The Queen stood outside his chamber door, her fingers curled into her cloak so tightly her knuckles had turned white.
Inside, she could hear him breathing.
Restless. Sharp.
Dreaming again.
Her heart clenched as she pressed her palm to the cold obsidian wall.
Then—his voice, muffled:
"…Anna…"
She froze.
He hadn't spoken her name in weeks.
Not once since he sacrificed everything.
And now, in sleep, when truth slips through the cracks…
He remembered.
She should have felt relief.
Hope.
But instead, her chest twisted with a fear she hadn't known since she first fell in love with him.
Because if he was remembering…
Then the pain was coming.
The weight of what he gave up.The cost of her survival.The love that had been buried under duty, torn from the roots.
If he remembered everything—Would he still choose her?Or would he wish he had forgotten?
Inside, Liam thrashed in his sleep.
The dream twisted into a storm of broken glass and blooming fire.
