Astelion POV
I walked away from the heavy wooden doors, my entire body sore and aching with a bone-deep exhaustion. I hadn't slept a single second last night.
My mind was a chaotic storm, pulled between two realities—every sharp, cruel word Arastella had hurled at me, the desperate need to find a way out of this impossible situation... and Kiono.
I made my way back down the quiet corridor toward Arastella's chambers, taking a deep breath to steady my nerves. As I approached, I noticed Kiono was no longer standing guard at the door. Relief and tension coiled in my stomach all at once—it meant Castel had finally left the room.
I raised my hand and knocked softly against the heavy oak. Silence.
Frowning, I turned the handle and pushed the door open. My breath caught in my throat.
Sitting inside, talking to Arastella, was Cion.
The moment my eyes landed on him, a hot, overwhelming wave of pure fury and deep disgust crashed over me. Cion turned his head, a slow, sickening smile spreading across his face when his gaze met mine.
He stood up and began walking toward me, his footfalls heavy and deliberate. Every instinct in my blood screamed at me to lunge, to tear him apart limb by limb right where he stood.
As he passed me, he reached out and casually tapped my shoulder.
"You will never win," he whispered softly.
The brief contact of his skin against mine, coupled with his suffocating, rot-like scent, instantly turned my stomach. I let out an uncontrollable, violent gag.
"Get off me!" I spat, smacking his hand away with all the force I could muster.
Cion just chuckled, stepping out into the hallway and pulling the heavy door shut behind him.
The air in the room felt thick, contaminated by his presence. Desperate for relief, I rushed past the bed over to the large glass window, grabbing the frame to throw it open. It wouldn't budge—locked tight.
Losing my patience, I channeled a violent blast of raw telekinetic energy straight from my core and slammed it against the glass. The window shattered outward, sending shards raining down into the courtyard below. Cold, fresh air rushed into the room, and I leaned out, taking deep, ragged breaths in and out, trying to force my racing heart to calm down.
"La Fenora imi sie olis Varekos. Esie voi nyra dovra esie kmio durf," a cold voice spoke from behind me. (That window is your only escape, so go now while you still can.)
I snapped my head around, my jaw dropping as I stared at Arastella. She was sitting casually on the edge of the plush canopy bed, her face completely void of emotion.
"Fa esie novek pek?" I stammered, my head spinning. (What did you just say?)
"I will not repeat myself," she said dryly, resting her hands on her lap.
"Fa aack imi vrakos ku esie?!"(What the fuck is wrong with you?!) I yelled, my voice ringing off the stone walls as tears of disbelief burned my eyes.
I couldn't believe it. She was standing there throwing me away. She had actually betrayed me.
"You betrayed me," Arastella said, her eyes dead and unreadable as she met my gaze. "I can't trust you."
"Are you joking right now?!"
"Does it look like I am smiling?" she countered, her voice laced with sharp, biting ice.
"You betrayed me because I fucked Kiono?!" I shouted, gesturing wildly between us.
"I betrayed you because you betrayed me first!" Arastella snapped. "You lied to me. You hid things from me. How can I trust you if you do things like this? You said you wanted to help me, but to me, it seems you care more about yourself and the fantasy that you live! I already have enough enemies—I don't need any more. I will do things my way to survive, and it doesn't include you."
A suffocating lump formed in my throat. I stared at her, feeling entirely hollowed out.
"Ota icht ocho nivor vexi vor esie..."(I don't even have words for you...) I whispered, shaking my head as the betrayal crushed my chest.
"Ota icht anki sie vexi," Arastella cut in coldly, standing up from the bed and looking down at me as if I were nothing more than a stranger. "Fylaxa liu avo uso lovon veim oriva. Kie esie fchi virek." (I don't need your words. Save them and get out of my sight if you want to live.)
A dizzying panic seized my mind. I felt like I was going completely mad. Nothing was going the way it was supposed to, control was slipping through my fingers, and I had no idea what to do. There was nowhere to run. No matter where I hid in this time, Castel would hunt me down and slaughter me without a second thought.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the palace shifted violently.
A crushing, terrifying wave of pure, dark energy washed through the walls, suffocating the air out of my lungs. The ground beneath our feet rocked dangerously, stone cracking along the ceiling. Castel's power bled through the entire palace—a raw, unbridled tempest of bloodlust and absolute rage. He knew. He was coming.
Before I could even process the paralyzing fear, the chamber door slammed open with a deafening bang.
Mell burst into the room, his face pale, eyes wide with frantic urgency. He slammed the door shut behind him and sprinted straight over to me.
"We need to get you out of here!" he barked, grabbing my arm.
"There is nowhere for me to go," I choked out, a single, bitter tear slipping down my cheek.
Without a word, Mell reached out and gently wiped the tear away with his thumb. "Come with me."
In one swift, effortless motion, he scooped me up into his arms, gathering my small frame against his chest, and turned toward the broken, gaping frame of the shattered window.
"Wait," I choked out, clutching his shoulder.
I looked back over Mell's arm one last time at Arastella. She was completely unbothered by the crushing aura shaking the room, looking at me as if I were already dead to her.
"Just so you know..." I whispered, my voice trembling with bleeding pain, "...I was really trying to help you."
Arastella didn't blink. She didn't say a word.
I wrapped my arms tightly around Mell's neck, closing my eyes. Mell didn't hesitate—he launched us forward, leaping straight out of the high tower window and plunging into the open, empty air below.
As the wind roared in my ears and the grand palace shrank above us, a suffocating wave of emotion crashed over my soul. Panic tore through my chest at the thought of Castel's rage, a burning anger flared against the brutal hypocrisy of the woman I had tried so hard to protect, and a heavy, dark regret settled into my bones—wondering if every choice I had made had simply doomed us all.