Elara's POV
I wake up to Kaelen staring at me like I'm a stranger.
What? I sit up on the couch, groggy and confused. What's wrong?
Nothing. But his voice is cold, distant. The warmth from last night is gone. Get dressed. Liora wants to perform the memory spell tonight instead of tomorrow. Says the ingredients are most potent during the new moon.
Tonight? But that's
In twelve hours. I know. He turns away. Wear something comfortable. The spell can last hours.
He walks to his room and shuts the door before I can ask what happened.
Something's wrong. Something changed while I slept.
I get dressed quickly and go looking for Sylas. Find him in the training yard, practicing with his sword.
Did something happen last night? I ask without preamble.
He doesn't stop swinging. Why?
Because Kaelen's acting strange. Colder. Like he doesn't trust me anymore.
Sylas finally lowers his sword. Veyra visited. Left a message.
What kind of message?
The kind that makes a man doubt everything. He meets my eyes. She claimed you betrayed him once. In some life before the curse. And tonight's memory spell will prove it.
My stomach drops. That's ridiculous. I don't even remember any life before this one.
Your conscious mind doesn't. But your soul might. He sheaths his sword. The question is if it's true, if you did something terrible to him centuries ago, would you want to know?
Of course I would!
Even if it means he never trusts you again? Even if it destroys the bond before it fully forms?
I hadn't thought of that.
What do you think I should do?
I think you should face it head-on, Sylas says. Because Veyra wants you scared. Wants you running. Wants you to refuse the memory spell and prove you're hiding something. He picks up another practice sword, tosses it to me. Don't give her the satisfaction.
He's right.
I spend the day training harder than ever. Sword work until my arms shake. Defensive magic with Liora. Studying the castle's layout until I can navigate blindfolded.
Anything to avoid thinking about tonight.
But as the sun sets and the new moon rises, I can't avoid it anymore.
Liora's workshop has been transformed. Candles everywhere, a circle of salt and herbs on the floor, the crystal vial of our mixed blood glowing in the center.
This is your last chance to back out, Liora says as I enter. Memory spells are dangerous. You might see things that break you. Both of you.
We need to know the truth, I say firmly.
Kaelen arrives moments later. He won't look at me.
Let's begin, he says.
We sit across from each other inside the salt circle. Liora instructs us to hold hands over the blood vial.
The spell will show you Kaelen's oldest memories, she explains. Before the curse. Before Veyra. It will search for any connection to Elara to her soul signature. She begins chanting, and the air grows heavy with magic. Whatever you see, don't let go of each other's hands. If you break the circle, the spell could trap you in the memory forever.
Comforting, I mutter.
Liora ignores me. Ready?
We nod.
She completes the incantation. The blood vial explodes in golden light.
And the world disappears.
The Memory
I'm standing in a forest. No Kaelen is standing in a forest. I'm seeing through his eyes, feeling what he feels.
He's younger. Much younger. Maybe seven or eight years old, with scraped knees and leaves in his hair.
And he's not alone.
A girl sits on a tree branch above him, laughing. She has dark hair and eyes that sparkle with mischief. She looks maybe nine years old.
You're too slow! she calls down. I told you I'd beat you to the top!
That's because you cheated! Young Kaelen shouts back. You used magic!
Did not!
Did too! I felt it!
The girl drops from the branch, landing gracefully in front of him. Fine. I used a little magic. But only because you're still learning to shift. It's not fair that you're so clumsy.
I'm not clumsy. Dragon shifting is hard.
Excuses. She pokes his chest. You're just lazy.
They stare at each other. Then both burst out laughing.
Come on, the girl says, grabbing his hand. Let's go to the stream. I'll teach you that water spell I learned.
The one that makes ice?
Yeah. But you have to promise not to tell anyone. My teacher said I'm not supposed to share it.
I promise. Young Kaelen squeezes her hand. I never break promises to you, Sera.
Sera.
The name hits me like lightning.
That girl is me. A younger version. A different life.
The memory shifts.
Years later. Kaelen is sixteen now, standing in a throne room. He's wearing a crown that's too heavy, surrounded by advisors who treat him like a child.
The kingdom needs stability, someone is saying. You must marry soon. Form alliances.
I don't want to marry, Kaelen says. Not yet.
You're the Dragon King. Your wants are irrelevant.
But Kaelen is barely listening. He's looking out the window at the gardens below, where a young woman walks among the flowers.
Sera. Older now, maybe eighteen. Beautiful and graceful and everything he's ever wanted.
What about Sera? he asks suddenly. I could marry her.
