The fire had barely faded from Ashar's skin when the sky turned black.
Not with clouds — but with silence.
It was as if the wind itself had forgotten how to move.
Aelira felt it first. A tug in her chest, like something trying to unravel her from the inside.
Then the world tilted.
She fell — or was pulled — not by gravity, but by will.
The last thing she saw was her four bondmates yelling her name… before everything blinked out.
She stood in a throne room made of stars.
Black marble glistened beneath her feet. The ceiling above shimmered like a mirror of the cosmos. There were no walls — only infinite night.
And on a throne of woven moonlight sat her.
The Queen of the Shattered Veil.
Beautiful, terrible, eternal.
She looked like a reflection of Aelira — older, crueler, with eyes like dying suns. Her hair floated around her like a veil of starlight.
"Little heir," the Queen said, her voice both everywhere and inside her mind. "You are walking too fast. You must be tired."
Aelira didn't flinch. "You dragged me here."
"I invited you. The Veil listens to me still." She smiled. "And now that all your precious bonded have been found… I thought we might talk. Soul to soul."
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Oh, but I have so much to say to you," the Queen whispered, rising. "You are powerful. Untrained. And vulnerable. You are starting to remember, aren't you? What you did. What you chose."
Memories flashed behind Aelira's eyes — shadows, fire, betrayal. Four voices calling her name. Blood in her hands. One of them—falling.
She staggered.
The Queen caught her chin gently. "You chose one of them over the others, didn't you? You fractured the circle. That's why the Veil broke."
Aelira wrenched back. "That was you. You caused all of this."
The Queen's smile turned sharp. "No. I gave you a choice. And you will have to make it again."
From the shadows beside the throne, a chain of starlight floated forward. It pulsed with dark power — and each link bore a symbol: a blade, flame, frost, and spark.
The Queen raised her hand — and one link began to fade.
Kaelen's mark.
"No—!" Aelira lunged, but her magic fizzled uselessly.
"You must sacrifice one," the Queen said, voice silken. "To keep the others alive. Do it… and I will give you time. Power. Safety. Refuse… and you will watch them burn. One by one."
The chain floated before her.
Each link pulsed — as if the bonds themselves were calling out.
Theron. Kaelen. Riven. Ashar.
All tethered to her.
All fated to die if she chose wrong.
Aelira clenched her fists. "I won't choose."
"You will," the Queen said softly. "Or the Veil will choose for you."
The floor cracked — light exploded around her — and suddenly she was falling again.
She woke gasping, in Ashar's arms.
Riven was already at her side, eyes wild. Kaelen was pacing. Theron knelt beside her, one hand glowing faintly with healing magic.
"You were gone," Ashar growled. "You just—vanished."
"She pulled me," Aelira whispered. "The Queen. She showed me…"
She looked at them — her bonded — and the fear hit like a wave.
She couldn't lose them.
But if the Queen was telling the truth… she might have to.
And her heart… couldn't take another fracture.