The door creaked faintly and the dim light within the chamber faltered as though even the flame itself feared what lurked in the shadows. Eliora stood frozen, her wrist imprisoned by a grip both cold and strangely familiar. When her gaze lifted, she found herself staring into his dark eyes that gleamed in the faint glow - Aurien's.
Her breath stuttered, the walls seamed to lean closer, and the figure of her mother dissolved like mist fading before dawn. The lullaby that had haunted the air stilled. Panic seized her, breaking loose from her chest in a struggled cry.
"Mother ...Mother, don't leave me!" Eliora dropped to her knees, her trembling hands pressing against the stone wall as if she could force the fading vision to remain. Her fingers scrapped against it's rough surface until her skin reddened, but she did not stop. "Please l still need you... please don't go.. "
Her voice cracked like glass, echoing through the silence chamber. Her hair clung to her tear-stained cheeks, and her sobs broke the stillness with a rawness that seemed to claw at the very air .
Aurien's hand tightened around her wrist- not painfully , but firmly, grounding her before she could crumble entirely. He knelt before her, his tall frame folding down into the shadows with an ease that felt almost unnatural. Without a word, he drew her against his chest. His arms enveloped her trembling form, steady, unyielding, as though he could cage the storm of her grief within his embrace.
"Eliora " , he murmured, her name a low hum that thrummed against her ears. "It going to be alright, am here now" he continued. His voice held no warmth , yet it quieted her gasping sobs, pressing them back into silence.
She clunched his robe, her nails digging into the fabric as her cries softened to a whisper. Her lips moved in a broken fragment, calling for her mother, calling for answers the dead could no longer give. Her tears bled into the folds of his garment, yet Aurien held her without flinching, his dark gaze never leaving her quivering form.
The heavy silence was interrupted by the faint sound of approaching steps. The door slide open , and the second prince entered, his expression unreadable. Behind him lingered the maids and the court physician who were already there witnessing what was happening all that time.
Eliora remained buried against Aurien's chest, her slight form trembling like a fragile bird shielded from a storm.
The second prince's eyes darkened. For a heartbeat, the world stilled, the air tightened like a bowstring. His lips parted as though he meant to speak but the words never formed. Instead, his jaw clenched, and a quiet sigh escaped him.
"Leave us", he commanded.
The physician bowed, the maids followed and the door closed behind them with a soft thud . The chamber dimmed once more , leaving only the three of them within its suffocating silence.
The second prince's gaze lingered on Eliora's fragile figure pressed into another's arm. A sharp , unfamiliar ache twisted in his chest as though a blade had been thrust into his heart and turned without mercy. He pressed a hand against it instinctively but the pain did not lessen.
Even as he watched, he could not deny the truth that unfurled before him -her soul responded not to him , but to Aurien. No matter how much he tried to prove himself, No matter how many times he shielded her, her trembling body found stillness only in another's hold.
His breath hitched, unsteady. His lips curved into a bitter line and his gaze wavered, haunted by something unspoken.
Memories clawed back to him. He remembered the moment, not long before, when the chamber's light had flickered and the winds had surged through the sealed room with a force that defined reason. He had sensed it instantly, a shift that prickled his very soul. He had wanted to move, to shield her , to reach for her hand , yet his body froze , bound by an unseen force . His limbs refused him , his voice locked his throat. He could only watch helpless, as shadows slithered across the walls going towards Eliora's Chambers and the echoes of lullaby that filled the room. His body froze on the corridor, outside Eliora's Chamber.
It was in that frozen moment he realized that , something greater than him bound her, something he could neither touch or sever.
He drew in a breath, his voice low, nearly breaking as he whispered words not meant to be heard, yet escaping nonetheless.
"Even in this world.... your soul connects to his. No matter how hard l try to prove myself.." His eyes lowered, shadows veiling their depths," still your soul will never belong to me ".
The weight of his confession hung heavy in the air , a truth curved not in anger, but in despair. And with that truth , a storm began to awaken.