Kai had fallen asleep while holding me in his arms, his grip protective and almost desperate. I could tell from the dark circles under his eyes and the tension still in his brow—he hadn't been sleeping well, not since he lost me because of Mother's interference. It was as if, now that he had me back, he was terrified it might all slip away again.
But even as I lay beside him, something inside me stirred uncomfortably. A cold knot of unease twisted in my stomach. I couldn't explain it, not fully. This was supposed to feel right—being here, with him—but instead, a sense of wrongness clung to me like a shadow I couldn't shake.
Was it guilt? Doubt? A memory just out of reach?
As I shifted slightly, intending to get up and clear my head, Kai let out a small sound and tightened his arms around me. His voice was barely above a whisper, broken with sleep and something rawer.
"Don't leave me again, Anna… please."
I froze, my breath caught between heartbreak and hesitation.
How could I leave someone who clearly needed me so deeply? And yet, why did it feel like a part of me was already slipping away?
Kai's whispered plea echoed in my ears, but it was the ache in his voice that struck something deeper—something splintered and hidden. My eyes stared up at the ceiling, but they weren't really seeing it anymore. The room blurred around the edges, growing heavy, distant… and then, the darkness pulled me under.
I wasn't asleep.
I was somewhere else.
The scent of burning wood filled my lungs. The sky above was painted in thick, roiling clouds the color of blood and ash. Around me stood a once-beautiful city now reduced to flame and ruin. Screams echoed from somewhere in the distance—men, women, children. All of it felt horribly real.
And then I saw her.
She wore my face.
Her armor was stained with soot and something darker. Her eyes were glowing with power—and rage. She stood atop the steps of a shattered palace, raising a blade I knew I had never touched in this life… and yet my soul recoiled from it.
A name tore from the crowd—"Anaria the Severed."
Me. No, not me. But still… me.
She turned her gaze toward me, this version of myself—this queen or monster or something in between. And she spoke, her voice like a thousand echoes at once.
"You don't belong in his arms, not while this truth is buried. You are running from what you did… from what we are."
I stepped back instinctively, heart pounding. "What are you talking about?"
Her smile was hollow. "He doesn't know what you gave up. What you destroyed."
And with a flash of firelight, she vanished—leaving only that cursed blade behind, plunged into the earth and humming with memory.
I sat up quickly just as a knock came at the door. Kai stirred awake beside me, still groggy, and pulled me gently back down into his arms. He pressed a soft kiss to my lips before calling out, "Yes? What is it?"
The door opened, and a woman stepped inside. She wore something similar to Kai's clothing—though hers was styled to reveal her long legs and a plunging neckline that left little to the imagination. The moment her eyes landed on me, she froze in the doorway, her expression shifting from surprise to fury.
"What the fuck is she doing here?" she snapped at Kai, voice sharp like a blade. "If she wasn't with you, I'd have killed her the moment I saw her—after what her kind did to us in the past."
The woman's words hit me like a slap. My body went rigid in Kai's arms, heart pounding. Her kind? Kill me? I didn't know what she meant—but the venom in her voice felt deeply personal. Ancient.
I sat up again, this time not to escape but to face her.
"What do you mean by 'my kind'?" I asked, my voice steady despite the chill crawling up my spine. "What did we do to you?"
The woman's eyes narrowed. Her jaw clenched as she took a step forward, her body tense with restrained anger. "You don't even remember, do you? Of course not. Your kind forgets their sins while the rest of us carry the scars. Our people bled because of your bloodline. Because of you."
I opened my mouth, but no words came. My mind flashed to the nightmare—the burning city, the screams, the name Anaria the Severed—and a sudden nausea bloomed in my gut.
"Enough, Selene," Kai said, rising from the bed and placing himself between us. His voice was low but commanding. "She's not the enemy—not anymore. If you raise your weapon against her, you'll answer to me."
Selene scoffed, her gaze flicking between us. "You're blinded, Kai. You always were when it came to her." She pointed at me with a shaking hand. "She carries the blood of the Severed One. You think it's all gone, but it isn't. That power still sleeps inside her—and when it wakes, we'll all pay for it."
