Elián;

Something is wrong.

I do not know why I am so sure of this, but the certainty has been crawling under my skin all day.

The palace gardens stretch peacefully around me, with sunlight bountifully showing off its artistic mastery as it reflects on walls, flowers, and the nearby lake.

I watch as servants move between archways, their voices quiet and calm.

Everything looks exactly the way it always does. Peacefully serene.

And yet... my chest refuses to settle.

I rest one hand over my stomach and try to breathe slowly.

"Relax," I whisper to myself, but it doesn’t work.

The unease sits stubbornly. Like an instinct I shouldn’t dare ignore.

I try to reach for Elien again, but he’s started doing that thing where he ignores me even though I can feel him.

On the surface, everything looks fine, but I can feel it in my bones that there’s something wrong.

It feels like standing in a forest where the birds have suddenly gone silent. Like staring at your reflection in a mirror and somehow knowing—without a way to prove it— that it’s not you who’s staring back.

I shift on the stone bench and close my eyes briefly.

The baby moves under my hand, and as the sudden motion pushes against the inside of my stomach, I draw a deep breath.

"Easy," I whisper softly, and this time, a cramp at my side answers me.

My palm spreads across my stomach as I try to soothe her, but she only calms down a bit.

"She’s agitated again," Zephan says from somewhere behind me, and I open my eyes.

I turn around slowl, and see Zephan standing a few steps away, leaning casually against one of the carved pillars that surround the garden as he watches me with careful attention.

Koda is standing beside him, and my heart stumbles the moment I see him.

I’m still getting used to the fact that he’s actually here. This whole day has been like a dream. I wrote him a letter, and he sent himself here as a response.

My husband... he’s really here. Close enough to touch. Close enough to hold.

He crosses the space between us with that gentle, commanding aura he always has, and I watch in silence as he kneels in front of me.

He takes my hands in hi, and gently kisses them.

"What is it?" he asks quietly as he looks up into my eyes, and my head tilts a bit as I stare at him.

"I don’t know," I admit as I stare at him.

I can see the excitement radiating off him.

The joy of being a father, and I feel how our daughter reacts each time he’s near.

He reaches up to caress my face, and I lean into his touch as I close my eyes.

Our baby moves again. Harder this time, and I wince.

Koda’s hand moves instinctively to my stomach, and the moment his palm touches me, she reacts again.

But this time the movement changes. The violent kick softens into a slower, rolling motion.

Koda’s brow furrows as he looks back up at me.

"She’s restless." He notes, and I nod.

Just then, Zephan walks up to me with worry he’s trying so hard to contain on his face.

"How long has this been happening?" He questions, and I look up at him.

"Since this morning," I reply, and the worry on Zephan’s face deepens.

I exhale slowly as I turn back to Koda.

"It’s not just her," I confess, and the two brothers share a look before looking back at me.

"What do you mean, Elian? Is something wrong?" Koda questions in worry, and I shake my head in negation.

"I feel physically fine..." I say quietly as I struggle to find the right words.

This feeling has been sitting inside my chest all day, but every attempt to explain it makes it sound ridiculous.

"Then? What’s wrong, Elian?" Zephan probes, and I let out a breath before confessing.

"I feel... watched," I murmur, and the courtyard falls silent.

Zephan straightens slightly, and Koda’s grip on my hand tightens just a fraction.

"Watched?" he repeats, and I nod while I look up at Zephan, and back at him.

\

"I know it sounds strange, but—" I begin, and just then, that sensation hits again.

Sharp and painfully vivid.

Like a thread being pulled steadily through my mind.

My hand moves instinctively against my stomach.

The baby kicks hard again, and pain flares briefly through my side.

Koda’s hand moves to my shoulder immediately as he calls my name in worry.

"Elián?"

"I’m fine," I breathe tob ease his worry, but my chest is tight now.

Something inside me is reacting. Not just my instincts.

But Something deeper... Elien.

Again, these feelings are from him, and he has refused to tell me why.

