Oki did not let go of him.
Her arms were wrapped around Kimo, her cheek pressed lightly against his chest, listening—not to his heartbeat alone, but to something deeper. Something shifting beneath the surface of the world.
Kimo felt it before she spoke.
"Oki?" he murmured.
She tightened her hold, fingers curling into the fabric of his coat as if anchoring herself—and him.
"I can feel something coming," she said softly.
His body stiffened. "What kind of something?"
She hesitated, and that alone told him everything.
"I don't know," she admitted. "That's what frightens me."
She lifted her head to look at him, her eyes unusually serious—older somehow, as if carrying weight she hadn't earned in years.
"It could be a fight," she continued. "It could be an argument. It could be loud and destructive… or quiet and cruel."
Her voice dropped. "It might be between you and me. Or between you and the king."
Ice stirred beneath his skin.
"Oki—"
She shook her head gently, cutting him off. "I don't know when. I don't know how. I only know this—" She placed her palm over his heart. "It won't be good."
The silence between them grew heavy.
"And that's why I need you to listen to me," she said.
He did.
"No matter what happens," Oki said firmly, "we hold on to each other. Even if words are twisted. Even if truth is hidden. Even if doubt is planted where trust once lived."
His jaw tightened. "You think someone will try to turn us against each other."
"I know they will," she replied quietly.
Kimo's hands came up to frame her face, eyes burning with restrained fury.
"And you?" he asked. "What if they try to turn you?"
Her answer came without hesitation.
"I will never betray you."
The words were not dramatic. Not loud.
They were absolute.
"Not in anger. Not in fear. Not even if I'm forced to stand against you," she said, voice steady despite the storm beneath it. "You must believe that. Even if I cannot explain myself. Even if I am silent."
His breath caught.
"You're asking me to trust you blindly," he said.
She leaned into his touch.
"I'm asking you to trust us."
A long moment passed.
Then Kimo pulled her into him, holding her as if the world itself were trying to tear her away.
"If you fall," he said quietly, "I fall with you."
Oki closed her eyes, resting against him.
"That's exactly why they're afraid," she whispered.
Outside, the wind shifted direction.
And somewhere deep within the palace, unseen forces began to move—slowly, deliberately—toward a moment neither of them could yet name.
But when it came, they would remember this.
They would remember who they promised to hold on to.
---
To be con....