Present Day...
The room they were given was just as lavish as the others in the Western Chieftain's palace.
At the center of it all was one, singular bed. Raika was already sprawled across it.
She had stripped off her travel armor. Her arm draped lazily over the side as she tilted her head to the side and stared at Veyn, who was standing stiffly near the high-backed luxury seat by the fireplace. It was a crescent couch so lavish it might as well have been a throne for the tired. He sighed once, wordlessly, and lowered himself onto it with the silence of a man resigned to disappointment.
"Of course you took the bed."
Raika let out a low hum, rolling onto her back.
"Didn't realize you suddenly liked cuddling."
"I don't. I just think, maybe, after three days of killing monsters, I deserve a bed that doesn't curve my spine."
She smirked but didn't respond immediately. Her eyes trailed the ceiling, counting the etchings and glyphs until her voice dropped lower.
"I'm going to join Insignia."
Silence followed.
"…What?"
She turned her head toward him now, hair spilling over the silken pillow, her expression soft but not apologetic.
"I said, I'm going to join Insignia. Obsidian gave me the offer."
"You—you're joking."
"I'm not."
Her voice was calm. Too calm. That made it worse. Veyn stood up slowly from the seat, his fists clenched.
"You mean her army? The one that answers to him? To Vastarael?"
Raika sat up slowly on the bed, her legs crossed, her eyes steady and almost sad.
"Yes. Obsidian can recruit anyone but only if they're loyal to Master Vastarael. And I am. She says I have potential."
"Why?"
His voice cracked, not from volume, but from the splinter forming in his chest. She looked down at her hands.
"Because… for all my life, after our village burned, after our kin scattered, I ran with you. For you. I fought for you for years. Those Mate Choosing Rituals… do you know what they did to me? How many I fought off just to delude others that I'm yours? And all you ever did was hide behind me."
Veyn's eyes trembled, his voice shaking as he stepped forward.
"Don't say that. You chose those Rituals! I never asked you to—!"
"No, you didn't. You didn't ask for it, but you let me. You let me destroy myself just so you wouldn't have to dirty your hands. You're just scared "
His hands were trembling now.
"You're saying this is about him, aren't you? Vastarael. Because he's powerful. Because he's what, beautiful? You'd throw away everything, everything, for someone we barely know?!"
Raika stood up from the bed, her feet silent against the velvet carpet. She faced him squarely now, eye to eye, and there was no laughter in her face anymore.
"Yes."
He flinched.
"Because he's not just beautiful, Veyn. He's honest. He knows what he is. He doesn't apologize for his strength. He doesn't cower behind people who love him. He carries them."
"And you think I don't? You think I haven't protected you? That I haven't—?!"
"You're weak, Veyn!"
The words burst from her lips like fire.
"You're weak and you don't change. You're so damn proud, you'd rather waste away than admit you needed help. You always relied on me to fight, to plan, to live. Even during the Ritual, you stood there while I bled for you!"
Veyn recoiled. The crack was no longer just in his voice. It was in his soul.
"You—" he choked out, pain seeping in, "you said you wanted to—"
"I did, because I thought you were worth it. I thought you'd grow. That we'd grow. But you stayed in the ashes, Veyn. And now I'm standing in fire."
They were both panting now. Her fists were clenched. His eyes were wet but not from tears. From fury. From helplessness. Raika's voice softened but it was the kind of softness that cut.
"We're not children anymore. We're not the frightened Krepsuna cubs hiding in the wreckage of our homes. You can't follow me where I'm going. And I won't follow you backward anymore."
She stepped away from him, back toward the bed.
"It's time we went our separate ways. And you… You were never strong enough to walk beside me. And I can't believe it took me an entire army and a man with two daughters to realize that."
She lay back down, facing away from him. Veyn stood in the middle of the room, alone in a palace of gold. Surrounded by warmth, but colder than ever.
°°°°°°°°
The dim rising sun was just beginning to crest over the stone skyline of the Western City, painting the frost-bitten streets in golden hues that shimmered against the rooftops. And atop one of those towers stood Veyn, arms crossed, wind cutting against his clothes, his eyes locked onto the streets far below.
He wasn't hiding. Not exactly. But he sure as hell wasn't down there either.
