The night after the encounter with Lysara's spirit, Aelia did not sleep.
Or maybe she did.
Maybe it was something in between — a space the Hollow Realm carved just for her. A place where past lives whispered through the walls and memories wore new faces.
---
✧
She stood in a corridor she did not recognize, and yet... she knew every step.
The marble was polished, glowing faintly beneath her bare feet. The air smelled of lavender and smoke. Gold thread lined the velvet drapes. Moonlight poured in through arched windows.
She wasn't wearing her usual soft gray gown.
She was in crimson.
Heavy. Embroidered. The fabric clung to her like ceremony. Her fingers bore rings she had never owned. Her neck, a pendant with a burning black stone.
And ahead of her — a door.
Tall. Familiar.
She pushed it open.
---
✧
Inside: a bedroom soaked in candlelight.
And at the center of it — a man with his back to her.
He stood by the fire, shadows dancing across his bare shoulders. She knew the curve of his spine. The scar at his side.
Kael.
No. Not Kael.
Not here.
Azrik.
His name rose in her mind like breath. Not learned — remembered.
And then he turned.
"Lysara," he said softly, "you're late."
The voice went through her like thunder.
But Aelia didn't speak. Couldn't. Her lips weren't her own.
She walked to him, hands trembling.
He reached for her.
And she slapped him.
---
The sound echoed like a scream.
He didn't flinch.
"I told you what the deal would cost," he said.
"You lied," her voice said — but it was Lysara's voice now, laced with fury and heartbreak. "You told me we were saving the realm. You didn't say we were killing us."
Azrik's face twisted. "I chose power to keep our world from crumbling."
"You chose power over me."
There were tears in her eyes. Not Aelia's. Lysara's.
"Tell me," Lysara whispered. "Tell me you didn't love me."
Azrik stepped forward. He cupped her face. His thumb brushed away a tear. He leaned in—
And kissed her.
It was not soft.
It was desperate.
A kiss meant to hold together what had already broken.
When he pulled away, he whispered, "I loved you more than the world."
Lysara stared at him.
Then said, cold as death, "Then you'll live long enough to regret it."
---
✧
Aelia woke up screaming.
Kael was already at her bedside.
His hand cupped the back of her head, pulling her close as she gasped for breath. Her nightgown clung to her damp skin, and her heart was pounding like it would break through her ribs.
"I saw her," she choked. "I was her."
Kael's grip tightened.
He closed his eyes. "The palace is starting to remember."
"So am I."
He didn't answer.
Aelia pulled back. Her voice was shaking, but her eyes were clear. "You weren't always cold, were you?"
Kael looked at her then — truly looked. As if the man from that dream was still inside him.
"No," he said. "I was once warm enough to be burned."
---
✧
Later that night, she stood alone in the corridor.
The air was still.
But just before she turned back to her room, she heard it:
A whisper.
Soft. Gentle. Cruel.
> "You remember now, don't you?"
She turned.
No one was there.
But a rose lay on the floor.
Fresh. Red. Perfect.
---