The guest quarters they were assigned were, in Lyra's opinion, absolutely ridiculous.
"This is bigger than my entire apartment back home," she said, staring at the sitting room that could have comfortably housed a small aircraft. The walls were made of some kind of luminescent stone that provided a soft, warm glow, and the furniture looked like it had been grown rather than built chairs and tables that curved organically from the floor, a sofa that seemed to be made of woven moonbeams and good intentions.
"The Court likes to make an impression," Kieran said, setting down the small bag that contained literally everything she owned in this world. "Wait until you see the bedroom."
He gestured toward an archway hung with curtains that shimmered like captured starlight, and Lyra walked through to find herself in a space that made the sitting room look modest. The bed was easily the size of her entire bedroom back home, draped in silks that shifted color in the magical light. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over gardens that definitely hadn't been there when they'd walked past this section of the Court earlier.
"The rooms adapt to their occupants," Kieran explained, noticing her confusion. "They sense what you need and provide it. The view will probably change based on your mood."
"That's either wonderful or deeply disturbing," Lyra said, walking to the windows to look out at the floating gardens. "What if I have nightmares? Will the view turn into horror movie landscapes?"
"The Court's magic is more sophisticated than that. It responds to your deeper needs, not your surface thoughts." He paused, then added with a slight smile, "Though I'd avoid thinking too hard about anything you don't want manifested in physical form."
Lyra turned from the window to find him standing awkwardly near the door, like he wasn't sure whether he should come in or leave. The formal distance felt wrong after everything they'd been through today, after the connection that had been building between them.
"Where are your quarters?" she asked.
"Down the hall. Standard Guardian rooms much smaller, much less impressive." He gestured vaguely toward the door. "I should let you rest. Tomorrow's going to be intense, and you need".
"Kieran." She crossed to him, close enough that she could see the silver flecks in his eyes, close enough to catch his scent of cedar and rain and something indefinably wild. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, I just" He stopped, running a hand through his dark hair. "The Council wasn't wrong about the complications. If we are mate bonded, if this connection between us is real, then it changes everything. My judgment, your safety, the entire dynamic of"
She silenced him the same way he'd silenced her earlier, standing on her toes to press her lips to his. But where his kiss had been brief and reassuring, hers was deeper, hungrier, full of all the confusion and desire and desperate need that had been building since the moment she'd first seen him.
He went rigid for a heartbeat, then his arms came around her, pulling her closer as he kissed her back with a fervor that made her knees weak. She could taste starlight on his tongue, could feel the barely restrained power in his hands as they tangled in her hair.
When they finally broke apart, both of them were breathing hard, and Kieran's eyes had gone completely silver.
"That," Lyra said, her voice barely above a whisper, "doesn't feel like complicated to me. It feels like coming home."
"Lyra"
"I know you're scared," she said, her hands fisted in the front of his shirt. "I'm scared too. This morning I was a college student whose biggest worry was whether I'd pass my Victorian Literature exam. Now I'm apparently some kind of prophesied savior with magical powers I don't understand, and I'm falling for a man who might be literally made for me by forces beyond my comprehension."
"When you put it like that, it does sound insane."
"It is insane," she agreed. "But insane doesn't mean wrong. And I'm tired of letting other people decide what's best for me. The Council, my aunt, even you, you're all so worried about doing the right thing, the safe thing, the logical thing. But maybe the right thing is trusting what we feel."
Kieran cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs tracing along her cheekbones. "And what do you feel?"
"Like I've been waiting my entire life for you," she said honestly. "Like every choice I've ever made was leading me to this moment, this place, this person. And maybe that's the mate bond talking, maybe it's just adrenaline and attraction and wishful thinking. But it's real, Kieran. Whatever this is between us, it's real."
"It is real," he said quietly. "I can feel it too. Like a golden thread connecting us, getting stronger every moment we're together."
"Then stop fighting it," she said. "Stop trying to protect me from yourself, and help me figure out how to save two worlds without losing the one thing that makes me feel like myself."
He was quiet for a long moment, studying her face like he was memorizing it. Then he smiled not the careful, professional smile he'd worn in front of the Council, but something warm and real and entirely hers.
"All right," he said. "But I have conditions."
"Such as?"
"Such as you have to actually listen when I tell you something's dangerous. No more throwing yourself into magical situations just to see what happens."
"That was one time"
"It was today, Lyra. And it's going to happen again, because you're brave and impulsive and you have more power than you know what to do with. Which is why you need to promise me you'll be careful."
She considered this. "I'll promise to try to be careful. But I'm not promising to hide behind you while other people fight my battles."
"I wouldn't ask you to." His smile turned predatory, and she caught another glimpse of those sharp canines. "I've seen you in action, remember? You're magnificent when you're angry."
Heat pooled in her stomach at the way he said it, at the hunger in his silver eyes. "Is that so?"
