The storm had passed, but the world still felt wrung out. Sunlight slanted into the inn like it wasn't ready to commit, catching motes of dust mid-float. Rheia sat at the long table downstairs, her fingers trailing over parchment, sketches, sigils, fragments of mirror-script only she could decipher.
Solene watched from the stairwell, one hand resting on the banister as though debating whether to enter or disappear. She was barefoot, still sleep-warm, her fire quiet for once. Rheia didn't look up—yet she felt her. Like heat curling near skin before the flame actually touches.
"You read it?" Solene finally asked, stepping into the room.
Rheia nodded once. "It's layered. Your mother didn't seal a curse. She built...choices."
Solene crossed her arms, unease flickering behind her eyes. "I hate choices."
Rheia glanced up, eyes sharper than morning. "Because they make you vulnerable?"
"No," Solene said, stepping closer. "Because they make you want things. And wanting means you're willing to lose."
They stood on opposite ends of the table now. Rheia's reflection shone faintly in a shard of mirror between them—fractured, like the versions of herself she kept hidden.
"You should eat," Rheia said softly, almost like it was a distraction. "You summoned too much flame last night. Your pulse is uneven."
Solene smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You always notice things like that. But never say what they mean."
Rheia looked down. "Meaning invites attachment."
Solene circled the table slowly, like a flame that didn't want to catch yet. "And attachment terrifies you."
Silence.
Then, almost too soft to hear: "Yes."
She reached Rheia's side. Close. Their shoulders nearly brushed. "I don't want to terrify you," Solene whispered. "But I do want you to see me."
"I see you," Rheia said. "Every time the mirror stirs, it shows me futures where your fire either saves me—or consumes everything I am."
Solene's breath was warm now, just shy of touching skin. "And which one do you want?"
Rheia closed her eyes.
That was the moment neither of them answered.