Kialan
"How is he, Selena?" my mother asked.
"He's doing well," Selena replied. "The impact was severe—he even coughed up blood—but he's surprisingly stable. Your boy's tougher than he looks, Viana."
My mother nodded, though concern still clouded her face.
Selena—my mom's trusted doctor—turned to look at me with narrowed eyes. Her voice was casual, but her gaze wasn't.
"Is there something you're not telling us? Like… an ability to heal yourself, perhaps?"
I blinked, a strange thought prickling at the back of my mind. What was she implying?
But my mom asked before I could,
"What do you mean?"
Selena quickly looked away and addressed her instead. "Nothing. Just asking."
Then she turned on her heel and left the room, mumbling something about checking on Cosmos.
My mother came over and sat gently on the edge of my bed. She pulled the sheets over me and rested a hand on my forehead.
"Rest, dear. Someone will come for you when it's time for the ceremony."
I nodded. She tucked me in, kissed my head softly, and then left the room.
I lay there, turning over for what felt like fifteen minutes, but sleep wouldn't come. My thoughts were racing.
I kept replaying what happened on the training ground.
When Cosmos lunged at me, I wasn't prepared. The force of his attack—brutal, unrelenting. One moment, I thought I had my hand around his neck. The next… something soft. Strange. It wasn't skin or muscle—it felt like I was clutching cloth or a cushion of air. I panicked. What the hell was that? I stumbled back, off-balance. He used my hesitation to drive a blow straight into my chest.
Thank the stars Mr. Davey stepped in when he did.
But honestly… I don't get Cosmos's hostility. Where does all that anger come from? If he's so powerful, why couldn't he save the Sea Beast?
And then there's Liam.
He intrigues me the most.
I found myself smiling as I shook my head. I really needed to sleep.
Still, sleep refused to come.
My thoughts drifted to Liam's calm voice.
"Kialan, are you okay?"
I gave him a look. I was bleeding and broken, and he was asking if I was okay? But somehow… he understood.
He knelt to my level on the ground.
"Sorry," he said quietly, then took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the blood from my mouth.
Timid Liam, doing a nursing job when he couldn't even save a dying ant. And seriously—who brings a handkerchief to a training ground?
But he surprised me again.
He looked around, cautious. Then he placed one hand over my chest and dropped something into my mouth with the other. Instantly, the pain eased. Just like that.
I looked at him, questioning. He shook his head and whispered,
"Don't tell anyone."
I don't know if Dr. Selena sensed it or not.
His voice lingered in my ears, calm and steady like the whispering presence of that tiny tree from the my first day here.
"Davey is coming—and remember your promise."
And then, finally, I drifted off to sleep.
I don't know how long I slept before Lydia came to help me prepare for the ceremony. Strangely, she was lenient today. Not a single sharp word. Just quiet efficiency, as if she knew this moment needed softness.
"You may enter," the guard said as he opened the door to the ceremony hall.
I stepped in. The door closed behind me with a soft click that felt heavier than it should have.
My mother spotted me and gestured for me to come forward.
The room was smaller than the grand hall we'd had dinner in, but it matched in luxury—polished stone floors, golden trim, faint incense in the air. Symbols of the three bloodlines were etched into the pillars, and the warm candlelight danced gently across the ceiling. Yet something about the atmosphere was different. Empowering. Intimidating. Strangely intimate.
Today has been something else.
I moved forward slowly. Quietly. At the center of the room stood a medium-sized pulpit, around which all three families were gathered. Their robes shimmered under the soft glow, faces composed, unreadable.
I felt their eyes on me before I even dared to lift my own.
And then—the silence swallowed everything as I stepped into place.
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TO BE CONTINUED...
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