Runebreaker

Chapter 23 Limits

LIMITS

In the morning, I stole three more daggers.

Kairos wanted to work on my gift today—whatever that meant—but I had more pressing concerns. The party was in two days. After that, the clan heads would know what I could do, and they’d never let me leave.

Kairos said he wanted me, but what he really wanted was my ability. He’d dressed it up with pretty words, but I’d heard that song before.

I’d started rationing food—hiding rolls, sausage, cheese, anything that’d keep for longer. Stashed everything in multiple spots. Kairos couldn’t have eyes everywhere.

And I took a copy of the map—ripping it from the book. Then I folded it into the tiniest square possible, sliding it inside my boot, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Kairos knew. He’d find out and thwart me again, dragging me through another humiliating display.

A hard knock rattled my door in the afternoon.

I didn’t answer.

The door opened anyway.

Kairos filled the doorway, wearing dark leather. His gaze swept the room before landing on me, curled on the bed in my nightgown. He didn't move.

“You’re supposed to be ready,” he muttered.

Heat crawled up my neck. “I’m not going.”

He stepped in, closing the door. The look in his eyes wasn’t hunger—it was ownership.

“That wasn’t a request.”

“I don’t care.” I pulled my knees up. “I’m not one of your warriors.”

“No. You’re not.”

The way he said it made my stomach flip.

He moved closer, stopping near my bed. A slow smile spread across his face.

“Unless you want the servants gossiping about how their king carried you through the halls in your nightclothes, I suggest you get dressed.”

My pulse hammered. “You wouldn’t.”

“Who’s going to stop me?” His gaze dropped to my shoulder, where the nightgown had slipped. “You're making it very hard not to follow through.”

I blushed violently. After a hundred years in chains, what else hadn’t he done in a long time?

I tugged the gown in place. “Out.”

He smiled wickedly. “Five minutes. Then I’m coming back in.”

He backed toward the door, his eyes holding mine until the last second.

The door clicked shut.

I sat there, heart racing. The nightgown felt damp against my back. Had I been sweating? From him just standing there? Damn him. Damn the way he looked at me.

I scrambled off the bed. Then I yanked on a simple dress, fingers fumbling with the laces.

The door opened exactly five minutes later.

“Good girl,” he said. “Let’s go.”

He took me to the servants’ quarters.

Uther stood against the wall, arms crossed. At the table, Lioren waited with parchment and a quill. Elwen paced.

Kairos patted my shoulder. “Have a seat.”

I didn’t. “Why am I here?”

His amber stare pinned me. “Because we need to understand how your ability works.”

“I already know.”

His eyes narrowed. “Explain it to me.”

I shrugged. “I just…feel for the weak point and pull.”

Kairos stilled. “Feel for it?”

“Yeah, it’s like threads. I find where they’re thinnest and—” I made a pulling gesture. “They snap.”

His voice was dangerously quiet. “That’s all you know?”

“Yes.”

Lioren’s quill clattered. “You don’t trace anchor points?”

I frowned at him. “I don’t need to.”

Lioren gripped the table. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”

“I’ve been doing it my whole life.”

“Runes aren’t simple magic.” Lioren jabbed the air with his finger. “They’re complex webs of power. Some are connected to other runes. Some draw from bloodstones. Some are anchored to living things. When you damage them, you’re severing connections you can’t see.”

My stomach dropped.

Elwen stepped forward, her brows furrowed. “If you break the wrong rune, you could kill someone.”

“Or collapse an entire building,” Lioren added sharply.

“That’s why we’re doing this,” Kairos said quietly. “Before you accidentally destroy something that can’t be rebuilt.”

The room silenced.

“What do I get out of it?” I asked.

Kairos’s eyebrows rose. “What do you want?”

Asking for maps would be too obvious. Requesting time outside alone would raise suspicion. Information about portals would reveal exactly what I planned to do.

