Lyria's POV
I can't stop staring at Cassian's back as we walk.
The Shadow Sovereign's words echo in my mind: "Your mother cursed him. He'll be MY weapon. He'll kill you."
Is it true? Did my mother really curse him?
And if she did... does Cassian know?
We've been walking for hours since leaving the Dark Forest. Neither of us has spoken since we started this journey back to the castle. The silence feels different now—heavy with secrets.
I want to ask him. Want to demand the truth.
But I'm terrified of what he might say.
"We'll camp here," Cassian finally says, stopping in a small clearing. The sun is setting, painting the sky orange and red.
Those are the first words he's spoken in hours.
I sit on a fallen log, exhausted. My body still aches from the battle. The star's power hums inside my chest, but I'm too emotionally drained to access it properly.
Cassian moves around the camp, setting up our supplies with practiced efficiency. He doesn't look at me. Doesn't speak.
Just like the Shadow Sovereign's voice said: "Your greatest enemy is already standing beside you."
I watch him gather wood for a fire. His movements are stiff, mechanical. The shadow marks on his neck have spread again—they're back to where they were before I drove them away with the star's power.
The curse is getting stronger.
"Cassian," I finally say. "We need to talk."
"We need to rest." He doesn't turn around. "Tomorrow will be another long day."
"I don't want to talk about tomorrow. I want to talk about your curse."
His hands freeze on the firewood. "There's nothing to talk about."
"The Shadow Sovereign said—"
"I don't care what that monster said." His voice is harsh. "He lies. It's what he does."
"But what if he wasn't lying?" I stand up, moving closer. "What if my mother really did curse you? What if—"
"Stop." He finally turns to face me. His silver eyes are cold again, like they were when we first met. "Even if it's true, it changes nothing. We made an oath. I'm bound to protect you until one of us dies."
"But if the curse takes you—"
"Then you'll do what needs to be done." His jaw clenches. "You'll kill me before I can hurt you."
The words hit me like a slap. "I can't do that."
"You have to. The world needs you alive more than it needs me." He turns back to the fire, striking stones to create sparks. "Now drop it."
I want to argue. Want to scream that I won't give up on him.
But the coldness in his voice stops me.
I sit back down, wrapping my arms around myself. The temperature drops as night falls. Without the sun, it gets cold fast out here.
Cassian gets the fire going. He sits on the opposite side, as far from me as possible.
We eat dried meat and hard bread in silence. The fire crackles between us like a wall.
I think about the girl I was just days ago—the one who believed she was worthless, who thought her sister and father loved her. That girl seems like a stranger now.
Everything has changed so fast.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly.
Cassian looks up. "For what?"
"For dragging you into this. For the blood oath. For..." I gesture helplessly. "Everything. You'd be better off if you'd never met me."
Something flickers in his expression. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"What?"
"You think I'd be better off?" He laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Lyria, before I met you, I was a weapon. A tool. I killed because I was ordered to. I protected the same nobles who murdered your mother because I had no choice. The curse was slowly turning me into a monster and I had accepted it."
He stands up and walks around the fire toward me.
"Then you happened. This girl who should have been broken, who should have given up, who instead jumped out of a window rather than abandon me." He kneels in front of me, his silver eyes intense. "You gave me a reason to fight the curse. You reminded me I'm still human. So don't you dare apologize for saving me."
Tears blur my vision. "But what if I can't save you? What if the curse—"
"Then we face it together." He takes my hand. "Like we've faced everything else."
Through our blood oath, I feel his sincerity. His determination.
But I also feel something else. Something dark and cold, lurking beneath the surface.
The curse, growing stronger.
"Get some sleep," Cassian says, standing. "I'll keep watch."
"You need to sleep too."
"I told you—I don't sleep anymore. The curse spreads faster when I do."
He moves back to the other side of the fire, his back to me again.
I lie down on my bedroll, pulling my thin blanket tight. The ground is hard and cold. The stars above watch me like thousands of eyes.
I reach out to them with my magic. "Was the Shadow Sovereign telling the truth? Did my mother curse Cassian?"
The stars whisper back, their voices sad: "Yes."
My heart breaks. "Why? Why would she do that?"
"Because she knew. She saw the future. She knew that only a cursed knight bound by blood could stand beside you when the final battle comes. The curse is terrible, but it's also necessary."
"Necessary for what?"
"To kill the Shadow Sovereign. Light alone cannot destroy him. Shadow alone cannot destroy him. Only twilight—light and shadow perfectly balanced—can end him forever. Cassian is the shadow to your light. Without him, you cannot win."
