Yueli couldn't sleep.
The sanctuary was quiet, but it wasn't peace she felt— it was suffocation wrapped in silk. Ancient spells hovered in the air like ghosts; the walls hummed with unspoken truths. Somewhere beneath the stillness, war stirred, and her body felt it before her mind could name it.
Di Yan had been gone too long tonight.
She stood barefoot on the balcony of their temporary quarters, arms crossed, wind teasing the thin fabric of her robe.
Below, the moonlight dripped like silver paint across the ancient courtyard.
Shadows danced between the marble columns, and the sacred flame in the tower flickered like it knew something she didn't.
Her fingers tightened around the edge of the railing.
Then she felt it— him. His presence was a storm wrapped in quiet. No footsteps, no sound. Just the energy of a man who could kill with a whisper yet chose to protect her instead.
" You're late," she said without turning.
Di Yan's voice was low. " The elders are cautious. Too cautious."
" They're scared."
" They should be."
She finally looked at him, and gods help her — he was beautiful in moonlight. The prince of a shattered clan, yet he wore his power like a crown no one could steal. His dark robes clung to him,
slightly open at the chest, revealing the ink of an old battle scar, one she'd once kissed before a storm.
She hated that he could still make her heart race.
" Are we prisoners here, or guests?" she asked, arms still crossed.
His jaw clenched. " Depends who's watching."
She stepped closer. " Then let them watch."
The wind shifted between them. His eyes dropped to her lips, then her throat, then back up. Hunger sparked in that gaze— sharp, sudden, dangerous.
" We shouldn't," he murmured.
" And yet…" She rose on her toes, her breath mingling with his. " We always do."
The kiss came like lightning— fast,
electric, consuming. His hands found her waist, pulling her into the storm of him. She gasped against his lips, one hand threading through his silver hair, the other gripping his shoulder like she could anchor herself.
" I thought you said we shouldn't," she whispered, breathless.
He looked at her like she was a weapon too powerful to hold and too tempting to resist.
" I lied."
She was still trembling when they broke apart, the taste of him still burning on her tongue.
" Come inside," she said.
" I can't stay long."
" Then make the most of now."
—
Morning came like a slap.
The elders summoned her again, their faces carved from suspicion and pride.
They stood beneath the Silver Flame, its eerie glow licking the stone like living truth.
" You've been avoiding your visions," one of them said.
" No," she replied. " I've been surviving them."
The flame pulsed, brighter, hotter.
A vision crashed into her mind.
She saw Di Yan, blood on his lips. A blade through his chest. His eyes still searching for her as the world around him crumbled.
She screamed.
And then it was gone.
The flame dimmed, the pain didn't.
One elder stepped forward. " The flame doesn't lie."
Another added, " You will lose him."
Not if I burn first, she thought.
—
That night, she confronted him.
" You're going to die."
His face darkened. " I've seen it too."
" And you didn't think to tell me?"
" I didn't want to scare you."
She laughed bitterly. " Too late."
He reached for her, but she stepped back.
" Tell me the truth, all of it."
He didn't flinch. " There's a rebellion forming— one that wants our daughter as their weapon."
" And you?"
" I'm the shield."
Yueli's body tensed. " You're not dying to protect us. Not like that. Not without a fight."
His voice dropped. " There are some fates we can't outrun."
She walked to him slowly, pressing a hand to his chest. " Then we burn fate together."
But the fire was already coming.
In the dead of night, the sanctuary's walls shook. Explosions shattered the silence. Screams echoed in the valley.
Someone had breached the magical barriers.
Di Yan was already halfway out the door, sword in hand.
Yueli grabbed his arm. " If you go, you don't die. That's the deal."
His kiss was rough, final. " Protect her."
And then he was gone.
—
The Silver Flame flared uncontrollably,
as if trying to warn them.
Yueli ran to their daughter's cradle,
snatching her up as smoke slithered into the room. The baby whimpered, sensing the chaos.
A figure appeared in the doorway.
Not Di Yan.
Someone else. A man with white eyes and a serpent- shaped scar down his neck. Magic oozed from him like poison.
" The child," he said, voice like ice.
Yueli held the baby tighter. " Over my dead body."
He raised a hand.
And the walls exploded.