I did not go to Zaeran immediately.
That hesitation said everything.
The corridor beyond Odessa’s domain stretched narrow and unyielding, carved from black stone veined with ancient magic.
My boots echoed too loudly for a place designed to inspire obedience. Each step felt counted, measured by the castle itself—waiting to see if I would turn back.
Erase Zaeran’s memories.
The command pressed into my chest, unwelcome and sharp.
Zaeran was no ordinary ward, no court-trained girl molded by etiquette and title. She had been forged for war, tempered by loss, raised to endure pain without splintering.
But this—this was different.
If fragments survived the extraction, if anything slipped through as they sometimes did, there would be no restraint strong enough.
No oath capable of containing her.
She would burn everything to reach the truth.
And she would not stop at me.
I clenched my jaw and kept walking.
Odessa’s words came unbidden, silk-wrapped and venomous.
I gave you purpose.
I had heard them before. Long ago. Before armor. Before title. Before I learned to turn cruelty into discipline and discipline into survival.
I had been nothing then—feral, angry, half-mad with grief, too stubborn to die properly. Odessa had found me not because I was useful, but because I was broken.
She had reforged me.
Never gently.
The east wing doors loomed ahead, two sentinels straightening at my approach. They said nothing. They never did.
“Leave us,” I ordered.
They obeyed without hesitation.
Zaeran’s chambers were quiet. Too quiet.
I paused outside the door, hand hovering above the wood. Through the wards I could feel her—raw emotion bleeding through her control. Grief, sharp and untempered. Guilt. Rage, coiled tight, waiting for release.
She was alone. Good. Worse for what I had to do.
I exhaled slowly and pressed my palm to the sigil.
The door opened.
Zaeran stood near the bed, back rigid, shoulders squared. Atarae lay pale and still, hair spilling like moonlight across the pillows.
Zaeran did not turn.
“You’re late,” she said quietly.
“I was delayed,” I replied. A lie. Small, bitter. One that would grow.
“She hasn’t woken,” Zaeran continued. “Not once.”
I said nothing.
Finally, she turned. The look in her eyes struck harder than any blade—not fury, but fragile hope. Misplaced hope.
“I can fix this,” she said. “I know you think it’s done—but memories can be recovered. You’ve seen it happen. You’ve done it before.”
I met her gaze steadily.
“No,” I said. “This extraction was absolute.”
Hope shattered.
Her breath hitched, hands slowly curling into fists. “Then help me,” she said, voice low, dangerous. “Help me protect what’s left.”
This was the moment. The point of no return
I stepped closer. “Zaeran… there is something else that must be done.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What.”
I raised my hand. "Forgive me."
Instinct made her half-draw her blade, but exhaustion dulled her edge. That hesitation cost her.
Green light flared between my fingers.
Zaeran froze.
Realization cut sharp across her features.
“No,” she breathed. “You wouldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t,” I agreed quietly. “If I had a choice.”
She lunged.
The spell caught her mid-step.
Zaeran staggered, choking on fury and disbelief as the magic wrapped around her temples, seeping past every defense she had learned.
She fought violently, desperately—but grief is not armor, and love is not a shield.
Her knees hit the floor.
“Don’t,” she rasped. “Don’t take her from me too—”
I hesitated. Just for a breath.
Then Odessa’s voice surfaced again, calm, unyielding.
Do not forget what you owe.
I tightened the spell.
Zaeran screamed—not in pain, but in loss—then the sound fractured into silence as her memories unraveled, thread by thread, burning away into nothing
When it ended, she collapsed forward, unconscious, breath shallow but steady.
I stood there a long time. Long enough for the castle to settle. Long enough for the weight to sink in.
When I finally turned to leave, I did not look back at either of them.
Because if I had—
I might not have walked out at all.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gZseZLNJD
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRo0E8biWMK
and then Add to home screen.