POV: KIERAN
Timeline: Immediate arrival
Location: The Tidelands - Royal Chamber
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We hit water.
Real water. Tidelands water. HOME.
The sphere dissolves. We're falling—
Nyx catches me and Kaelis. Ravion catches himself with shadows.
We crash onto the floor of what looks like Nyx's throne room.
Guards rush in.
"Your Majesty! What—"
"Secure the perimeter!" Nyx barks. "Now! Possible hostile incoming!"
The guards scatter.
We're lying on the floor, gasping, soaked, exhausted.
"Everyone alive?" Ravion asks.
"Define alive," I mumble.
Kaelis laughs weakly. "We're alive. Barely. But alive."
"Good." Nyx collapses beside us. "Because I can't move. At all. For possibly several days."
"Same," Kaelis and I say together.
Ravion is the only one still standing. He's swaying but upright.
"Isolde?" he asks.
We all look around.
The throne room is empty except for us.
"She didn't make it through," Nyx says. "The transit. It rejected her. Sent her… somewhere else."
"Where?"
"I don't know. Another realm. The void. Between-space." He closes his eyes. "She's not here. That's all that matters."
"Is she dead?" I ask quietly.
"I… don't think so." Nyx sounds troubled. "I would have felt it. Sensed it. She's alive. Somewhere."
"Then she'll come back," Kaelis says grimly.
"Let her," Ravion says. His voice is steel. "Next time, we'll be ready."
Silence falls.
We're all too exhausted to move. To plan. To do anything but breathe.
"We won," I finally say. "We actually won."
"We survived," Kaelis corrects. "That's not the same as winning."
"Close enough." I reach for his hand. Find it. Squeeze. "We survived together."
"Together," he agrees.
Nyx and Ravion exchange glances. Some silent communication.
"The princes need rest," Nyx says.
"Agreed," Ravion adds.
"We're right here," I protest weakly. "Stop talking about us like—"
"Sleep, Kieran." Ravion's voice is gentle but firm. "That's an order."
"Can't order me. I'm a king. We're equals."
"You're a king who can barely keep his eyes open."
"…Fair point."
I'm asleep before I can protest further.