"Absolutely. The way your power flared when you told off the Council" He shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it. You looked like an avenging goddess."
"And that's attractive to you?"
"Everything about you is attractive to me," he said, his voice dropping to a rough whisper. "Your courage, your compassion, the way you stood up for us when you barely understand what we're fighting for. The way you feel in my arms, the way you taste..."
He kissed her again, slower this time but no less intense, and Lyra felt that golden thread he'd mentioned pulling taut between them. She could sense his desire, his need, the careful control he was exercising to keep from overwhelming her.
"Stay," she whispered against his lips. "Tonight. I don't want to be alone in this ridiculous palace, and I don't want to spend our first night in the same realm sleeping in separate rooms."
"Lyra..." His voice was strained. "If I stay, I'm not sure I'll be able to keep my hands off you."
"Good," she said boldly. "Because I'm not sure I want you to."
His control snapped with an almost audible crack. He kissed her hard, backing her toward the impossibly large bed, his hands roaming over her body with a reverence that made her feel like something precious and powerful.
They fell onto the silk covers together, and Lyra marveled at how right it felt, how natural. Like they'd done this a thousand times before, like their bodies already knew each other's rhythms and responses.
"Are you sure?" Kieran asked, pulling back to search her face. "Because once we do this, once the bond"
"I'm sure," she said, reaching up to trace the sharp line of his jaw. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
What followed was a claiming in every sense of the word. Slow and sweet and desperate all at once, punctuated by whispered confessions and promises neither of them was entirely sure they could keep. When Kieran finally moved over her, their eyes locked and their hands intertwined, Lyra felt something fundamental shift in the fabric of reality.
The mate bond snapped into place with the force of a lightning strike, and suddenly she could feel everything he felt his love, his fear, his absolute devotion, his bone-deep need to protect her. And she knew he could feel her too, could sense her determination and her growing power and the way her heart had already given itself completely to him.
"Mine," he whispered against her throat, and the word sent shivers through her entire body.
"Yours," she agreed breathlessly. "Always yours."
Later, much later, they lay tangled together in the silk sheets, her head on his chest and his fingers combing through her hair. The magical lights in the room had dimmed to a soft glow, and outside the windows, the floating gardens had rearranged themselves into peaceful moonlit meadows.
"The Council is going to know," Kieran said quietly. "The moment we see them tomorrow, they'll be able to sense that the bond is complete."
"Let them know," Lyra said drowsily. "They can disapprove all they want, but they can't undo it. Can they?"
"No," he said, and she could hear the satisfaction in his voice. "What's done is done. We're mated now, bound in ways that transcend law or politics or prophecy."
"Will it change how my power works?"
"Probably. Mated pairs often find their abilities enhanced, complemented by their partner's strengths." He paused, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "But we'll figure it out together."
"Together," she repeated, liking the sound of it.
She was drifting toward sleep when a new voice spoke from somewhere near the sitting room.
"Well, this is inconvenient."
Lyra bolted upright, clutching the silk sheet to her chest, while Kieran rolled smoothly out of bed and had a sword in his hand before she could blink. But there was no threat in the sitting room just Sage Rowan, perched on one of the grown chairs with her feet tucked under her and a distinctly amused expression on her face.
"What the hell, Rowan?" Kieran growled, not lowering his weapon. "How did you get in here?"
"The same way I get everywhere through the fire channels built into the Court's heating system." She gestured at the ornate fireplace, which was indeed crackling with flames that hadn't been there when they'd gone to bed. "Useful skill for a Flame Wielder."
"That doesn't explain why you're here," Lyra said, grateful that the magical lighting was dim enough to hide her blush.
"I'm here because the Council sent me to check on you. They're concerned about your... adjustment to the realm." Rowan's grin was positively wicked. "I don't think this is quite what they had in mind."
Kieran finally lowered his sword, though he didn't dismiss it entirely. "What's so urgent that it couldn't wait until morning?"
"Oh, it's not urgent at all. But I wanted to give you two a heads up the Council's planning to separate you tomorrow. They're going to assign Lyra a different Guardian and send you back to border patrol duty."
"They can't do that," Lyra said, anger flaring in her chest. "I told them"
"You told them Kieran stays with you or you leave. But they're betting that once you're settled in, once you start training and making friends and feeling at home here, you won't actually follow through on that threat." Rowan examined her fingernails, which were flickering with small flames. "They're probably right, too. Most people don't actually abandon their destiny over a romantic attachment."
"Most people aren't mated to their Guardian," Kieran said grimly.
"No, they're not. Which brings me to the real reason I'm here." Rowan looked up, and her expression was suddenly serious. "The mate bond is going to make you both more powerful, but it's also going to make you targets. Valdris has been looking for ways to corrupt or control bridge-children for decades. A mated bridge-child is even more valuable to him."
"Why?"
