Chapter 16
Elara's POV
The corridors of the palace seemed longer on my return, colder somehow, as if the shadows themselves pressed closer after Hades's revelation.
Back in the room that had been made mine, I shut the door and leaned against it, my pulse still quick from the library. A bridge. Bound to him. The words coiled like iron around my ribs.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the red dress I still wore, its fabric far finer than anything I had ever owned. It should have made me feel like a queen. Instead, I felt like a pawn.
How long would I have to wait? Months? Years? Did time even move the same here? My parents hadn't loved me well, but at least my world had been mine. Familiar. Predictable. And now...
I curled up, drawing my knees to my chest. I hated the sting in my eyes, but the tears came anyway. Silent, hot, unrelenting.
For the first time since arriving, I wished I had never met Kieran. That I had never gone on that date. That none of this had happened.
Eventually, exhaustion dulled the sharpness of my thoughts, leaving me heavy and still. I lay down without changing, staring at the carved ceiling until sleep claimed me, and the silence of the palace swallowed my grief.
?
Hades
The library's quiet lingered in my mind long after she left it. Her expression when I told her the truth haunted me: the tremor in her voice, the desperation in her eyes.
I stood at the window of my private chamber, overlooking the obsidian spires of my palace. Shadows curled restlessly at my feet, mirroring the unease twisting inside me.
It had been thousands of years since the last bridge had been born. Thousands of years since fate had seen fit to bind my realm to another through mortal blood. Why now? Why her?
Part of me knew the answer already—because she was different. The way she carried sorrow, the way she tried to be brave in a world she did not understand. But that only raised more questions: Why should I be tied to her? Why tempt me with something I cannot hold onto?
My thoughts grew darker, heavier, until a knock pulled me from them.
"Enter," I commanded.
A tall man stepped in, clad in deep gray robes, his expression composed but sharp. Theron—my most trusted advisor, keeper of secrets, the one who had stood at my side through wars and betrayals.
"You summoned me earlier, my lord?" Theron asked, bowing his head briefly before meeting my gaze.
I shook my head. "No. But perhaps fate has summoned you regardless."
Theron's brow furrowed slightly. "You seem troubled."
I turned back to the window, my hands clasped behind me. "She knows now. The girl. Elara."
"Knows what?"
"The truth of what she is. A bridge. Bound to me, whether I willed it or not."
There was silence. Then, carefully, "And how did she take it?"
"How do you think?" I muttered, bitterness creeping into my tone. "She is frightened. She feels trapped. And perhaps she should be."
Theron tilted his head, studying me. "But you do not wish her to feel that way."
My jaw tightened. "It would be better if she left. When the passage opens, it would be best for her to return to her world, and for me to forget she ever stepped into mine."
"And yet," Theron pressed softly, "you do not want her to leave."
The truth stung more than I expected. I turned, shadows flaring around me, but Theron didn't flinch. He never did.
"I do not understand this... pull," I admitted. "It is not command. It is not fate, though it wears fate's mask. She unsettles me. She makes me wonder." My hand curled into a fist. "I have ruled this realm for eons, and never have I questioned myself. And now—now, because of one mortal—"
I stopped, shaking my head.
Theron's voice was calm, steady. "Perhaps the question is not why she was chosen. But what you will do with the time given to you both."
Time. The very thing I had too much of, and she too little.
I looked back out over the darkened spires, the silence of the realm pressing heavy against my chest. I could give her freedom. I could give her eternity. But which would she choose? And what, in the end, would I be willing to sacrifice?