I felt like the room tilted for a second. Severed One... My vision swam with flashes of that fiery memory, of my other self and the cursed blade.
"I don't understand," I whispered. "I never wanted to hurt anyone. I didn't even know..."
Selene's laugh was bitter. "That's the dangerous part. You don't know. But the past doesn't care about your innocence. It only cares about what's buried—and what's waiting to rise."
The tension in the room lingered long after Selene stormed out, her boots echoing like accusations down the corridor.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor, the name Anaria the Severed repeating in my mind like a cursed mantra. That burning city. The blade. The other me.
"Kai," I said, not looking at him, "what did she mean?"
He was silent for a long moment before walking over and sitting beside me, his arm bushing mine. His voice, when it came, was quiet—too quiet.
"She meant the legend. The one everyone still fears. Anaria the Severed was a queen from the old bloodlines—your bloodline. She nearly destroyed the world during the War of Sundering. Her power was... unmatched. Uncontrolled. She didn't just break kingdoms, Anna. She broke time."
I turned to him slowly, heart pounding. "So she was real?"
He nodded grimly. "Very real. Some believe her spirit still lingers in her bloodline, waiting to awaken. The signs are... unmistakable. The blade. The dreams. The pendant you wear. And now, you."
My breath caught. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't want it to be true," he admitted. "You're not her. I know you. I've fought beside you, loved you. But people like Selene—who lost family in the war she started—they don't see you. They see a ghost wrapped in a new name."
I stood up and began pacing, trying to process it all. "So what do we do? Wait until I lose control and become her? Let them kill me first, just in case?"
Kai rose too, stepping in front of me. "No. We find out the truth. If you are connected to Anaria, we need to understand how and why—and what can be done to sever that link before it consumes you."
"And Selene?" I asked. "She won't stop until I'm dead."
Kai hesitated. "She'll fall in line. I'll make sure of it. But don't trust her. Not fully. She may help us—but only because she wants to know if you're a threat. One slip, and she won't wait for my word to act."
I met his gaze. "Then we'd better not give her a reason."
He then got up and held out his hand toward me, saying, "Even if the people hate you, I will still stand by your side—no matter what happens to us. But for now, let's not worry about that. Let's just enjoy each other's company."
There was something in his eyes—unwavering, warm, a kind of loyalty I didn't know how to deserve. I stared at his outstretched hand for a moment, hesitating—not because I didn't want him, but because part of me still feared what I might become. What they said I could become.
Still, I reached for him.
He gently pushed me back onto the bed and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close until our bodies fit together like a memory I had forgotten but was meant to keep.
As he snuggled into me with a soft sigh, I closed my eyes and let myself breathe. For just this moment, I allowed the fear to fade, tucked away behind the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against my back. His warmth was a shield, even if it couldn't hold back everything.
But deep down, a voice still whispered: How long will he stand beside you if the truth comes to light? If you're not just the girl he loves—but the storm everyone fears?
I pressed my hand to his and laced our fingers together, as if the answer could be found in that touch.
Please, I thought. Just let this peace last a little longer.
Then Kai pressed a kiss to my neck, and in that moment, he summoned his magic—time itself seemed to pause around us, the world holding its breath. He gently flipped me over to face him, his eyes locked onto mine as he whispered, "You're just as beautiful as the last time you left me, Anna."
For a moment, I couldn't breathe. The look in his eyes—so full of longing and something close to pain—made my heart ache. I reached up, brushing a strand of hair from his face, trying to keep my voice steady despite the storm stirring inside me.
"I didn't want to leave you," I whispered back. "I never did. But everything... it was taken out of my hands."
His words warmed me, soothed something raw inside me, but they also made the guilt swell in my chest. I left him, whether by force or fate, and the way he looked at me now—as if I were the anchor that held him to this world—terrified me. Because I didn't know if I was strong enough to be that again.
Still, I leaned into his touch, my fingers trembling slightly as they rested against his chest.
