For weeks, Kelan returned in secret under the cover of darkness. Each time, Arinya waited at the river, unable to explain why she felt drawn to a man she barely knew. But she knew the truth in her bones: she had met him before. Loved him before. Lost him before.
Kelan tried resisting the pull, tried focusing only on the rebellion—but every night his feet betrayed him, carrying him back to her.
One night, he brought news.
Arinya, he said, grasping her hands, the rebellion begins in three days. When the fires start, we will run. There is a ship waiting beyond the marsh.
Run? she whispered. Together?
His thumb brushed her knuckles. I cannot leave without you.
Her heart thudded hard. I dreamed of this, she whispered. Us. Running. But in the dream… you fell.
Kelan stiffened. It was just a dream.
But they both knew their dreams were often more than that.
Still, love made them brave. Love made them reckless.
They planned their escape in whispers and stolen touches, under the moon and behind the cane fields. The world around them was cruel, but in each other they found a sliver of hope.
A hope the stars had never intended for them to keep.