Evren opened his eyes to darkness. Not the cold, empty kind, but a darkness that was warm and alive. Shadows danced like living flames, pulsing with color. He was no longer in the spring.
He stood in a grand, moonlit hall made of obsidian and glass. Stars shimmered beyond the windows, their light unnatural and too bright. Magic buzzed like a hive beneath his skin. The bond had pulled him somewhere else.
A figure waited at the far end.
Kaelion.
But not as he was, no armor no smirk. He wore simple black silk, barefoot, bathed in the light of the floating stars. His golden eyes were calm, yet they burned.
"You followed me," Kaelion said. His voice was different here softer, without its usual edge.
"I didn't mean to," Evren muttered, his own voice echoing strangely. "Is this… a dream?"
Kaelion walked toward him, his steps silent on the gleaming floor. "A shared one. The bond is strengthening."
Evren's breath hitched. "Is that why it feels so-"
"Dangerous?" Kaelion asked softly, now only a pace away. "Or real?"
Evren didn't answer. The heat between them was rising, slow and deliberate.
Kaelion stopped inches away. "This place shows us what we try to hide."
"I have nothing to hide," Evren said, too quickly.
Kaelion tilted his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Really? Then why do you always flinch when I get close?"
Evren held his ground, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs. "Why do you keep getting close?"
Neither of them moved. The silence buzzed with a tension so thick it was a presence in itself then Kaelion reached out, his hand hovering over Evren's chest, right where the bond ached.
"Because when you touched the bond during the fight," Kaelion whispered, "you didn't hesitate."
Evren's heart thundered, loud in the vast, silent hall.
"You felt it too," Kaelion said, his gaze dropping to Evren's mouth.
"I don't know what I felt," Evren whispered back, the admission torn from him. "And I'm not sure I want to."
Kaelion's smile was not mocking this time. It was quiet. Knowing. "You will."
And then the dreamfire surged around them wrapping them in light, in heat, in everything they weren't saying.
Evren woke with a gasp.
The stone ceiling of the spring chamber blurred before sharpening into focus. The steam had faded. The water's warmth was gone, but the heat in his chest remained, a phantom brand.
He sat up fast and found Kaelion already awake, sitting on the edge of the pool with his back to him, shoulders tense.
"You saw it too," Evren said. It wasn't a question.
Kaelion didn't turn. "Yes."
The silence between them wasn't awkward it was charged, a continuation of the dream.
"What was that place?" Evren asked, his voice low.
"A mirror," Kaelion replied, his tone flat. "Of our thoughts. Our fears. And everything we're pretending not to feel."
Evren stood, water sluicing from his skin. "So what, it just... shows our fantasies?"
Kaelion turned slowly, his golden eyes unreadable. "Only the ones we keep buried."
Their eyes locked, the unsaid things hanging between them like a promise and a threat.
Before either could speak again, a loud knock slammed against the chamber door.
Kaelion shot to his feet, the prince once more, instantly alert. "What?"
A voice called from outside. "Prince Kaelion, Prince Evren Your presence is required. An envoy from the Southern Court has arrived. She's asked for both of you. Together."
Evren blinked. "Together? That's new."
Kaelion's frown was deep, troubled. "The Southern Court doesn't make unannounced visits."
"And they definitely don't ask politely," Evren muttered, already reaching for his clothes.
They dressed in a silence that had thickened, the dream clinging to them like a second skin.
As they entered the throne hall, Evren paused.
Standing in the center of the room was a woman in dark crimson robes, her eyes sharp as daggers and her lips curled into a practiced smirk.
"Prince Kaelion," she said, then turned her piercing gaze to Evren. "And Prince Evren. Or should I say... the bonded heirs?"
Evren's blood ran cold.
Kaelion stepped forward, his voice a blade of steel. "Who told you that?"
The envoy Lady Sylha laughed lightly. "Please. The magic pouring off you both is blinding. Do you really think you can hide a power this ancient?"
Evren clenched his fists, his magic stirring in response to the threat. "What do you want?"
She smiled wider. "Just to talk. About alliances. And what happens when two bonded princes become a threat to every single royal house in the realm."
Evren stood beside Kaelion at the royal table, arms crossed, expression carved from ice. Lady Sylha sipped her spiced wine as if she held the deed to the palace.
"Bonded heirs," she repeated, savoring the words. "The realm hasn't seen anything like this in generations. The kingdoms are already whispering."
Evren leaned forward, unable to stomach her smugness. "Let them whisper. The bond doesn't change the politics."
Kaelion shot him a sharp, silencing look. "Do not speak of things you don't understand."
Evren glared back, the dream's intimacy forgotten in the face of his pride. "And you do? It must be nice, playing prince while the rest of us fought real wars."
Sylha raised a perfectly sculpted brow. "So the rumors are true you two can't even agree on the air you breathe."
Kaelion didn't answer her. He just stared at Evren, his jaw a hard line.