The advisors laugh. Actually laugh.
The ward? The orphan girl you grew up with? The head councilor shakes his head. Absolutely not. She has no family, no title, no magic worth mentioning. You need a political alliance, not a childhood friendship.
She has more magic than any of you, Kaelen snaps. And she's more loyal than any noble could ever be.
Loyalty doesn't win wars, Your Majesty. Power does. You'll marry the Witch of the Northern Covens. Veyra Blackwood. It's already been arranged.
I don't want Veyra. I want
It's not a request.
The memory shifts again.
Kaelen is in a bedroom. His wedding night.
But instead of Veyra, Sera stands before him, tears streaming down her face.
You're really going through with it, she says. After everything, you're marrying her.
I don't have a choice. His voice breaks. The kingdom needs the alliance. Veyra's power
I don't care about her power! Sera's eyes flash. What about us? What about everything we promised each other?
We were children. Those were children's promises.
I loved you! She's shouting now. I've loved you since we were seven years old! And you're throwing it away for politics!
Sera, please
No. She steps back. If you marry her, we're done. I'm leaving. I'll go somewhere you'll never find me, and I'll make sure I never come back.
Don't do this.
You did this. You chose her over me. Sera pulls something from her pocket a small wooden dragon he carved for her when they were children. She throws it at his feet. Goodbye, Kaelen. I hope your political alliance is worth it.
She's gone before he can stop her.
The memory shifts one final time.
Weeks later. Kaelen is in the throne room again, and everything is chaos.
The Witch Veyra has been arrested for blood magic, someone announces. Multiple murders. Children.
Kaelen feels sick. Where is Sera? I need to find Sera.
The girl? She left weeks ago. No one knows where.
Find her! He's shouting, desperate. I made a mistake. I need to tell her
But they never find her.
And three days later, Veyra curses him from the execution block.
The last thing he hears before the curse takes hold:
You wanted power over love. You chose me over her. Now you'll spend eternity losing the only thing that ever mattered. Again. And again. And again.
I'm ripped out of the memory, gasping for air.
Kaelen releases my hands like I burned him.
You, he says, his voice shaking with rage. It was you. You were Sera.
I didn't know! I'm shaking too. I don't remember any of that!
You left me. He stands, towering over me. You walked away when I needed you most. You abandoned me.
You married someone else! You chose power over me!
I was sixteen! I didn't have a choice!
Neither did I! I stand too, anger flooding through me. You broke my heart, Kaelen! What was I supposed to do? Stay and watch you love someone else?
We're both shouting now, centuries of pain erupting between us.
If you'd stayed, he roars, I would have known what Veyra was! You would have protected me from her!
That's not fair!
Nothing about this is fair! He slams his fist on Liora's table. You've been coming back for centuries. Life after life. Dying because of a curse that only exists because you left me!
The words hang in the air like poison.
I feel tears on my face. So this is my fault? All of it?
I don't know. His voice cracks. Maybe. Maybe if you'd stayed, none of this would have happened. The children, the brides, all of it maybe it all traces back to you leaving.
It feels like he stabbed me.
I'm leaving, I whisper. Right now. Tonight. If you think I'm the cause of all this pain, then I'm gone.
I turn toward the door.
Elara, wait
No. I don't look back. You want someone to blame? Fine. Blame me. Blame Sera. Blame whoever I was before. But I'm not staying where I'm not wanted.
I run from the workshop, from his chambers, from everything.
I make it to the main courtyard before the tears completely blind me.
And that's when I feel it the dragon mark burning on my shoulder.
Not the countdown burn. Something different.
Something breaking.
I pull down my collar and look.
The dragon is cracking. Splitting apart like shattered glass.
No, I breathe.
Sylas appears beside me. What's happening?
The bond. It's breaking. I show him the mark. Because of the memory. Because he blames me.
That's not possible. The bond can't break once it starts
The mark flares bright silver, then goes completely black.
Pain explodes through my chest. I collapse.
And in that moment, I feel it every single death from my previous lives crashing through me at once.
Burning alive. Bleeding out. Poisoned. Stabbed. Drowned. Strangled. Falling.
Seven deaths. Seven agonies. All happening simultaneously in my mind.
I'm screaming but can't hear it over the roar in my head.
Sylas is shouting for help, but his voice sounds so far away.
The last thing I see before darkness takes me:
Veyra standing at the courtyard gates, smiling.
Perfect, she says. The bond is broken. Now I can take her soul without any interference.
She walks toward me, hand outstretched.
And I'm too weak to fight back.