Please don't let me hurt you, I thought. Not again. Not if there's even a piece of her still buried inside me.
But I didn't say it aloud. I just closed the distance between us and kissed him—softly, desperately—as if I could hold back the past, even for a little while longer.
His kiss deepened, and for a fleeting moment, everything else faded—the worry, the weight of destiny, the fear of what might come. In Kai's arms, I was just Anna. Not a cursed heir. Not a forgotten weapon. Just a girl in love with the boy she lost and found again.
But as his hand brushed over my skin, something sharp twisted inside me.
Not pain—memory.
The room around us began to blur. Not in the soft haze of passion, but like the edges of reality were unraveling. Kai's warmth remained, but it felt distant, like I was falling through him—through time itself.
And suddenly… I wasn't in the room anymore.
I stood at the edge of a battlefield. The sky above was fractured with thunder and crimson light. Smoke rolled across the scorched earth, and in the distance, towers fell like dying gods. My armor was black and gold, ornate, cruel-looking. My blade—her blade—was dripping with light that sizzled like fire and blood combined.
Bodies lay all around me.
I heard screams. Not from strangers. From him.
From Kai.
But it wasn't him—not the man in the bed beside me. This version wore royal armor, a crown cracked down the center. His face was younger. His eyes were full of betrayal.
"You promised me," he said, voice breaking. "Anaria, you swore—no more blood."
And I—no, she—smiled. Cold. Beautiful. Terrifying.
"I gave you peace," she said. "They chose to break it."
Then she turned her back to him.
I—Anna—tried to scream, tried to stop her, but I had no voice in the memory. I was trapped within her skin, forced to feel the weight of her choices, the thrill of power, the ache of love that had turned bitter and vengeful.
And then—light.
A blinding surge of it, and the memory shattered.
I gasped and bolted upright in bed, chest heaving, soaked in sweat. Kai sat up instantly, gripping my shoulders, panic in his eyes.
"Anna—? What happened? Talk to me!"
I looked at him, my breath shaking, the image of his younger self still burned into my vision.
"I saw her," I whispered. "I was her. And I think I hurt you… I think I killed you."
Kai's hands gripped my shoulders tighter for a moment, then softened. His brows furrowed, eyes scanning my face like he was afraid I might break apart in front of him.
"You saw her?" he asked carefully. "Anaria?"
I nodded, swallowing hard. "Not just saw her. I was her. I felt her thoughts… her rage… her power. It was like my soul had been hollowed out and filled with hers."
I looked down at my trembling hands, still feeling the phantom weight of the blade she held. "She stood on a battlefield. Everything was burning. You were there. Not you now, but… another you. She turned her back on you—and you looked at her like she'd just torn your heart out."
Kai's breath caught. His hands dropped to his lap as he leaned back, silent. The firelight cast a flicker of gold across his skin, but there was something hollow in his eyes now. Not anger—but recognition. Memory.
"I've dreamed of that moment," he said finally, his voice rough. "Since I was a boy. I didn't know what it meant. I thought it was just a nightmare passed down from my ancestors. A vision of the war. I never imagined…"
He looked at me again—really looked at me—and I saw the crack forming in his certainty.
"That you were her."
I reached for him instinctively, but he flinched—barely, but enough to make my chest ache.
"I'm not her, Kai," I whispered. "I swear to you. I didn't choose this."
He took a breath, forcing himself to stillness, like he was locking something deep away.
"I know you didn't," he said finally. "And I want to believe—more than anything—that you're not her now. But if what's inside you is waking up… we can't ignore it. We can't pretend it's not there."
Tears threatened at the edge of my vision. "Are you afraid of me?"
He hesitated. His silence answered more than words could.
"You are not your ancestor, Anaria!" Kai said firmly. "Anna, you are yourself. Yes, I might have lost you for a time—because of your mother—but never because of your bloodline. And the man you probably saw… that was my ancestor, Kael. He once swore to the woman he loved that he would protect her, but in the end… he betrayed her for another."
