MARKED BY FIRE, OWNED BY FATE

The kingdom was quiet.

Too quiet.

Not in the way it had been before the veil cracked, this silence felt alive. Like something in the air was waiting. Testing. Holding its breath.

Vireya stepped through the corridor barefoot, a silk wrap tossed over her shoulders, still warm from Kael's bed. Morning sun streamed through the arched windows, catching on dust motes and the soft shimmer of lingering magic that hadn't quite left the castle walls.

She could feel it now the pulse of the realm.

A living thing beneath her skin.

Ashira, are you sensing this?

Always. The veil is watching. And so are those who want it closed again.

The hum at the base of her spine buzzed louder.

Something was coming.

But for now, she wanted tea.

Maybe a moment of peace.

Maybe—

A crash echoed from down the hall.

Then a very familiar voice.

"Oh my gods, if you touch that again—"

Iska.

Vireya blinked and turned the corner.

What she saw made her freeze.

Theoron—Kael's Beta, the grumpy, stone-faced, war-hardened man who rarely blinked—was standing very close to Iska.

His hand was on her hip.

Hers was on his chest.

And the scroll she'd been "threatening" him with?

Lying on the floor, completely forgotten.

"You've got to be kidding me," Vireya muttered, just loud enough for them to hear.

They both jolted apart.

Iska spun, her cheeks flushed for the first time Vireya had ever seen. "This is not what it looks like."

"It looks like you were seconds from straddling a war general on top of a map of the kingdom."

Theoron cleared his throat. "It was… a tactical discussion."

"Oh yeah?" Vireya crossed her arms. "What kind of strategy requires ass-grabbing and heavy panting?"

Iska rolled her eyes, adjusting her cloak. "Can we not do this right now?"

Vireya grinned. "Fine. Just don't get scroll ink in your hair, it stains."

She turned and walked off, smirking.

Behind her, Theoron groaned and Iska muttered something about "a damned queen with too many opinions."

But Vireya caught it:

The way Theoron looked at her.

Not just want.

Not just frustration.

Recognition.

And Iska?

The way her breath caught like something hurt in her chest.

Interesting.

Later that afternoon, Vireya found Kael in the courtyard. Shirtless. Again.

He was training with two elite warriors, his movements sharp and fluid despite the healing wound along his ribs.

He glanced up the moment she entered—eyes softening the way they always did when they landed on her.

"You shouldn't be fighting," she said.

He spun, ducked, disarmed a warrior mid-swing, and then turned back to her.

"I'm not fighting," he said. "I'm reminding them who they serve."

Vireya tilted her head. "And what if I wanted to remind them?"

Kael smiled—slow and wolfish.

"Then I'd hand you the blade."

Back inside, Iska was waiting.

But this time?

No jokes.

No scrolls.

Just a single vial in her hand.

Dark red liquid. Sealed with wax.

"I need to tell you something," she said, eyes fixed on the floor.

Vireya stepped forward. "You okay?"

"I've been taking this," she said, holding up the vial. "For years. Since before Kael was king."

"What is it?"

"A suppressor. Potion. Spell. Whatever label you want. It blocks the mate bond."

Vireya's mouth opened. Closed.

"Why?"

Iska shrugged. "Because I was raised to serve. To fight. Not to feel. The moment you bond, your loyalty shifts. And I couldn't afford that. Not with what was coming."

Vireya stared at her. "And now?"

Iska looked up, and for the first time, she looked almost… scared.

"I think I already found him. And I've been drinking poison to keep myself from knowing."

"Theoron," Vireya said without hesitation.

Iska groaned. "Gods, was it that obvious?"

"No," Vireya said. "But he looks at you like he's been dying of thirst and you're the only drop of water he's ever seen."

Kael appeared beside her then, voice low but firm. "Stop taking it."

Iska blinked.

Kael nodded. "That's an order. You've earned the right to choose loyalty. But don't deny fate if it's already chosen you."

Iska didn't speak.

Just looked at the vial one more time—

And shattered it against the wall.

That night, Vireya and Kael walked the halls alone, the glow of torchlight casting gold across the stone.

"You think the council knows what happened?" she asked.

"They felt it," Kael said. "Even if they don't understand it."

"They're going to come for us."

"They can try."

She slipped her hand into his.

"I'm ready."

Kael looked down at her.

"No," he said. "You're rising."

Ashira spoke through Vireya her eyes glowing.. "No Kael we already ROSE"

Drekken chuckled in Kael's head that his mate, the queen had just corrected the KING.