"I am only here to offer a deal," Sylha said lightly. "A new alliance. The Southern Court wants a seat at the table when this… 'bonded era' begins."
Evren scoffed. "Sounds like you're trying to put a leash on us."
"Or a shield," she countered. "Your enemies won't care how new your bond is. They will come for you both."
Kaelion folded his arms, his presence dominating the room. "If they come, they will bleed."
The envoy laughed, a sound like shattering glass. "That bravado might work with steel. Not with politics."
Evren pushed back from the table. "We'll give you an answer when we decide not when you show up uninvited."
"Charming," Sylha said as they turned to leave. "I see why the bond is so… volatile."
Outside the hall, Kaelion rounded on Evren. "You speak out of turn. You undermine me in front of a snake like Sylha."
Evren got in his face, the heat from the dream returning as anger. "And you act like I'm your guard, not your equal."
They stood close too close.
Kaelion's voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "We are not equals."
Evren smirked, a reckless, fiery thing. "Not yet. But if this bond means anything, you'd better learn to catch up."
And just like that, he turned and walked away, leaving Kaelion staring after him annoyed, impressed, and utterly rattled.
Rain fell in sheets, hammering the capital as Evren slipped through a back corridor, his cloak soaked, boots echoing on the stone. He wasn't running he was avoiding. Kaelion had a way of getting under his skin, and Evren hated that it was starting to work.
He needed space. Air. A reason not to remember the look in Kaelion's eyes in the dream.
He turned a corner and nearly slammed into a stranger standing calmly in the hall, dry and smiling as if he belonged there.
"Apologies," the man said smoothly, his voice like silk over a hidden blade. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Evren stepped back, his hand inching toward the dagger at his side. "Who are you?"
The stranger bowed, one hand over his heart. "Prince Theron of the Thorn Court."
Evren blinked. "You weren't announced."
"Of course not." Theron's smile widened. "I prefer to arrive before the noise."
Evren's eyes narrowed. "So you're the one the council mentioned. The outsider."
"And yet, I'm here." Theron looked him over with open appraisal. "And you- you must be the fire they say Kaelion is struggling to contain."
Evren bristled. "He doesn't contain me."
"Clearly," Theron said, still amused. "But perhaps I can offer you something he cannot. A way out. A different kind of power."
"Why would you offer me anything?"
Theron stepped closer, his voice lowering conspiratorially. "Because I know what it is to be bound to someone you cannot trust. And because I do not want Kaelion Ravaryn anywhere near a united throne."
Evren's jaw tightened. "You think I'd betray him?"
Theron's eyes gleamed in the dim light. "I think you are still deciding who is worthy of your loyalty."
Before Evren could respond, familiar footsteps echoed behind him Kaelion, storm-eyed and striding toward them like vengeance made flesh.
His gaze locked on Theron. "You are trespassing."
Theron didn't flinch. "Merely introducing myself to your… bonded heir."
Kaelion moved to stand beside Evren, close enough that their arms almost touched, a united front. "He doesn't need your attention."
"Maybe," Theron said with a slight, mocking tilt of his head. "But he certainly has mine."
The door to the royal chambers slammed shut, sealing them in a tense silence.
"What the hell was that?" Evren snapped, shaking off his soaked cloak.
Kaelion didn't look at him, his back rigid. "A test of your judgment. One you were failing."
"A test from who? You or him?" Evren challenged.
Kaelion turned, his expression cold. "You were smiling."
Evren blinked. "What?"
"With him," Kaelion said, his voice dropping, low and dangerous. "I saw it. That smirk you wear when you're being charmed."
A bitter laugh escaped Evren. "Are you jealous, Your Highness?"
Kaelion's eyes flashed. "I am protective of this bond. I will not have it manipulated by a viper like Theron who seeks to turn you against me."
"Right. Protective. Is that why you storm in and act as if you own me the second someone else looks my way?"
Kaelion crossed the room in two slow, deliberate steps, the air between them sharp enough to cut. "Do I need to remind you what this bond entails? The stakes we face?"
"No," Evren shot back, standing his ground. "But perhaps you need to remember I never asked for this. I am not one of your courtiers to be ordered about."
Kaelion's voice was a whisper of pure frost. "And yet you remain."
Evren's lips curled. "Do not mistake obligation for loyalty."
Silence, heavy, charged.
Kaelion looked at him for a long, suspended moment his gaze a turbulent mix of frustration and something else, something raw before he finally stepped back.
"You are not ready to lead beside me," he said, the words cold and final. "Not like this."
Evren's chest tightened, the dismissal striking deeper than any blade. "Then perhaps you should ask the council to find you someone more… obedient."
Kaelion walked to the door, paused with his hand on the latch, and without turning said, "Obedience is easily bought. I had expected more from you."
Then he was gone.
Evren stood alone in the room, his throat tight, fists clenched, heart hammering against something he couldn't name.