His voice faltered as the memories surfaced—pain etched deep in his eyes. It was clear the weight of the past still haunted him.
I didn't want to see him hurting like that. My chest tightened, not just from the emotion in his voice, but from the strange ache blooming behind my eyes. His words echoed through me like a distant bell—Kael… betrayal… another.
Then, the air around me shifted. The room blurred, and I felt a strange pull, as if my mind was being drawn inward.
The vision came suddenly.
I stood barefoot in a stone courtyard bathed in twilight, dressed in a flowing gown I did not recognize, yet it felt familiar—like it had once been mine. Before me stood Kael, regal and torn, his hands stained with blood, not from battle—but from betrayal. And there I was—Anaria—my past self, looking at him with eyes full of sorrow and disbelief.
"You said you'd never leave me," I heard my own voice speak from another lifetime, trembling but strong. "You said my soul was yours."
Kael stepped forward, torn, ashamed. "And it still is… but I was weak. I thought saving her would save us all. I didn't know it would cost you."
The vision cracked like glass, and I was yanked back into the present, gasping.
My hands trembled slightly, and I looked at Kai—not Kael—but the resemblance was undeniable. I could feel the war inside me between who I once was and who I am now.
But I wasn't Anaria. I was Anna.
And still… a part of her grief lived within me.
I turned to Kai, my breath still uneven, heart pounding from the fragments of a life not entirely mine—but not entirely separate either.
"I saw her," I whispered, my voice hoarse with emotion. "Anaria… me. And Kael. He betrayed her, Kai. He said he did it to save someone else, but it destroyed her. She trusted him. She loved him… and he broke her."
Kai's expression shifted—shocked at first, then solemn. His jaw tensed, and he stepped closer, his eyes searching mine like he was trying to read every flicker of memory dancing behind them.
"You saw it," he murmured, barely audible. "The past is bleeding through more often now. You're remembering her... everything she felt."
I nodded slowly. "But it wasn't just her grief—it was mine too. I felt it. Like it had always been there… waiting."
He reached out and gently cupped my cheek, his touch grounding me. "You are not her," he said, softer this time, but there was a tremble in his voice. "But she still lives through you. Just as Kael… lives through me."
We stood like that, suspended between lifetimes.
I wasn't sure if I was shaking from the cold of the memory or from something deeper—the realization that history, once again, had brought us face to face. But this time… I didn't know how it would end.
Kai's hand lingered against my cheek, but I could feel it—his fingers trembled slightly. Not from cold. From something buried far deeper.
"I've always been afraid," he said suddenly, his voice low and raw. "Afraid that I'd become him. That no matter what I chose… I'd hurt you the way Kael hurt Anaria."
His eyes dropped from mine, as if ashamed to let me see the shadow that crossed his face.
"I carry his blood. His memories are fragments in my dreams—regrets that don't belong to me, but still weigh on me like chains. I remember how he hesitated, how he made the wrong choice thinking it was for the right reason. And I wonder… if I'll be forced to make that same choice someday. If I'll fail you the way he failed her."
I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers with his to anchor us both.
"Kai," I said gently, "tell me what really happened. What did Kael do to her? To… me?"
He hesitated. A storm of old pain flickered across his face.
"He was promised to Anaria—body, soul, everything. But when war broke out, he was told that if he saved the life of another woman—someone with divine blood—the gods would spare the realm from destruction. He thought… if he sacrificed his bond with Anaria, even just once, he could save everyone. But the gods lied. The moment he turned away from her, even for a breath, the bond broke. The realm fell anyway."
"And Anaria?"
Kai's voice cracked. "She died thinking he chose someone else over her. That she meant nothing."
A silence hung between us like a blade.
I swallowed hard, my throat tight. "But you're not him, Kai."
He looked up, his eyes haunted. "Aren't I? What if fate tests me again? What if I fail you like he failed her?"
I leaned closer, pressing my forehead to his. "Then we fight fate together this time. You're not alone in this. I remember now—and I won't let us repeat what happened before."