---
The halls of the Sun Clan palace still hummed with the tension of Luna's departure. As she and Ren walked away from the towering golden gates, the air between them was thick with unspoken questions.
Ren glanced up at Luna, her young face set in an expression of deep thought. "Do you think he's up to something?"
Luna didn't respond immediately. Instead, she exhaled slowly, scanning the surrounding area for anything unusual. It was too soon. Prince Kael had rejected her outright, his disgust toward her and her people clear in his every word and action. Yet now, mere moments after her departure, a messenger had come running after her?
She wasn't naïve.
"He's planning something," Luna finally said, her voice sharp with certainty.
Before Ren could ask another question, the sound of rapid footsteps caught their attention. A young man in the Sun Clan's military uniform approached, his expression cautious. He stopped a few feet away and bowed slightly, though Luna could tell it was out of formality rather than respect.
"Prince Kael requests a private meeting with you," the messenger announced.
Luna raised a brow. "When?"
"In twenty days," he replied, glancing between her and Ren as if sensing the tension thickening around them.
Ren shifted closer to Luna, arms crossed. "And what exactly does your prince want to discuss?"
The messenger hesitated. "He said it concerns your proposal of an alliance. He is… willing to negotiate."
Luna tapped her fingers against her hip, her mind already working through the possibilities.
Kael's rejection had been absolute. The disgust in his eyes had been real. But now he wanted to negotiate? It didn't add up. Either he had been pressured by the elders of the Sun Clan, or he had his own hidden motives. Neither option put her at ease.
She locked eyes with the messenger. "Tell your prince I will consider it."
The man hesitated before bowing and swiftly retreating toward the palace.
As soon as he disappeared from sight, Ren tugged at Luna's sleeve. "You're not seriously thinking of going alone, are you?"
Luna chuckled, placing a hand on the girl's head. "I never said I'd go alone."
But in truth, she wasn't sure yet. Kael was unpredictable, and unpredictability was dangerous.
Ren frowned. "You don't trust him."
"No," Luna admitted. "I don't."
She turned her gaze toward the horizon. Twenty days. It wasn't much time to prepare, but she wouldn't walk into this meeting blindly.
She would find out exactly what game Prince Kael was playing.
---
Twenty Nights of Obsession
The Sun Clan's palace, bathed in golden candlelight, was eerily silent. Servants had long since retired, the halls empty of life save for the occasional flicker of a torch.
Prince Kael lay sprawled across his bed, his golden hair damp with sweat, his chest rising and falling heavily. His fists clenched the sheets, and his breath came in uneven bursts.
The room was suffocating.
Luna's voice echoed in his mind, taunting him.
You assume we need you.
He snarled, gripping the fabric beneath him.
His body was burning. He could still feel the lingering trace of her power from their battle. His mind replayed the way her celestial energy had surged against his, the sheer force of it unlike anything he had ever encountered.
She was dangerous. A threat.
And yet…
His fingers absently brushed against the glowing celestial mark on his chest. The cursed mark. The proof that their brief contact had left something behind. It was a secret he hadn't told anyone, not even his most trusted warriors.
The mark pulsed whenever she wasn't near, a dull ache turning into searing pain the further she went. At first, he had thought it was some kind of trick, an illusion of his mind.
But no.
It was real. And it was her.
He had tried to ignore it, to fight against the unnatural pull that twisted inside him. But every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. The way she had looked at him—so defiant, so unshaken by his presence.
The way she had defeated him without hesitation.
His breath hitched, his pulse hammering against his skin. He dug his nails into his palm, trying to suppress the involuntary reaction coursing through him.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
He hated her.
Didn't he?
His golden eyes darkened as a twisted smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"One day," he murmured, his voice low, hoarse, filled with something dangerous.
His fingers gripped the sheets tighter.
"One day, you will pay, Luna."
---