Privacy was reasonable. Expected, after everything I’d been through—Henrik forcing his way into my mind, the execution, being dragged across a realm. Anyone would want a space that was theirs. And in mine, I could hide supplies.

I lifted my chin. “No one enters my room without my permission. Not even you.”

He glowered. “That’s all?”

“I want one place where I’m not watched or controlled.”

Elwen’s expression softened slightly.

Kairos studied me for a long moment. “And if I agree?”

“Then I’ll cooperate.”

Kairos shrugged. “Fine.”

I sat in front of Lioren, whose skeptical gaze skewered me.

Kairos waved at three objects on the table: a rock, a battered shield, and a glowing orb. “We drew them this morning. Same rune, different materials.”

He pointed to the rock. “Carved with a chisel, filled with powdered puffcap and ink.”

“Puffcap?”

“Mushroom. Grows in old forests.” He gestured dismissively. “Weak. Fades within hours.” His hand moved to the shield. “This uses faerie blood.”

“Right.”

“Runes are vessels. They hold whatever you feed them. Most of these barely qualify as a meal.”

I studied the rock, remembering. “In Skalgard, hybrids bought vials off the back-alley merchants. Little bottles with handwritten labels. Vendors swore it was real dragon bone, that it would make their runes stronger.”

Kairos made a disgusted sound in his throat.

“It did nothing,” I continued quietly. “One boy lit his sleeve on fire trying to draw a rune.”

Lioren snorted. “There haven’t been dragons in over a thousand years. What were they grinding into dust?”

“The seller claimed it came from an ancient hoard. Sealed in fireproof glass.”

Uther let out a low chuckle.

Kairos leaned forward, his gaze sharp. “What did you think?”

I met his eyes. “It was sad. They wanted power so badly they’d believe anything.”

Especially him. Vaeris had worn his half-human blood like a crown in public—the dark prince of Skaldir. But in private, he’d seethed over being weaker than pureblooded fae. Hated how the nobles dismissed him with polite smiles.

I used to comfort him. He’d rest his head in my lap while I murmured reassurances that patched over his pride.

“Break them,” Kairos barked. “Start with the weakest, work your way up. We need to see how different materials affect you.”

I eyed the three objects. Refusing would raise too many questions. And out there, I’d encounter runes I’d have to shatter. I needed to know my limits.

Still, my hands felt slow. Heavier. My stomach had been tight all day. Maybe I was getting sick.

I picked up the stone. Heat seeped into my palm—a warming rune, common in noble homes. Rheya and I stole them. We’d drop them in water buckets or line our clothes with them.

I traced the carved lines. My vision blurred as I focused on the magic, envisioning threads wrapped around a beating heart. They hummed against my skin. I hooked my fingers through the shimmering strands and ripped them free, stretching them taut.

One sharp jerk. They snapped.

Wind cracked against my wrist.

I dropped the rock with a hiss, cradling my hand. It throbbed. One simple rune and I was already hurting.

Kairos grimaced. His throat worked like he wanted to say something, but he stayed silent.

Uther rubbed his chin. “That was anticlimactic. I expected an explosion.”

Lioren turned the stone over in his hands. “I thought I’d seen everything.”

Kairos slid the shield toward me.

I reached for it. Heat blazed from the rune. The second I touched it, pain like nails hammered through my arm. My jaw clenched as the magic thrashed.

Uther leaned closer. “Wow.”

I tightened my grip, the rune buzzing like a swarm of furious hornets. Digging into the tangled threads, I forced them apart, and magic burst through me in a searing jolt.

“Stop.” Kairos appeared beside me, gritting his teeth. “It’s too much.”

“No. I’m fine.”

“Famous last words,” Uther muttered. “Right up there with ‘hold my ale’ and ‘watch this.’”

Kairos gripped the back of my chair, snarling. “Drop it. Now.”

“I promised you.”

He growled. “Aelie, stop!”

I pushed deeper. Tears stung my eyes, the power scraping my flesh. The strands frayed. Then—

Snap.

