Elien;

I don’t know how long I’ve been talking. Narrating my whole life’s story isn’t something I’ve ever done with anyone.

The truths, horrors... some of the things I have said tonight are things even Elian is just discovering.

But for Queen Selthia to understand the kind of threat Balinar is, I had to do this. I had to tell her... everything. The way I was raised without a mother... How I hardly saw sunlight in the first 18 years of my life... the way I got tangled with Balinar...

However, I left out all the parts that had to do with Lioran because I am not ready to face or revisit them.

"I’ve managed to steer clear of him, this entire time... until this morning," I conclude, and when I look back up at Queen Selthia, her face is red.

Not flushed in the way it may be in a blush, but red—the unmistakable colour of barely contained anger. I’ve never seen her like this...

She looks like she’s about to break something or someone in two.

"And he— He spoke directly into your mind," she says, and I nod from the edge of her bed where I’m sitting.

"Yeah," I reply, and I notice her jaw clenching tighter.

I need to somehow lighten the mood.

"Which, for the record, I don’t appreciate. If he wanted to say hello, he could’ve picked literally any other method." I quickly add, but her lips don’t even twitch.

Her mood has completely flipped. I didn’t think telling her the horrors of my past would get her so upset...

I would have understood if she got worried or started panicking. But anger? This... raw and unbridled??

"What do you expect? She did tell you she sees you as her son, did she not? What mother would be okay after hearing all the horrible things you went through?" Elian chimes in my mind, and my gaze drops to my hands.

For so long, I have forced myself to believe they weren’t that bad, because believing that is what allowed me to live with myself. But their reactions now...

"And before this, you said you could feel him?" Queen Selthia asks, and I look back up at her. I nod once.

"I did," I admit.

"Before today... Before the voice. Something was off. Like..." I hesitate, searching for the right word, then settle on the one that fits best.

"Like I was being watched," I whisper, and her gaze sharpens.

"The worst part is, it doesn’t feel like I was being watched from a distance," I continue, with my tone tightening slightly as I speak.

I cross my arms again, grounding myself as I speak.

"I tried to ignore it. I thought maybe it was just me being... me. Worrying over—" I begin again, but she cuts me off.

"That wasn’t you, Elien", she says immediately, and I blink at her.

"That was him getting closer. You should have come to me sooner." She says, like a mother tired of her toddler, and I tilt my head a bit in confusion.

I study her carefully, and behind those beautiful, golden eyes... I see her mind race. I watch the way she starts piecing things together, the way she aligns the things I just said with something she already suspected.

"So he’s after both of you?" She asks slowly, and I shake my head.

"No. This isn’t about Elian. He wants me. But Elian and our baby could get hurt in the process. I don’t want any harm to come to them." I reply, and I see the effect those words have on her.

"Including you." She says flatly, and I stare at her in confusion.

"He will not hurt either of you three," she adds, and I freeze.

It’s not a promise. It’s a decision.

I tilt my head slightly, and a bitter smile finds me.

"I’d like to believe that," I reply, softer now, but still edged.

"But he’s already here. And he already found me." I remind her, but that doesn’t seem to shake her.

If anything, it seems to harden her resolve.

"We will deal with him," she says, and I raise a brow.

We?

I don’t comment on it...

I reach up, hooking my fingers lightly under the collar of my robe and pulling it aside to get some air.

The necklace I’ve been wearing since the day she gifted me slips out, and I stare down at it.

Two serpents. One blue, the other brown... Both intertwined.

I look back up at Queen Selthía, and her gaze drops to it immediately, and something in her expression shifts—softens.

"You’re still wearing it," she says quietly, and I raise a brow.

"Of course I am. You gave it to me. I’m not exactly the type to throw away gifts from people I like." I reply, and finally, that earns me a small, real smile.

"There are many people you like?" she asks lightly, and I pretend to think about it.

"...A very selective list," I admit, and her smile lingers for a moment longer. Then it fades as the weight of everything returns.

"That necklace," she says, getting off her table, which she was sitting on, and walking over to me.

"It was not just a gift." She says, and I blink once.

"Oh? And here I was thinking you were the type to give something purely decorative... Just for the fun of it." I tease, but she ignores me.

She lowers herself in front of me and gently picks the pendant off my skin. She runs her thumb over the serpents and looks up so our eyes meet.

"This necklace is a charm," she says, and I pause. "A protective charm. Carefully woven with my magic." She adds, and I let out a quiet breath.

"So I’ve been walking around with hidden defences this whole time?" I question flatly, and she smiles before reaching up and pinching my cheek.

"Yes." She replies, and I scoff. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Good to know... But I would’ve appreciated a warning." I reply, and she huffs.

"You didn’t need one. It was doing its job regardless. That’s why Balinar could only brush against your consciousness but not physically get to you." She explains, and I glance down at it briefly. Then I look back at her.

"You knew something like this could happen," I note, and she sighs as she gets up and sits on the bed beside me.

"I knew something would," she corrects. "Not what. Not when. But enough to prepare." She justifies, and I huff softly.

"Bad things always happen to good people," I say, and her gaze holds mine again.

"Yes. They do." She agrees quietly. There’s something in the way she says it.

Something that settles deeper than the words themselves.

"And that’s why you gave it to me," I add, and she nods once.

"That’s one of the reasons."

I swallow lightly, my grip going to and tightening just a fraction against the pendant.

For a moment... neither of us speaks. Then she does.

"Keep it close." She whispers, and I look up at her.

The look in her eyes is like she’s scared she may not be enough to protect me. And that worries me a lot.

She’s hiding something. But what is it? What’s going on?

I’m very sure it had something to do with the horror that happened at the field tonight. Does... that have something to do with me??

Was that Balinar as well?

I hate to say it... But I’m scared. What if... what if Balinar actually gets to me?

He doesn’t seem to be working alone anymore. Cause... How did he break into Nagari? How did he reach me without physically being there?

Why do I suddenly feel like I’ve been thrown into the middle of a battle arena, and this time... I’m not going to win.

Will the people I love have to watch me be taken away... Will... will Balinar drag me back to hell with him??