Chapter 41 Echoes and Shadows
The forest was quiet, save for the sound of wind rustling through dead leaves.
Above her, the sky was a dull shade of grey. Cold. Silent.
A shadow emerged from the mist and knelt beside the girl lying beneath the crooked tree. Sana. Unmoving. Pale.
The shadow extended a long, dark finger and gently touched her forehead.
> "Not yet," it whispered, voice neither man nor woman. "It’s not time for you to rest."
With a sudden gasp, Sana’s eyes flew open.
Her chest heaved as she sat up, coughing, trembling. Dirt clung to her skin. Her clothes were torn. Around her, the forest breathed softly — alive, yet distant.
But the shadow was gone.
"Where… where am I?" she whispered, voice hoarse. The last thing she remembered was the sky splitting in the throne room, the guards dragging her... and pain. So much pain.
She tried to stand, but her knees buckled.
The trees around her were tall, twisted, like skeletal fingers pointing toward the sky. The air tasted strange, heavy with moisture and unfamiliar pollen. She wasn’t in Chandlok.
Not anymore.
---
Far away, in the palace she once called home, Hatim stood before the mirror in his chamber — but the reflection was wrong.
Sana stood behind him.
Her eyes were soft, but her smile was cruel.
> "Why did you let me go?" she asked, voice low.
Hatim spun, heart pounding. "Sana?"
But when he reached for her, his hand met air. Her image flickered, like smoke in wind.
Still, the hallucination didn’t fade.
> "You believed that letter, didn’t you?" she asked, walking slowly around him. "You believed I’d leave you."
Hatim swallowed. "I didn’t want to. But… your words…"
> "You’re a prince of lies and swords," she whispered, circling him. "But you couldn’t see through one lie written on paper?"
He shook his head violently. "You left. I came home, and you were gone. What was I supposed to believe?"
> "You were supposed to believe me," she hissed, her voice sharp now. "Not paper. Not your mother."
Hatim reached for her again, but she disappeared like mist. He fell to his knees.
"I’m sorry," he whispered. "I failed you."
> "Yes," her voice echoed all around. "You did."
---
Sana stumbled through the forest, barefoot and bruised. Her hands trembled with cold, or maybe fear. She found a stream and knelt beside it, drinking from the icy water. Her reflection stared back at her — wild, broken, hollow-eyed.
Then she saw him.
Hatim.
Standing on the other side of the stream.
Her heart leapt, hope flaring.
"Hatim…?"
But he didn’t move. His eyes were cold.
> "Why did you betray me?" he asked.
She froze.
"I didn’t—"
> "You left without a word. You took everything. You made me a fool in front of my kingdom."
Her voice cracked. "No! I was forced—I didn’t—"
> "Liar," he spat. "You never loved me."
Sana backed away, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I did! I do! I—"
But he turned and walked into the mist, disappearing like smoke.
She screamed. "Come back! Please! I didn’t leave you! I would never—"
But there was no reply.
Only silence.
---
In the palace, Hatim stood at the edge of the garden — the one Sana had once tended with laughter and bare feet. The wind rustled the leaves, and for a moment, he swore he could smell her jasmine scent.
Then he heard her voice again.
> "Do you miss me?"
He turned.
She stood beneath the tree where they once carved their initials. But this Sana wasn’t real. He knew it now. Her lips curved upward, mocking.
> "Do you miss the girl who worshipped you? Or the woman you let them destroy?"
He closed his eyes. "I miss you. All of you."
> "Too late," she said. "You believed them instead of me."
"I was broken."
> "And I was buried."
He fell to his knees beneath the tree, digging his fingers into the earth.
"I’ll find you," he whispered. "Wherever you are… I swear, I’ll find you."
---
Back in the forest, Sana collapsed against a tree. Her hands covered her ears, trying to block out the sound of his accusations — the phantom words she couldn’t escape.
But then, a breeze brushed her cheek.
Gentler.
Softer.
And she heard his real voice. Not angry. Not accusing. Just… aching.
> "Where are you, Sana?"
Her breath caught.
> "Come home," he whispered across time and space. "Please…"
She pressed her hand to her chest, where her heart still beat his name. And for the first time since falling to Earth, she didn’t feel completely alone.
---
?? Author’s Note:
Babes… this chapter broke me. ?? Hatim and Sana are miles apart, but their hearts? Still calling to each other in silence, in dreams, in pain. The hallucinations, the twisted words — it’s giving haunted soulmates energy and I’m not okay ????
This was grief dressed in stardust. But trust me — the stars are still watching… and the truth always finds a way back.