The thorn crown

I didn't scream when I woke.

Didn't gasp. Didn't cry.

Just lay there, staring at the gray light bleeding through the trees.

Heart racing. Fingers clenched. Skin too tight for my body.

Kael sat a few feet away, cross-legged.

Awake.

Watching me.

He didn't speak.

Didn't ask.

His eyes were tired. Feral. Still burning gold at the edges like he hadn't slept at all.

I sat up slowly, brushing dirt from my palms.

Felt the phantom cold where that thing had touched me.

"You were dreaming," he said.

Not a question.

I nodded.

"Bad one?"

I nodded again.

He looked down at his hands.

Flexed them like they itched with something he couldn't touch.

"I felt it," he murmured. "Something cracked in the bond. Like a scream underwater."

I looked away.

The fire between us had died.

Only smoke now. No warmth.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.

"No."

His jaw clenched. Barely.

"You don't have to protect me, Ariya."

"I'm not."

He looked at me, sharp and soft all at once.

"Yes, you are. Even now. Even when you're the one breaking."

That got me.

I stood up too fast.

"Drop it, Kael."

"Why?" he said, rising with me. "Because you're scared of what's inside you? Or because you saw something you weren't supposed to?"

I flinched.

His breath caught.

"You did see something."

"I said drop it."

"You're trembling."

I looked down.

He was right.

My hands were shaking.

"It's nothing."

"No, it's not," he said, stepping closer. "I feel it too. I felt it, Ariya. Like the forest held its breath."

Silence stretched.

Thick. Unforgiving.

I turned my face away before he could see what lived in my eyes.

"A girl," I whispered. "In white. With your eyes."

He stilled.

"She said I'm the door."

Kael didn't move for a long time.

When he did, it was slow. Gentle.

He reached out but didn't touch.

His fingers hovered an inch from mine.

"I think something inside you is opening," he said, voice low, grave. "And I don't think it's just my magic anymore."

I didn't speak.

Couldn't.

Because part of me wanted to open.

Even if it destroyed me.

Even if it destroyed us.