Chapter 238

Dark Fae Realm:

A week had passed.

Aire has spent seven more mornings beneath a sky that never truly brightened and seven nights where darkness settled over the kingdom like something alive instead of something natural.

Aire had counted every one.

She had stopped counting the hours.

Time behaved strangely inside the Dark Fae Realm. It stretched whenever she found herself alone and vanished whenever Vaelor summoned her.

Today was no different.

She stood alone upon the balcony outside her chamber.

Cold wind slipped through the endless black towers, carrying with it the scent of rain that never fell.

Her silver hair drifted around her face as she rested both palms against the stone railing.

Twenty-five days. That was how long remained before Vaelor intended to use her.

She didn’t know how. She doubted she even wanted to. Questions only reminded her how powerless she truly was.

A soft knock echoed behind her.

“The Prince requests your presence.”

Aire closed her eyes.

She turned slowly.

The servant never entered Lysander’s chamber. Lately, they simply delivered messages before disappearing again.

She nodded once. “I’ll come.”

The servant bowed before leaving immediately.

Silence returned.

Aire looked across the endless black landscape. No amount of reading through Lysander’s book has shown her a green light concerning her escape.

Her heart continued breathing uneasily in her chest. She hasn’t even been able to find directions to Morrigan chamber.

How could she fix all of these now? She feels so useless.

…

The training grounds had become familiar, and Aire hated that.

The circular arena waited exactly as it had every morning since Vaelor declared she would become useful.

Thousands of black stone seats surrounded the battlefield. None were occupied.

Only Vaelor stood waiting.

Beside him was Lysander.

Aire’s footsteps faltered almost imperceptibly.

One week. An entire week has passed since he had asked her to marry him. Its been one week since she had refused, and one week since he had threatened to walk into the Wolf Realm wearing her face.

Since then, there was been nothing between them. Not a single unnecessary word, arguments, apologies, or even an attempts to change her mind.

He simply existed cold and distant lately.

It should have relieved her.

Instead, it unsettled her. She could feel the grudge he now held towards her from feets away.

Whenever he looked at her, his eyes showed a grudge beyond reason towards her.

Vaelor noticed her arrival immediately.

“Move,” he commanded with a clipped tone. “Do you think you’re early?”

She looked toward the sky. “I arrive precisely when your servant called.”

His lips curved into a disturbing smile. “You argue even when you’re correct.”

For the smallest fraction of a second, Lysander almost smiled. Then it disappeared before anyone could be certain it had existed at all.

Vaelor descended into the arena. He studied her, and then placed his hands behind his back. “I was beginning to worry this realm had broken your spirit.”

“It hasn’t.”

“We’ll see.” He extended one hand, and darkness gathered around his fingers.

It no longer surprised her.

Everything here eventually became ordinary. That frightened her more than the magic itself. She was beginning to get used to the realm.

“Today,” Vaelor’s voice hardened, while being gentle at the same time. “we increase your limits.”

He attacked without warning.

Dark energy exploded toward her.

Aire reacted instinctively. She threw herself sideways, and the blast shattered the stone where she’d been standing.

Dust filled the air.

Before she landed, he threw another strike towards her, and she rolled beneath it. She never had time to stand when two more strikes attacked her.

Vaelor gave her no time. He wasn’t teaching anymore. After a week, he decided it would be best if he hunt her.

“Too slow.” He said gently, and threw another blast at her. “You hesitate.”

The stones behind her exploded, as she stared at him with horror in her eyes. She tried to catch her breath, as she focused on him.

He threw three more strikes at her at once. This time, Aire fell to the floor, and rolled over, dodging all three completely.

She forced herself upright.

Her lungs burned, and sweat already dampened her back. She raised both hands, and silver light erupted instinctively.

It was not enough.

Vaelor tore through it effortlessly, and the impact threw her backwards. She struck the ground hard enough to lose her breath.

Pain shot through her spine.

She struggled upright.

Vaelor watched her calmly. “Stand.” He ordered, with little patient, as he fixed his glass on the bridge of his nose like he had all the time in the world.

She did.

“Again.”

She attacked first this time. Silver light gathered around her hands, stronger, and cleaner.

She released it.

Vaelor blocked it with one hand, then smiled. “Better.”

He disappeared.

Aire’s eyes widened. She tried to move away from where she stood. However, she was too late.

He reappeared behind her, and a hand struck between her shoulder blades.

She flew across the arena.

The ground rushed toward her protectively this time, and something strange happened. For one impossible heartbeat, she didn’t feel herself falling.

She felt herself…. No, someone else running through the wind, and trees. For half a second, she saw warm sunlight against fur.

She heard a heartbeat that wasn’t hers, but someone else. Three steady heartbeats. They vanished immediately the came.

Aire finally hit the ground hard enough to cough. She remained there breathing heavily, and confused.

She frowned, and ahook her hear, trying to believe that she had imagined it. She had to. She pushed herself upright again.

Vaelor studied her carefully. “You hesitated.”

“I…” She stopped.

Had she?

Or… Had something interrupted her?

Lysander had noticed it too. His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. She could see that he knew that something had happened but he simply didn’t know what.

Neither did she.

……

The inhuman training with Vaelor ended hours later.

Aire walked back toward Lysander’s chambers alone. Every muscle protested, amd every bruise reminded her tomorrow would be worse.

Twenty-five days.

Vaelor wanted perfection before then. She wasn’t sure perfection existed.

Halfway through the corridor, her vision blurred, and she immediately stopped walking.

The walls shifted.

Aire blinked, and then, she realized that the hallway remained perfectly still.

She wasn’t.

A strange warmth spread slowly beneath her skin. It began inside her chest. The strange warmth was gentle, and almost comforting.

Aire frowned.

She pressed one hand against her sternum. She calmly felt her heartbeat.

It sounded louder, and different. She slowly realized that another heartbeat answered it.

She froze.

The next second, another heartbeat joined the first, then another.

Three distinct rhythms resounded beside her own heartbeat. The heartbeats came low, steady, and alive.

The sound disappeared almost immediately.

Aire’s breathing became uneven.

“Matebond?” She whispered.

Impossible.

She leaned heavily against the wall. The warmth remained. It felt faint now, but very much present.

Tears stung unexpectedly behind her eyes.

She couldn’t understand what was going on, so she closed her eyes.

The warmth lasted for less than a minute, then it faded softly, leaving only cold stone beneath her fingertips.