The following months laid the foundations of a silent and stubborn alliance.
Aetherion tried to heed his mother's warning. He didn't approach Runa. When he saw her, he changed his path. "Get away from here," he had said once, hardening his voice. But Runa didn't go. That violet-eyed, silver-haired girl seemed unafraid of Aetherion's harshness. She simply retreated to a safe distance and followed him like a shadow.
Over time, the old soul within Aetherion began to respect this little girl's stubborn loyalty.
One day, Aetherion got thirsty while watching the soldiers train in front of the barracks. He had forgotten his flask in his room. Just as he turned around, he saw Runa. The girl was holding out a wooden water bowl with both hands. There was no expectation in her eyes, only a pure offering.
The soldiers around stopped. Servants began to whisper. "Why is the Lord's son with that mute? Bad luck will rub off." "The Silent are cursed, why doesn't he chase her away?"
Aetherion remembered Elara's words in that moment: If you come together, you will explode. If he took that water, he would make Runa visible in everyone's eyes. He would paint the "target board" with his own hands.
But if he didn't take that water... he would have humiliated her in front of everyone. A warrior, recalled the ancient voice in his mind, never rejects a pure intention offered to him. Leaving an extended hand in the void is a rudeness as great as sheathing a sword backward.
Samurai courtesy outweighed political fear.
Aetherion reached out and took the bowl. "Thank you," he said, his voice clear enough for everyone to hear. Runa smiled. At that moment, the soldiers' whispers ceased, but their gazes sharpened. The target board was now drawn.
Their bond deepened like this. Sometimes, Aetherion would leave interesting stones polished by the wind, found on his way back from training, in places Runa could see. In return, Runa would weave small, intricate knots from the threads her mother spun, for Aetherion to hang on his sword.
On one of the nights he trained in secret...
Aetherion had taken refuge in the castle's unused, dust-filled old supply depot. It was dim here, only thin beams of light filtering from high windows illuminating the dust motes.
He was practicing "Quick Draw" (Iaido) with the rusty sword in his hand. He closed his eyes. He held his breath.
Single breath. Single cut.
He moved suddenly. The sword left the scabbard so fast that the trace the metal left in the air was almost invisible. Whirr! It tore the air and with the same speed, CLACK, he sheathed it back.
This was not the speed of a child; it was the shadow of 50 years of mastery etched into muscle memory.
Just then, a sound came from behind the stacked crates in the corner of the room.
CLICK.
The sound of a stone hitting the ground.
Aetherion turned instantly. His hand was back on the hilt. His eyes scanned the darkness. "Who's there?"
A silvery shimmer emerged from the shadows. Runa. The girl stepped timidly out from behind an old cabinet where she had been hiding. On the floor lay a small wooden provision box she had dropped.
Aetherion took his hand off the hilt. He let out a deep breath. "How long have you been there?" he asked, trying to soften his voice. "How much did you see?"
Runa didn't answer. She just took a step toward him. She fixed her violet eyes on Aetherion's gray ones. There was no fear in her gaze; there was a strange, intense curiosity.
Aetherion grew uneasy. "Why are you looking at me like that? I was just training."
Runa tilted her head slightly to the side. And in that moment, lightning struck Aetherion's mind. He didn't hear it with his ears. In the vision center of his brain, an image appeared as clear as someone else's memory.
A dark, icy cave. And in the very center of the cave, a blazing red ball of fire, trapped beneath the ice but unextinguished. The fire isn't trying to melt the ice, it simply exists there, with all its violence.
Aetherion stumbled, bringing his hand to his temple. What was that? Fire? he thought in astonishment. Or did she notice the redness behind my eyes?
This was telepathy. But a conversation made not with words, but with pure sensations.
"You..." Aetherion said, looking at the girl in amazement. "Do you see me? Or what is inside me?"
Runa smiled. It was as if that timid girl had gone, replaced by a wise soul. She brought her hand to her heart. And she sent a second image to Aetherion's mind. This one was calmer, more reassuring.
An old chest with heavy iron straps and a padlock. A little girl with silver hair is sitting on the chest, holding a finger to her lips.
The message was clear. A message that needed no words, as solid as an oath.
I know the fire inside you, echoed the resonance in his mind. And that secret is locked within my silence.
Aetherion looked at this small, mute girl before him. In that moment, he understood that the only person in this castle who truly "saw" him was not his father or mother, but this silent girl.