Liora didn't realize she was trembling until Kael's shadow fell over her. Morning light filtered through the thinning trees, but the warmth did nothing to settle the storm inside her. Her chest still heaved from running, her wrist still burned from the mark, and her mind still raced with the impossible truth: she was marked. Hunted. Connected to a prince she had never known existed.
Kael stood a few steps away, his sharp profile outlined by the rising sun. He was too still for someone who had just escaped monsters of shadow. Too calm. Too controlled. The forest's wild magic clung to him like a mantle, but his expression remained unreadable, a mask carved from centuries of duty and danger. He watched the woods behind them with predator focus, every muscle taut.
"We don't have long," he said, and even his voice felt edged with warning. "The cult won't stop until they get you."
Liora swallowed. Her thoughts were a tangled snarl—fear, confusion, disbelief, and something else she didn't want to name. "Why me?" she whispered. "Why do they want me? I'm nobody."
Kael turned to her then, and the intensity of his gaze pinned her in place. "You saw the ritual. You interfered with ancient magic. You awakened a mark that hasn't appeared for centuries." His eyes lowered briefly to her wrist, the faint glow pulsing there like a heartbeat. "You're not nobody, Liora. Not anymore."
She shivered. The way he said her name—quiet, reluctant, like he wished he could undo it—sent a strange flutter across her skin.
"What happens now?" she asked.
Kael hesitated. Not long, but enough for her to notice. "Now," he said at last, "I take you to Eldoria."
Liora's heart lurched. "The hidden kingdom? That's a myth."
A humorless smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Most truths are."
He stepped closer, and for the first time, she noticed the faint shadows under his eyes, the exhaustion he tried to hide. The ritual had drained him. Whatever he was—werewolf, demon, heir—he wasn't invincible.
"You're safer with me," he said. "But I won't lie to you. Once you cross the Veil, nothing will be the same. The Court hates humans. And if they discover your mark…" His jaw tightened. "They'll see you as a threat. Or a weapon. Or both."
Liora's breath caught. "So why take me? Why not leave me here?"
Kael blinked slowly, as if the question irritated him. "Because they'll find you. And if they do, they won't hesitate to kill you."
The weight of his words settled in her chest like stone. She glanced back at the village in the distance—the small rooftops, the thin trail of smoke from the bakery, the life she knew. A normal life. A safe life.
But that life was gone.
"Okay," she whispered. "I'll go."
Kael nodded once. "Stay close."
He turned and walked deeper into the forest, toward a path she had never noticed before. Liora hurried after him, the trees closing in like silent witnesses. The deeper they went, the stranger the forest became. The air thickened, shimmering like heat waves. Leaves shifted colors—green to silver to deep indigo—whispers floated on the wind, and roots pulsed faintly with light, as though the forest itself was breathing.
Magic lived here. Ancient, old magic.
Kael stopped suddenly. "We're here."
Liora frowned. "Where?"
He raised a hand. The air rippled. A veil of shimmering light stretched before them—thin as spider silk, bright as starlight. It hummed softly, reacting to Kael's presence. Runes bloomed across its surface, glowing red—the same shade as his eyes during the ritual.
Liora's breath hitched. "Is that—?"
"The Veil," Kael said. "It separates your world from mine." He looked back at her, expression unreadable. "Once you cross, you are under Eldorian law. Under my responsibility."
Responsibility. The word tasted foreign in his mouth. As if he wasn't used to protecting anyone but himself.
He extended his hand to her. Hesitation flickered in his eyes—quick, almost invisible. Perhaps he didn't want the bond between them deepening. Perhaps he feared it already had.
Liora looked at his hand, then at his face. She drew in a shaky breath and placed her palm in his. His skin was warm—too warm—and the contact sent a jolt of energy through her mark. Kael stiffened slightly, a flash of red flickering in his eyes.
"Ready?" he murmured.
"No," Liora said honestly.
But she didn't pull away.
Kael guided her forward. The Veil rippled, swallowing them in a flood of cold light. It felt like plunging into icy water—then scorching heat—then nothing at all. She gasped, stumbling, but Kael steadied her with a hand on her waist.
When the world snapped back into focus, Liora's breath was stolen from her chest.
Eldoria stretched before her like a dream made of danger and beauty. Floating spires of black stone pierced the sky, connected by bridges of glowing crystal. Forests shimmered with silver leaves, rivers glowed blue beneath moonlight that wasn't from any moon she knew, and creatures with wings, horns, and shifting shadows moved through the air as naturally as birds.
Magic pulsed everywhere—alive, ancient, watching.
Liora's legs wobbled. "I… I don't belong here."
Kael's gaze softened—barely. "Neither do I," he said quietly. "Not anymore."
Before she could ask what he meant, a sharp wind swept across the clearing, carrying a chill that raised goosebumps on her arms. A figure materialized near the spires—a woman dressed in obsidian armor, her eyes cold and gleaming violet.
"Prince Kael," she said, her voice crisp as steel. Her gaze slid to Liora, and the temperature seemed to drop. "You brought a human?"
Kael's jaw tightened. His hand subtly shifted closer to Liora's back. "She stays with me."
The woman's lips curved in a razor-thin smile. "The Court will not like this."
"I don't care what the Court likes," Kael growled, his voice edged with something feral.
The woman's eyes darted to Liora's wrist. Something flickered in her expression—fear? Recognition? Both?
"That mark…" she whispered. "Kael, what have you done?"
Liora stepped back instinctively—but Kael stepped forward, placing himself between her and the woman without hesitation.
The woman's gaze sharpened, cold and slicing. "The prophecy awakens," she said softly. "And the kingdom will burn for it."
Liora felt her pulse stutter. Kael's shoulders tensed, fury and dread twisting across his features.
This was Eldoria.
This was her new reality.
And she was already a threat.
The Silent Witness had entered the kingdom.
And nothing would ever be the same.