Below, the rhythmic cadence of hundreds of footsteps echoed like a drumbeat across the courtyard, across the alleyways, and through the plaza stones. Insignia was awake. Six hundred soldiers strong were moving like shadows through the early fog. This was their warm-up and even this was terrifying.
Every morning, they flooded the city like a living tide. The citizens—those few who still slept—woke to the sight of gods disguised as mortals. There was not a single weak body among them. Men with carved muscles like marble statues. Women with eyes that could kill and lips that didn't smile unless it was in victory.
Veyn watched in quiet tension. There, among the sleek-footed assassins, was Raika.
Her hair was tied back, her legs moving with perfect balance, arms locked to her sides. She ran like she belonged there. Each time her foot hit the cobblestone, it was with the certainty of a blade that knew exactly where to land.
Veyn swallowed something thick in his throat.
"Beautiful view, isn't it?"
The voice came from his side. Veyn turned, startled.
Vastarael Richinaria stood beside him, arms crossed, white hair tousled a bit by the breeze, his cloak swaying gently behind him. He didn't look like a man who ruled kingdoms or led armies. He looked… natural.
"…What are you doing here?"
Vastarael glanced sideways, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.
"Didn't expect anyone else to be up here, let alone you."
Veyn didn't answer.
Vastarael moved slowly and sat on the stone ledge beside him, one leg dangling over the side, the other bent lazily. He stared down at the running soldiers for a long moment, before his eyes landed unmistakably on Raika.
"You're having issues, huh."
"Why do you care?"
"I do. Raika's joined Insignia. That makes her one of us. All she has to do is take the vow but she's not ready yet. She still needs to prove her worth."
"She already has worth."
"I know that. But she doesn't. Not yet. And not to herself."
Veyn turned his eyes away, jaw clenched tight.
"Why'd you take her in?"
"I didn't."
Veyn blinked.
"I never interfere with what my soldiers do unless when it comes to combat and battles. Obsidian chose her, not me. And Obsidian doesn't make mistakes."
"…So you had nothing to do with it."
"No. But let's not pretend like that's what's bothering you."
Veyn's jaw tightened.
"You're not angry she joined Insignia. You're angry that she doesn't need you anymore. She doesn't look back when she runs. You noticed that, didn't you?"
"Shut up..."
"You've always been close to her," Vastarael continued, ignoring the request. "Always hiding behind her. Even when you first met me you stayed behind her. Afraid to speak, afraid to breathe wrong. You didn't meet danger with a sword. You met it with silence."
"I was trying to protect her—"
"No, you weren't. You were protecting yourself. You were scared. And now? Even now? You're up here watching while she proves herself down there."
His words cut like razors. Veyn didn't answer. He couldn't. Vastarael sighed, folding his hands over his knee, his voice softening just slightly.
"She followed you for years. Fought for you. Gave everything for you. But love isn't just standing next to someone. Love is standing with them. And right now? You're alone."
Veyn looked at him sharply, blood draining from his face. Vastarael gave him a sideways glance.
"I never said I loved her."
"You didn't have to. I've always had a knack for these things. You look at her like how a cold starving man looks at fire."
Veyn looked down, shame sinking into him.
"You don't have to be weak forever. But you have to choose whether you stay this way. You want to spend your life watching her from towers? Watching her from the sidelines? Or do you want to stand beside her again?"
Veyn stared at him, raw and confused.
"How?"
"I have a plan."
"What kind of plan?"
"One that'll prove if Raika still cares for you and if you're worthy of standing next to her. But it will hurt. It will scare you. It'll take everything you've been running from. And it'll put you right in the middle of what's coming."
He stood then, his cloak fluttering behind him, wind coiling through the curls of his white hair.
"But it starts with one thing."
Veyn looked up.
"Stop being a coward."
The words hit harder than the wind. More than any blow he'd ever taken in battle.
"Alright. What do I need to do?"
Vastarael smiled faintly.
"Get dressed. You're going to help me stop the Ice Rain."
"…That's it?"
"No. That's just step one."
Veyn watched him fall down and lad perfectly on the ground, breath catching in his chest. For the first time in years, someone saw through him.
And maybe, just maybe, that someone was giving him the chance to become the man he should've been all along.
Someone strong enough to stand beside Raika. And someone bold enough to finally deserve her. She had proved him numerous times when she fought for him in the Mate Choosing Rituals.
Now, it was his turn.