Terror pulsed in Elira's blood like a second heartbeat.
She stood amidst the aftermath of the Awakening, legs trembling. The hall was destroyed—black scorch marks adorned the marble floor, and the pedestal groaned quietly with leftover magic. Whispers swirled through the grand hall, but they were all muted. Far away.
All she could hear was the memory of that voice:
"The Soul-Bond has awakened."
And Kael Valen's foreboding words:
"She is under my protection."
Elira put her arms around her chest where the mark still burned under her blouse. The sigil pulsed weakly, like it had a pulse, not hers. Not hers. Someone else's. Kael's.
The knowledge spun her around, dizzy.
She didn't know what the soul-bond was. Didn't know why the magic had chosen her—of all people. She didn't even have magic.
Or so she'd believed.
"Move," a voice hissed behind her.
Elira got out of the path just in time as a procession of noblewomen surged past, their elegant robes free of soot and ruin. One of them—tall, blond, with a sun sigil crest glinting on her shoulder—glared at Elira as if she was filth.
"Figures it'd be a crestless girl to botch the Awakening," she muttered.
"Did you notice what she did to the pedestal?" another girl asked. "She broke it. It's old. That thing's been here since Arcanis was established."
"She's cursed," sneered the first girl. "Or worse—tainted."
Elira's hands curled into fists.
She ached to scream that she hadn't asked for any of this. That she hadn't done it on purpose. But her throat would not open, and her courage shriveled under their gaze.
"Enough," a new voice commanded—smooth, low, and commanding.
The noble girls froze.
Kael Valen was at the foot of the ruined stairs. Not a hair displaced. His cloak with silver brocade whirled around him, untouched by ash or dust. Those starless, limitless dark eyes surveyed the group.
"You have something to say about my bonded?"
The air went cold.
"N-no, Prince Valen," the lead girl whispered, dropping her eyes.
"Good," Kael stated. "Then walk away before I show you how."
They fled.
Elira glared at him. "You didn't have to do that."
"I didn't do it for you," Kael answered.
Ouch.
He moved closer to her, eyes flicking to her chest as if he could see the mark burning through the fabric.
"Follow me."
She refused. "Why?"
"You're bound to me now," he said. "And you don't know what that means. If you remain here alone, you'll die. Or worse."
"Worse?" she echoed.
Kael turned, not waiting for her to follow. "You'll feel it soon. The pull. The pain. If we're too far apart for too long, it starts to rip at your soul."
Well. That was fun news.
She followed.
---
Kael led her through the Academy's inner halls, far from the first-year dorms. Professors and upperclassmen stared as they passed—some with curiosity, others with horror. Elira kept her eyes down.
He brought her to a tower in the north wing—quiet, colder than the rest. The door opened at his touch.
"Your room is there," he said, pointing to a chamber connected to his own by a narrow shared hallway.
Elira blinked. "Wait. I'm living with you?"
Kael leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "The bond doesn't care for school rules."
"But people will think—"
"They already think it," he said flatly.
She didn't answer that.
"You will report for training tomorrow," Kael said to her. "At dawn. Don't be late."
He turned away and disappeared into his bedroom.
Elira stood alone in the hall, staring at the solid door.
Training? What was she talking about, training?
She wasn't magical. She didn't even know how she had passed that rite.
But as she walked into her room—spare, but warm and intimate—she heard Kael's voice, this time in her mind.
"Rest. Your strength will be needed. Bond has just commenced."
She panted.
The voice had seemed to emanate from within her own mind.
Elira grasped her hand on her mark.
What did she get herself into?
---
Sleep did not come easily. Not when in her mind lurked a turmoil of flame and darkness.
Elira lay back in the small bed, gaze on the moonlit ceiling. Her fingertips traced over the mark on her chest, the skin still warm from the previous burst. It pulsed in her pulse—or his.
Every time she closed her eyes, visions flashed: a throne to ash, a white fire amidst a field of it, Kael standing alone in a fall of black feathers.
Were they visions? Dreams? Shards of his memories intruding upon hers?
She sat up, agitated. Her toes scraped against cold rock. Movement danced in the mirror—her reflection rippled.
And then she saw it.
A dark presence behind her. Not a person, not really.
A form without a face. A twisting silhouette of darkness, slumped as if bearing the weight of eon.
The moment she blinked, it vanished.
She jumped up, pulse racing.
"Kael," she panted.
The doorway between their quarters creaked open on its own.
He rested against it, seeming as relaxed as possible, as though he'd just been waiting there.
"You experienced it," he declared.
"Something—"
"That's the tethering snapping into place," he replied. "The connection isn't quite solid yet. Shadows find instability attractive."
"You could've alerted me!"
"I did," said Kael without inflection. "I mentioned that it will only get worse before it ever improves."
Elira stepped into his room, only now seeing how different it was. The air was heavy, filled with hollow magic. The walls were covered in books—old, worn leather-bound books—and there were scuffs on the floor.
"Sit," he motioned to a chair.
She fought it, then sat.
Kael sat across from her, folding his hands. "You're going to learn to shield your soul. It's the only way to keep the bond from overwhelming you. Or letting other things in."
"Other things?" she echoed.
"Entities that dwell in the Void. They can slip through if your defenses aren't strong enough. Especially now that you're linked to me."
"Why am I bound to you?" Elira raged. "This doesn't make sense. I didn't have magic—no crest—and now I'm bound to the most feared student in the academy. Why me?"
Kael's eyes darkened.
"Because fate doesn't care about fairness," he said. "And sometimes, the Void chooses."
"Chooses what?"
Kael didn't answer.
Instead, he stood and walked toward her. "Close your eyes. Focus on the mark. Breathe with it."
Elira hesitated, then obeyed.
"Good," Kael breathed. "Now feel the thread. The link between us. It should be a string of tension across your chest."
She focused. Slowly, something akin to a thread of silver light materialized in front of her mind's eye, connecting her heart to a distant, black star.
"You can see it," Kael said.
"Yes."
"Now pull."
"What? Why—"
"Just do it."
She did.
Kael flinched. Almost. But she saw it.
"You felt that," she said.
"It's real," he replied. "All your emotions. Every thought, if it's strong enough. I'll hear it. And you'll feel me too. That's the soul-bond."
Elira woke up, gasping.
"That's… terrible."
"And unbreakable," he continued. "Except in shattering. But to shatter it would kill you."
Her blood went icy cold.
Kael turned and moved towards the window. "Sleep, Elira. Tomorrow, we begin in earnest."
Elira slowly got up and approached the door. But she stopped before opening it.
"Kael?"
He turned to look at her.
"Why did you actually do it?" she said. "The soul-bond. Why me?"
An eternity-long silence.
Then, softly:
"Because the Void whispered your name before you ever set foot in that hall."
The door closed behind her.
And Elira came to something with a chill certainty—
This wasn't an accident.