Like speaking to me alone or even remindng me of his existance will bring so kind of harm to him.

Why is he doing this?? Staying so quiet. It’s disturbing.

There’s a quiet alarm rising from somewhere deep inside the body we share, and I’m utterly clueless as to why this is happening.

Just then, my eyes close briefly, and the courtyard fades slightly as my senses sharpen.

I feel it again. That strange tension.

Like invisible fingers brushing against the edges of Nagari’s magic.

Something is here. Something that does not belong here.

My breathing grows slower, and Koda notices immediately.

"Eli, What is it?" He questions, and I gulp.

"I... don’t know," I whisper in exhaustion.

That’s the frustrating part. The irritating truth.

I can’t see anything, and neither can I name the threat.

I just know something is wrong.

And the feeling isn’t coming from me. It’s coming from deeper.

From the same part of me that once stood alone in this world.

From the part of me that remembers things I never lived.

Elien’s awareness moves quietly beneath my thoughts.

Alert... Searching.

The baby reacts again with another hard kick, and I inhale sharply.

It’s almost like she and Elien can sense some trouble and I’m the only blind one. The fool who doesn’t understand what the hell is going on.

Zephan steps closer now, and sits carefully beisde me.

"What are you sensing?" He probes, and I open my eyes to look at him.

"I’m not sensing," I say quietly. "I’m reacting." I note, and Koda’s hand tightens further around mine in worry.

"To what?" He asks defensively, and I shake my head slowly in pure exhaustion.

"I wish I knew." I reply, and once again, Koda and Zephan share a look.

The tension builds in my chest again. Stronger this time.

My fingers curl into the fabric of my robe, as I feel something presses against the edges of my awareness.

Like a shadow moving across the surface of water.

Then—It happens.

The world around me fades away.

Not physically... But inside my mind.

For a brief moment, my awareness slips like it did when Asa showed me Gravemaw... but this feels... different.

The garden disappears. The sunlight vanishes, and suddenly I’m looking somewhere else.

I’m staring at a gate. At Nagari’s outer wall.

The guards stand in their usual formation, but something about the scene feels... wrong.

A figure moves through the crowd of travellers entering the city.

A man dressed in dark clothing.

His face is hidden beneath a hood, but the moment he steps across the threshold of Nagari’s gate... something cold spreads through my chest.

Danger.

The word pulses silently through my mind as I watch him vanishes into Ngari’s borders.

The vision shatters, and I gasp sharply as the garden rushes back into focus.

Zephan immdeiatley wraps his arms around me in worry.

"Elián." Koda calls in panic as he quickly sits on my other side.

"I saw someone," I breathe as I look up a Zephan, and his eyes narrow.

"Who?" He questions, and goosebumps rise along my skin.

"I don’t know." I answer.

My heart is pounding now, but the certainty solidifies itself.

"That person shouldn’t be here." I add, and my baby kicks again.

Violently.

She was teh one who gave me the vision. She wanted me to see.

Koda’s hand moves immediately back to my stomach, and I look up at him with fear builing in my herat and tears building in my eyes.

"It’s alright," he murmurs softly, but the tension in his voice betrays him.

Zephan looks toward the palace walls, and something in his posture changes.

Alert... Calculating.

"How long have you been feeling this?" he asks me quietly, and I swallow.

"All day." I answer, and he exchanges a glance with Koda.

Neither of them speaks for a moment. Then Zephan straightens.

"I’ll speak with Mother. We’ll increase the palace patrols." He says, and Koda nods.

"I’ll speak to the outer gate commanders as well." He adds, and I swallow slowly.

I don’t know if theure reacting this way because they beleive me, or because they just wnat me to relax.

I need them to believe me...

"I’m not imagining this." I try to convince them, and Koda meets my gaze.

"I know." He says, with his voice is steady. Certain.

Our baby shifts again beneath his hand.

Still restless. Still reacting.

Something is inside Nagari.

It just crossed the city gates. It feels dangerously close.

And whatever it is... I feel like it’s coming for me.