chapter 32 Lovers in the Eye of the Storm
The storm wasn’t outside anymore. It had moved in—between them.
Sana hadn’t spoken to Hatim since the argument. Meher tiptoed around her chambers. The palace buzzed with whispers, wondering if the royal couple had already begun to crack.
But the truth was quieter than rumors. It sat in Sana’s chest like a weight.
“He thinks I don’t trust him,” she told Meher. “But I just… I don’t know how to love someone so powerful without losing myself.”
Meanwhile, Hatim was in the training yard, slicing the air with his blade. The sword glowed gold. Every time he struck, the ground trembled.
“She doesn’t understand,” he muttered to himself. “Everything I do… it’s for her.”
That evening, they finally crossed paths.
Sana was walking through the moonlit corridor when she saw him. He stood still. So did she.
Silence. Not angry anymore. Just… aching.
“I miss you,” she said.
Hatim turned, like he’d been waiting forever to hear it.
He crossed the space between them in two long strides.
“You think I doubt you?” he said. “I doubt everything else in the world. But never you.”
She looked at him. He was glowing again. That familiar fire just under his skin.
“Then why do you shut me out?”
“Because I’m afraid.”
She blinked. He’d never said that word before.
“Afraid of what?”
“Of losing you.”
His voice cracked.
“Afraid that this power in me will swallow everything good, including you. And when I look at you, Sana… you’re everything pure I never thought I deserved.”
She stepped forward and touched his cheek.
“I am yours, Hatim. All of me. Even the parts I’m still figuring out. But you don’t have to fight this war alone.”
He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her shoulder. The tension in his body finally melted.
“Promise me,” he said. “No matter what happens—no matter what we become—we stay on the same side.”
She pulled back to look at him.
“We were forged under the same stars. That means even our storms have the same rhythm.”
That night, they didn’t make love. They didn’t need to.
They lay beside each other, hands clasped, heartbeats syncing.
Outside, the clouds rumbled.
But inside their chamber, peace reigned.
Far away, the Oracle dipped her fingers in moonwater.
“They are learning,” she said. “But will love be enough when the heavens start bleeding?”
Author's Note:
Oof... that chapter hurt. The silence, the storm, the tension between Hatim and Sana—it’s giving slow-burn emotional warfare. ????
Sometimes love doesn’t look like soft kisses… it looks like standing in the same storm, choosing not to run. And our two star-crossed souls? They’re holding on. Barely.
Next chapter, truths will crack wide open. The prophecy is clawing its way to the surface. Are you ready for what’s coming?
As always, thank you for reading, besties ?? Drop your fav line or scene below — let’s cry and scream together ????
With love and stormlight