CHAPTER NO 20
Echoes Before Dawn
The first light of dawn crept through the stained-glass windows, painting the walls in shades of rose and violet.The storm had passed, but its whispers lingered in the corners of the room.
The princess stirred first. Her eyes opened slowly, crimson irises catching the early glow. For a moment, she didn't move. The warmth beside her was unfamiliar — soft, breathing, human. She turned her head slightly and saw the silver-haired girl asleep, her face peaceful against the folds of the velvet sheet.
Something inside the princess twisted — a feeling she didn't know how to name. It wasn't hunger. It wasn't guilt. It was… something gentler.
She reached out, brushing a lock of hair from the girl's cheek. The touch was careful, reverent, almost afraid to break the illusion.But the girl stirred at once, as if she could sense the princess's thoughts.
"Morning?" she murmured, voice still heavy with sleep.
"Yes," the princess said quietly. "It came too soon."
The girl smiled faintly, her eyes half-open. "You sound like someone who hates the sun."
"I do." The princess rose, her black cloak falling over her shoulders. "It reminds me that every night ends."
The girl sat up, wrapping the blanket around herself. "And yet you live for the night."
"I am the night," the princess replied. "That's why I can never stay when morning comes."
The girl's smile faded. "Then why did you let me stay last night?"
For the first time, the princess didn't have an answer.
Outside, the ravens called from the castle towers, their cries echoing like ancient prayers. The silence that followed was heavy. The princess stood by the window, watching the world awaken — a world she could never truly belong to.
The girl got out of bed, bare feet touching the cold marble. "You think you can protect me by keeping me away," she said softly. "But you're wrong."
The princess turned, her eyes narrowing. "And what if being near me destroys you?"
"Then at least I'll know what it means to live before I die."
The words hit the princess harder than any blade. She took a step forward, then another, until she was standing before her. The distance between them vanished like mist.
"You have no idea what I am capable of," the princess said, voice trembling with both warning and want.
"I don't care," the girl whispered. "I've already chosen you."
For a long moment, they stood there, eyes locked — fire meeting ice, destiny meeting defiance.Then, slowly, the princess raised her hand and touched the girl's chin, tilting her face upward. The first rays of sunlight cut across the room, catching in her crimson eyes.
"You're going to be my ruin," the princess said softly.
"Then let me be your beautiful ruin," the girl answered.
The silence that followed was filled with the pulse of something eternal — not love, not yet, but something that could become it. Something that could break them both.
Outside, the bells of the old cathedral began to toll. The day had begun. But inside that dark chamber, time felt like it had stopped, holding its breath for them alone.
And somewhere deep within the princess's heart, a spark flickered — the dangerous, trembling beginning of hope.