MORKAI'S POV
"Some goodbyes aren't endings, they're promises wrapped in silence, waiting for the right moment to return."
Hours later, I stood at the heart of the Pearl Castle's inner hall, where ancient light filtered in through the coral-spun glass. The sea pulsed in a steady rhythm beyond the walls, quiet now, but deceptive.
They were all assembled, Lady Nerisca, cold-eyed and regal as ever, her silks brushing the marble with disdainful grace. Lord Ardanis stood beside her, unreadable as always, though his hands were clasped just a little too tightly behind his back. Ellowen watched me with her usual sharp, calm fingers twitching near her belt like she was resisting the urge to speak before I did. Kallion looked like he hadn't slept, hair askew, armor wrinkled, as if he'd wrestled nightmares all night, and I knew that Thalion had given him a scare of his life. Thalia and Lysander flanked the edges, loyal, bristling with unease. And beside Lord Arnadis was Caelan, calm and quiet, still cloaked in the aftermath of something sacred. Something, ours.
I let the silence stretch and then, finally, I spoke. "There's something in the trench," I said, my voice low, raw from dreams I didn't understand and truths I couldn't yet name. "Something that was not meant to stir." Thalia stiffened slightly, and Lady Nerisca narrowed her gaze. "It's not just a disturbance," I continued, pacing slowly across the hall, letting my fingers trail the coral-lit stone. "It was summoned. Deliberately. And now—" I stopped, eyes sweeping across them. "—even I don't know what it is."
A murmur rippled through them. Lord Ardanis flinched like I'd slapped him.
"You expect us to return to the Gulf with that uncertainty?" Nerisca asked, folding her arms.
"No," I said. "I expect you to return to the Gulf because I won't risk your lives staying here."
Kallion lifted his gaze, voice rough. "You think it's coming closer?"
"I think," I said carefully, "it's already watching."
Ellowen exhaled slowly. Caelan shifted quietly, but I felt his energy ripple in tandem with mine.
"I'll keep investigating," I said, louder now, letting the command settle over the room. "You'll all return to Emerald Gulf at dawn. I'll send word when I know more."
Lysander gave a short nod. Thalia, to her credit, didn't argue.
But Nerisca took a step forward, chin lifted. "And if this evil rises before you do?"
I met her gaze. "Then you'll know," I said softly, "because the sea will turn black."
She held my stare. But she didn't argue, and no one did. After the meeting, the corridors of Pearl Castle had quieted, the heavy weight of parting pressing into its very stones. Farewells lingered in the air like mist on the tide. Ellowen found me just as I was about to descend toward the war chamber. Her eyes met mine steadily, unreadable, and she gave a small nod.
"May I speak with you? Alone." Her voice was calm, but I could feel the sharp edge of urgency beneath it.
I studied her for a moment, then gestured toward the southern wing, where the light from the sea-glass panels spilled into the corridor like liquid opal. We stepped into one of the private chamberssmall, circular, carved from coral and mother-of-pearl. A space for counsel and quiet truths.
I closed the door behind us and Ellowen didn't pace. She simply looked at me, eyes far too knowing, and said: "I can feel it."
I raised a brow. "Feel what?"
"The bond," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "Between you and Caelan."
For a moment, I said nothing. The walls around us seemed to pull tighter, the air sharpening. A thousand shields rose in my mind, but I didn't deny it. She exhaled, a mix of relief and fear flashing in her expression. "It's dangerous."
"I know."
"Lord Ardanis—" she began.
"—is no fool," I cut in, voice quiet but iron. "But he's also blind where it suits him."
She nodded slowly, her gaze flicking to the seaglass behind me, where the ocean churned in shades of blue and sorrow. "If he finds out… If he suspects anything…"
"I'll deal with him." I snapped.
Her eyes snapped back to mine. "You can't—"
"I can." My voice dropped, cold and certain. "If anyone threatens Caelan, they will answer me."
