Chapter 6: The Ghost in Her Eyes
Aurenya's POV
The estate was unusually alive.
Not in the haunted, creeping way I had grown used to, but in a flurry-of-servants, clanging-pots, and floral-scented linens kind of way. Curtains were replaced. Silver polished. A full roast was being basted in the kitchen by no less than three cooks, all of whom looked like they'd been threatened with exile if it wasn't perfect.
And it all traced back to one thing:
Seraphine was coming home.
"A whole army wouldn't have stirred this much fuss," Elara muttered under her breath as she handed me a cup of tea.
"She's been gone for three years," I replied, though my voice felt distant. "Aunt Liora wants everything perfect."
Elara gave me a look. "Perfect enough to give every servant a panic attack."
I sipped the tea, trying to quell the nerves that hadn't left since Tyren's report. Liora's meeting in the woods still played in the background of my thoughts like a cursed song stuck on repeat. Who had she met? Why burn the letter? What danger had found its way to our doorstep now?
I didn't have time to dwell on it. Because Seraphine would be here soon.
My younger cousin—no, sister in all but blood—was returning from her studies in Lerenhold, a kingdom famed for its elite academies and impenetrable snow. Aunt Liora's only child. She had been sent away when she was just sixteen, all glowing skin, fierce wit, and arms that wrapped around my waist whenever she saw me.
She had also died in my previous life.
Just like Elara.
The memory hit me like ice poured down the spine. I had been so consumed by Zevran and the court, by betrayal and poisoned tea and cold marble floors, that I hadn't remembered—hadn't even thought to ask.
Elara, who had shielded me with her body when the assassins came. Elara, whose last words had been my name, whispered like a fading prayer. I had watched the life drain from her eyes. Powerless. Broken.
And Seraphine... Gods. Seraphine.
She was so young. Too young. She had been caught in a web spun by vipers, punished for knowing too much when all she ever wanted was to belong. A knife in the dark. A scream that shattered my world. Her body found on the banks of the Frostmere River, eyes wide in horror.
The grief had swallowed me whole. The guilt had built a throne in my chest and crowned itself king.
And yet—
They're alive.
This life had given me a second chance. A gift wrapped in blood and mystery. I wasn't going to waste it.
Not this time.
I wouldn't let anything happen to them. Not while I breathed.
Because they were the only real family I had left.
---
The carriage pulled into the courtyard just before midday. I stood on the steps beside Liora, who looked every inch the proud mother, her dark violet gown sweeping the stone like a queen at court. Her gloved hands were clenched tighter than they should have been, betraying nerves beneath her mask.
When the door opened, the world slowed.
Seraphine stepped out wearing a soft blue cloak trimmed with pearl stitching, her golden-brown curls tumbling down her back, face flushed from travel. Her eyes—those luminous hazel eyes—scanned the estate with wonder and a flicker of something sharper. Recognition. Memory.
And just like that, the breath left my lungs.
She looked exactly the same. As if the years hadn't touched her. As if death hadn't claimed her once in a future no one else remembered.
"Aurenya!" she cried, a grin blooming like spring on her lips.
I managed to smile before she launched herself into my arms.
The hug nearly knocked me off the steps. Her arms were tight around my shoulders, her cheek pressed against mine. Warmth. Life. It was almost too much.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," she laughed, drawing back just enough to study me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Maybe I have."
She tilted her head, frowning slightly. "You look different. Not bad, just… like something heavy's sitting behind your eyes."
I gave her a tight smile. "We have a lot to catch up on."
She nudged me playfully. "Then let's get to it. I want to hear everything. Every terrible palace scandal and secret midnight confession."
I smiled again, but it didn't reach my heart.
Because I had more secrets than I could ever tell.
---
We spent the next hour in the sitting room, sipping chilled elderflower wine and eating sweet biscuits while she recounted all the latest gossip from Lerenhold. Elara joined us eventually, offering Seraphine a glass and sliding me a subtle look—Are you okay?—to which I offered a near-invisible nod.
Inside, I wasn't okay.
Inside, my soul felt like glass stretched too thin.
But they were here. Alive.
And that was enough to hold me together.
For now.
Seraphine's stories were wild and funny, full of clever professors and disastrous love affairs, duels over poetry and midnight snow rides with stolen wine. She spoke like someone who had lived brightly, freely. As if she hadn't once died.
I watched her every move, every flick of her hand, every shift of her expression. Noticing things I hadn't before. The way her smile never fully reached her eyes. The way she tensed when certain names came up—nobles from the north, students from the political court.
Was there danger still chasing her even now?
Elara kept stealing glances too, sipping her wine more slowly than usual. She'd always been protective of Seraphine. And me.
I didn't deserve them.
But I'd fight for them anyway.
Because this time was different.
This time, I remembered how it ended.
This time, I knew what to watch for.
And I knew, without a doubt, that I would never again be a bystander to their deaths.
---
Later that evening, after the estate had settled and Seraphine had gone to rest, I sat alone at the foot of my bed, fingers knotted in the hem of my gown.
I had failed them in the last life.
Elara, poisoned by a cup meant for me. Loyal to the end. Always shielding me from the consequences of my own blindness.
Seraphine, punished for knowing a truth she hadn't even meant to uncover. Used as a pawn. Killed like a message sent in blood.
I had lived. Somehow. And in this life, that felt like a curse and a gift. A haunting and a hope.
But this time, things were already changing.
This time, I wouldn't wait until it was too late.
This time, I would protect them.
Because if I lost them again, I wouldn't survive it.
And if fate tried to repeat itself—
I would be ready.
Even if I had to burn the whole kingdom to the ground.
---
The night air was cold when I stepped out onto the balcony, wrapping my shawl tighter around my shoulders. The stars above glittered like shattered promises. I stared up at them, trying to find answers in constellations that had never cared.
Seraphine's laugh still echoed in the halls. Elara's footsteps padded softly in the corridor below. They were here. With me.
And I had a chance now. A real chance.
The threads of fate had rewoven themselves, and I had landed in the eye of the storm with memories no one else held. Knowledge was power. And love? Love was war.
They were my heart.
My light.
And I would protect them.
Even if it cost me everything.
Even if it broke me.
Because in a world filled with ghosts and shadows, they were the only truth I had left.
—To be continued—