The shield launched off the table and slammed into the wall with a deafening crack. Elwen stumbled backward. Lioren’s ink jar tipped over. Uther swore.

I collapsed against the chair. My palm was scorched red.

“That’s more like it!” Uther grinned. “Best lessons I ever had ended with either a bloody nose or someone nearly impaled.”

“Incredible,” Lioren murmured.

Kairos scooped up my hand, wincing. His thumb swept across the burn again. Careful. So careful it made my throat tight.

He didn’t seem to notice that the room was completely silent. Elwen had stopped mid-pace to gawk at us.

Crimson tendrils emerged from Kairos’s fingertips, sinking into me like silk through water. After the magic chased away the sting, his fingers kept moving in small circles, soothing me.

“Does it always hurt?” he asked roughly.

“Yes.”

Elwen cut through the haze. “Even on the heating rune?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Kairos turned my hand, examining me from every angle. He traced my palm lines with a focus that was too intimate for a room full of people. I licked my dry lips, my skin suddenly hot.

Vaeris would never have touched me like this in front of people. Kairos didn’t seem to care. Did he realize what he was doing? How everyone was watching?

“Are some worse?” Kairos asked.

I swallowed. “Yes. Some runes resist. Others feel like they’re tearing me apart.”

Kairos released me, swallowing hard.

“It’s like breaking a dam,” Lioren stated, scrawling notes. “The more power stored in the rune, the more violent the collapse. That’s why faerie blood wounded her while mushroom powder barely stung. We need more controlled tests.”

“No,” Kairos barked. “She’s done.”

I blinked, startled by the steel in his voice.

“Why?” Lioren protested. “We’ve just started testing her abilities.”

Kairos glowered at him. “I said no.”

“These trials are necessary,” Lioren pressed. “Pain is not uncommon when a human interacts with rune magic. If we can establish patterns—”

Bristling, Kairos got up. “I will not watch her bleed to satisfy your curiosity.”

Lioren’s face flushed.

“Well, this is new,” Uther drawled, looking far too entertained. “Is this the same king who dislocated my shoulder in training and told me to walk it off?”

Kairos shot him a look. “I can dislocate the other shoulder.”

“My brother’s right.” Elwen picked up the shield from the floor. “There has to be a way to protect her.”

Kairos stalked to the door. “Until we figure that out, we’re done here.”

The archivist’s jaw tightened.

So Lioren wanted answers. Elwen wanted me protected. Uther just wanted entertainment. And Kairos…I had no idea.

He glared at me pointedly. I stood as he yanked open the door. I followed him out, jumping as the heavy wood slammed shut. He charged down the hallway, and I jogged behind him.

I didn’t understand him. Yesterday, he’d caught me with the supplies. Made me believe he was going to kiss me, then humiliated me to prove a point. But in there? The way he’d held my hand…

I shoved the thought away. “Kairos?”

He didn’t slow down.

I grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. “Why did you take me out of there? You said I needed training.”

He turned, eyes blazing. “Training. Not torture.”

“I was fine.”

“You weren’t,” he said quietly. “You were already in pain after the rock. Then the shield—you kept pushing through it, like harming yourself is the cost of being useful.”

“So? You would’ve fixed me.”

“Who do you think I am?”

“You’re practical. Ruthless when you need to be.” I blinked, thrown by his heated glare. “What?”

“I don’t hurt people like that.”

I frowned. “It’s not hurting. Vaeris healed me when we practiced. It wasn’t fun, but he always put me back together.”

Kairos raked a hand through his hair. “You have to stop destroying yourself for males who don’t deserve it. Starting with me.”

Then he turned and walked off.

My chest tightened. Vaeris had never stopped a session. He’d pushed me through it, praised me for my endurance, told me the pain meant I was getting stronger. And I’d believed him.

Kairos took one look at my blistered palm and shut everything down.

No, he was just saying what I wanted to hear. Like yesterday, when he made me forget myself. Manipulation. That’s all it was.

I couldn’t afford to believe anything else.