The silence between us was loud with meaning. I let her see the truth written in every line of my body, every shadow under my skin. I would burn kingdoms. Drown continents. I would unravel the abyss itself before I let anyone touch a single hair on his head.
Ellowen stared for a moment longer, and then she smiled. A slow, quiet thing. Not the light mischief she wore for the others, but something far more ancient. A knowing, a blessing, perhaps.
"That's all I needed to hear."
I tilted my head. "You came to warn me?"
"I came to make sure you wouldn't run from it." Her eyes softened. "Caelan's fate has never been his own, not fully. But with you… I think, for once, he could choose it."
My chest tightened at that, and she turned to leave, her hand on the doo,r before she paused. "You're both chaos. But maybe that's what this world needs." Then she was gone. And I stood alone, the echo of her words curling around my spine like fate had just shifted its weight.
I paced up and down in the private chambers, and then the door opened. I knew it was him before the door even clicked shut. The scent gave him away, fresh moss after rain, wild lavender, something sharper underneath that curled into my lungs and stayed there.
I did not turn around "Ellowen and Thalia?" I asked, voice low.
He chuckled, soft and guilty. "They said you'd pretend to be busy."
I finally turned around and there he was leaning against the inside of the chambers like he hadn't just turned my entire world on its axis days ago. The light of the setting ocean streamed through the tall glass windows behind me, casting his silhouette in golden blues. Hair unbound and boots silent, and those eyes. Feral and knowing, soft and sharp all at once.
"I knew they were up to something," I muttered.
Caelan's smile faltered. "They said I should say goodbye… properly."
I crossed the room in three steps and pulled him into my arms before the ache could swallow me whole. His mouth found mine instantly hungry, hot, desperate. Like we could devour the hours we had left if we just kissed deep enough, hard enough. His hands slid into my hair as my fingers curled tight around his waist, crushing him against me. I pulled back just enough to breathe, to taste his breath between mine. "Fucking hate it that you have to go back," I said, though it tasted like ash on my tongue.
He nodded against my lips. "Not forever."
"How do you know?" I asked. It came out quieter than I meant.
"Because I've never felt something like this," Caelan whispered.
I kissed him again, slowly this time. Like I could remember the shape of him by touch alone and could seal something in him, some promise, some tether that distance could never fray. "I'll find you," I murmured. "In every storm. Every shadow."
Caelan exhaled shakily. "And I'll come back. "
We stood there for a long time, tangled in the hush of the sea outside and the beat of our joined hearts. One more kiss. One more breath, and I held him tighter because the hour of parting had come.
An hour later, I stood at the dock of Pearl Castle, and then the usual songs of the sea had dulled, like even the ocean mourned their leaving. I stood at the far edge of the outer terrace, where the enchanted stone met the lapping surf. The Emerald Gold cut through the waves, sails catching the wind, gliding away from the Pearl Castle like a dream I wasn't ready to wake from.
My hands curled at my sides, nails biting into skin. I didn't move. Didn't breathe, and the fact that Caelan was in the Emerald Gold made my teeth grit my teeth. And my heart by the sea, my cursed, bitter, long-silent heart twisted in my chest like it didn't know how to beat without him here.
"I shouldn't have let him go," I muttered to no one. To the waves, to the magic in the stone that was old and listening. "Damn it all." The wind shifted, carrying the last whispers of voices, of laughter, of ship bells fading into the distance.
The last thing he'd said to me echoed in my head, soft and unshakable: "We'll find each other again. Soon." He smiled when he said it, like it was already written in the stars. Like fate owed us something after all these centuries. I gritted my teeth, biting back the urge to summon the sea and drag the ship back by force. Gods knew I could. But he needed to go, and actually, they all did.
The Emerald Gulf needed answers and the realm needed warning and I needed time to unravel the thing in the trenches. To trace the shadow clawing through the waters. To survive the echo of his touch on my skin and the void he left behind in my chambers.I turned, finally, when the ship became a speck on the horizon.