifts his head to look at me.
His eyes are darker than usual. Like a storm is brewing behind them.
"I saw her again," I say. "Lira."
His shoulders tense.
"I saw what happened," I continue. "The way she died. The way you… held her."
Kael closes the book gently.
"That was a long time ago."
"Not for you," I say. "You're still carrying it."
He looks down at his hands. They're gloved again today.
"I carry a lot of things," he says quietly. "Some I can't put down."
I take a step closer. "Then maybe it's time someone helped you."
He laughs once, bitter and low. "Help me? You don't know what you're offering."
"I'm not offering anything," I say. "I'm asking. Let me in, Kael. Let me try."
He looks at me then, really looks.
His eyes soften.
But he says nothing.
And still, it feels like a wall has cracked.
Just a little.
That night, I tried to sleep again.
But something wakes me.
A sound. A shift in the air.
The candles blow out by themselves.
The fire in the hearth flickers… then dies.
Everything turns cold.
I wrap my shawl around my shoulders and step out of the room.
The halls are silent.
But I feel something pulling me.
Something dark.
Something familiar.
My bare feet move on their own, as if they remember the path.
I follow the pull down the long corridor, past sleeping guards, past closed doors.
Until I reach the throne room.
And stop.
Because Kael is there.
He's on his knees.
The curse is swirling around him like smoke. Thick, black tendrils curling around his arms, his neck, his chest.
He isn't fighting it.
He's letting it consume him.
"Kael!" I run toward him.
But the shadows rise like a wall between us.
I push through them, even though my skin burns.
Even though the cold is deep in my bones now.
"Kael, please," I beg. "Don't do this."
His head lifts slowly.
His eyes are glowing faintly with that same eerie light I saw in the vision.
He's slipping.
"I can't stop it," he whispers. "It's too strong tonight."
"Then let me fight with you," I say. "Let me share the weight."
He smiles faintly. Sadly. "You don't know what it means… to carry this."
"No," I say. "But I know what it means to carry someone."
The shadows hiss.
They don't like my words.
They know what I'm doing.
They're listening.
And they're angry.
One of the black tendrils lashes toward me.
I flinch—
—But Kael moves faster.
He throws himself in front of me.
The shadow strikes him across the chest.
He gasps and drops to the floor.
Blood spills onto the stone.
"Kael!"
I fall beside him, catching his head in my lap.
He's breathing hard. His face is pale.
"The curse," he groans. "It's changing."
"What do you mean?" I ask, pressing my hand against the wound. It's cold. Too cold.
"It's not just feeding on me anymore," he says. "It's feeding on… you."
I freeze.
"The curse is… watching me now?"
He nods weakly.
"It's testing you," he whispers. "Seeing how much you'll take before you break."
I feel it then.
That cold, slithering feeling crawling up my spine.
It is watching me.
Like a thousand eyes hidden in the shadows.
Judging me.
Measuring me.
I hold Kael tighter. "Then let it watch."
"I'm not afraid of it."
But deep down, a small part of me is.
Because I know what I saw in the pool.
The curse didn't just take Lira.
It used her.
It grew inside her.
And now it wants something from me, too.
A new vessel.
A new grief.
A new love to ruin.
The shadows begin to circle again.
Kael tries to stand, but I hold him down gently.
"No," I whisper. "Let me."
I turn to the shadows.
"I know you hear me," I say out loud.
"My name is Aria."
"I don't belong to you."
"You feed on pain, on sorrow, on lost love. But I'm not afraid to love again."
"You can watch me. You can test me. But you won't win."
The shadows hiss louder now.
They're angry.
But they also back away.
Just a little.
Kael stares at me, his eyes wide.
"Why… why would you do this?" he asks.
"Because someone has to choose you," I say. "And I do."
I touch his face gently. He leans into it.
For the first time, the curse doesn't move.
It waits.
And in that silence, something shifts.
A new thread begins to form.
Between me and Kael.
Between light and dark.
Between what was broken and what might still be saved.