"Because if he can turn one of you, he gets both. The bond works both ways corruption, madness, dark magic, it all transfers between mated pairs." Rowan stood up, brushing imaginary dust from her leather pants. "So congratulations on finding your soulmate and all, but you've also just painted the biggest possible target on both your backs."
Lyra felt Kieran's arm tighten around her, felt his surge of protective fury through the bond. "What are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting you might want to consider leaving the Court before the Council can implement their separation plan. Find somewhere safe to complete Lyra's training, somewhere the politics can't interfere with your bond or your abilities."
"Where?" Lyra asked. "I don't know this world, don't have any connections"
"But I do," Rowan said with a smile that was all sharp edges. "And it just so happens that I've been getting bored with Council politics myself. Might be time for a little adventure."
Kieran was shaking his head before she finished speaking. "Absolutely not. It's too dangerous, and Lyra needs proper teachers, not"
"Not a Flame Wielder who's been studying ancient magic for the past fifty years?" Rowan interrupted. "Not a former Council member who knows every secret passage and hidden sanctuary in the realm? Not someone who's been fighting Valdris's forces since before you were born?"
"You're talking about going rogue," Kieran said. "Defying the Council, abandoning our posts"
"I'm talking about keeping you both alive and together long enough to actually fulfill this prophecy," Rowan shot back. "The Council means well, but they're so focused on controlling the situation that they're going to get you all killed."
Lyra looked between them, her mind racing. Everything Rowan was saying made sense, but the idea of leaving the safety of the Court, of striking out on their own in a world she barely understood...
"Where would we go?" she asked quietly.
Rowan's smile turned mysterious. "Ever heard of the Sanctuary of Lost Things?"
"That's a myth," Kieran said flatly.
"Is it? Because I happen to know where it is, and I happen to know that the Guardian who protects it would be very interested in meeting Selene Nightwhisper's granddaughter."
"Who's the Guardian?"
"Someone who knew your parents," Rowan said gently. "Someone who might be able to teach you things about your heritage that the Council doesn't want you to know."
The weight of decision settled on Lyra's shoulders. Stay with the Council, accept their separation, follow their rules and their training program. Or leave with Rowan and Kieran, strike out into the unknown, but stay together and bonded and free to make their own choices.
Really, it wasn't much of a choice at all.
"When do we leave?" she asked.
Kieran stared at her. "Lyra, you can't be serious. We're talking about"
"We're talking about being together," she said firmly. "About staying bonded, about learning to use our connection as a strength instead of pretending it's a weakness. About finding answers the Council doesn't want me to have." She turned to Rowan. "How long do we have to decide?"
"The Council meets at dawn to formalize the separation order. So, a few hours." Rowan moved toward the fireplace, flames beginning to dance around her body. "Think it over, talk it through. But if you're going to run, we need to leave before sunrise."
She stepped into the flames and disappeared, leaving only the faint scent of smoke and cinnamon behind.
Lyra and Kieran stared at the empty fireplace for a long moment.
"This is insane," Kieran said finally.
"Yes, it is," Lyra agreed. "But staying here while they systematically dismantle everything we've found together that's insane too."
"The Sanctuary of Lost Things isn't a myth," he said quietly. "It's real, and it's dangerous, and the Guardian who protects it..." He shook his head. "Let's just say he's not known for his hospitality."
"But he knew my parents?"
"If it's who I think it is, yes. He was... close to your family. Before the Shadow King's rise to power."
Lyra studied his face, reading the tension there, the worry and fear and reluctant hope. "You want to go," she realized. "You think it's the right choice, but you're scared."
"I'm terrified," he admitted. "Not of the danger, not of defying the Council. I'm terrified of making the wrong choice for you, of letting my feelings cloud my judgment the way they warned us about."
"Then let me make the choice," she said, taking his hands in hers. "Let me choose our path, and trust that I know what I'm doing."
"Do you? Know what you're doing?"
Lyra looked around the ridiculous luxury of their quarters, thought about the politics and posturing and careful control that awaited them in the morning. Then she thought about the golden thread that connected her to Kieran, the power that sang in her veins, the destiny that was hers to claim or reject as she saw fit.
"No," she said honestly. "I have no idea what I'm doing. But I know what I want, and I know what feels right. And this us, together, free to make our own mistakes and find our own way this feels right."
Kieran smiled, and it was like sunrise breaking over the mountains. "Then we run."
"We run," she agreed, and sealed the promise with a kiss that tasted like freedom and starlight and the beginning of everything.
Outside their windows, the floating gardens rearranged themselves once more, this time into wild forests full of hidden paths and secret places. The Court's magic, it seemed, approved of their choice.
Or maybe it was just responding to the dreams of two people who had found each other against all odds and refused to let politics or prophecy tear them apart.
Either way, by dawn they would be gone, chasing legends and love into the vast unknown of the Moonlit Realm.
And for the first time since this whole adventure began, Lyra wasn't afraid of what came next.
She was looking forward to it.