"But the curse will turn him into the Shadow Sovereign's weapon!"
"Only if he gives in to despair. Only if he stops fighting." The stars pulse gently. "Your mother trusted that you would give him a reason to keep fighting. That your love would be stronger than the curse."
Love?
I look across the fire at Cassian's silhouette. His broad shoulders. The way he sits alert, constantly watching for danger.
Do I love him?
I barely know him. We've only been together for a few days.
But I jumped out of a window for him. Made a blood oath that tied our lives together. And the thought of him dying, of the curse consuming him, makes my chest ache like someone's squeezing my heart.
Maybe that is love. Or the beginning of it.
I close my eyes, trying to sleep.
That's when I hear it.
Footsteps. Multiple sets. Moving through the trees around our camp.
My eyes snap open. Across the fire, Cassian is already standing, his hand on his sword.
"We're surrounded," he says quietly. "At least twenty, maybe more."
"Shadow beasts?"
"No. Worse." His face is grim. "Humans. Mercenaries, by the sound of their equipment."
"Who would send mercenaries after us all the way out here?"
Before he can answer, torches light up in the darkness surrounding us. Men step out from the trees—rough-looking fighters with scarred faces and cruel smiles.
And at the front of the group, riding a white horse, is someone I never expected to see again.
Seraphine.
But her eyes are normal now. No longer black voids. She looks like herself again—beautiful, cruel, and very much alive.
"Hello, little sister," she says with a vicious smile. "Miss me?"
My blood runs cold. "The Shadow Sovereign—"
"Left my body when Father failed him. Apparently, I'm more useful as his spy than his vessel." She dismounts gracefully. "Did you really think killing Father would stop us? He was just one pawn."
"Us?" Cassian's sword is drawn. "Who else is working with you?"
Seraphine laughs. "Oh, Cassian. Sweet, cursed Cassian. Don't you recognize your old friends?"
More figures step out of the darkness.
My heart stops.
They're all wearing the uniform of the Royal Knights. Cassian's fellow soldiers. His brothers in arms.
"No," Cassian breathes.
"Yes," Seraphine purrs. "The Shadow Sovereign has been corrupting them for months. Every knight who served beside you, everyone you trusted—they all belong to him now."
One of the knights steps forward. He's older, with gray in his beard. He looks at Cassian with empty eyes.
"Commander Aldric?" Cassian's voice breaks. "Not you. Please, not you."
"I'm sorry, boy," Aldric says, but his voice sounds hollow. "The Shadow Sovereign made me see the truth. The noble families have been lying to us for centuries. The Celestial Queens weren't saviors—they were tyrants. We're finally freeing the world from their light."
"You don't believe that," Cassian says desperately. "You taught me. Trained me. You're like a father to me!"
"And that's why this hurts." Aldric draws his sword. "Orders are to bring the girl back alive. You... I'm afraid you're expendable."
Twenty swords point at Cassian.
"Wait!" I step between him and the knights. "You want me? Fine. Take me. Just let him go."
"Lyria, no—" Cassian grabs my arm.
"I won't let them kill you!" I face Seraphine. "I'll go with you willingly if you promise to let Cassian live."
Seraphine's smile widens. "How noble. How foolish. You think I'd let the cursed knight go free? He's too dangerous. He knows too much. And besides..." She nods to Aldric.
The Commander moves fast—too fast.
He slams the hilt of his sword into Cassian's head. Cassian drops like a stone.
"CASSIAN!" I scream, falling to my knees beside him.
He's unconscious but breathing. Blood trickles from his temple.
Rough hands grab my arms, yanking me away from him.
"Take them both," Seraphine orders. "The Shadow Sovereign wants the knight alive after all. He has special plans for him."
"What plans?" I struggle against the mercenaries holding me.
Seraphine leans close, her breath hot on my ear.
"The curse is almost complete. In three days, Cassian will fully transform into a shadow creature—one that obeys only the Shadow Sovereign. And his first order will be to rip out your heart while you watch."
She straightens up, smiling sweetly.
"Sweet dreams, little sister."
Something pricks my neck. A needle.
The world starts spinning. My vision blurs.
As consciousness fades, I see them drag Cassian's unconscious body away.
And I see something else.
The shadow marks on his neck are spreading faster now, crawling across his jaw, reaching toward his eye.
Three days until he becomes a monster.
Three days until he kills me.
My last thought before darkness takes me:
I have to save him. I have to break the curse.
Even if it kills me.