The summons reached Lunara at dawn.
It was delivered by palace guards, not messengers. Formal. Silent. Final.
She read the seal once, then folded the parchment carefully and handed it back without a word. Her expression did not change, but something inside her sank.
The engagement was no longer just announced.
It was being enforced.
By midday, Lunara stood in the inner courtyard, dressed not in armor, but in ceremonial colors she had never chosen. The fabric felt wrong on her skin—too light, too exposed.
Prince Caelum arrived shortly after.
"You're late," he said calmly, as if speaking to something he already owned.
"I was summoned," Lunara replied. "Not invited."
He smiled faintly. "That will change."
She met his gaze. "No. It won't."
His smile faded, just slightly. "Be careful. People mistake defiance for strength. It often ends badly."
Lunara said nothing.
She had learned long ago that silence could be sharper than words.
That evening, the king's decision was made public.
Lunara would accompany a royal delegation to the border city—symbol of unity, stability, and control. The message was clear.
She would be watched.
She would be displayed.
And she would not be allowed to disappear.
In Aethros, Kael received his summons at night.
Not from the king.
From the army.
He was ordered to escort a supply inspection toward the same border region he had been pulled from days earlier. No command authority. No independent movement.
Observation only.
Kael understood the intent immediately.
See how the war is fought without you.
As he prepared to leave, one of his former soldiers approached him quietly. "Be careful, my prince," the man said. "Rhaegor's men don't like loose ends."
Kael nodded. "Neither do kings."
The march began before sunrise.
As Kael rode, the land slowly changed. The air grew heavier. Familiar. The closer they came to the border, the louder the memories pressed in.
Across that same stretch of land, Lunara's delegation moved under banners she had never sworn loyalty to.
When the border city finally came into view, both parties arrived within hours of each other—unaware, unprepared, and unable to turn back.
The forest stood between them.
Watching.
Waiting.
And for the first time since the chaos, fate moved not through battle
but through command.