(Lyra's POV)
The golden thread snapped in half.
I stumbled backward, my heart racing as the invisible link that had been pulling me toward the dark-haired stranger suddenly broke like a cut rope. In my first life, I had never felt anything like this. Magic ties between people were supposed to be unbreakable.
So why had this one just shattered?
I steadied myself against a flower booth, trying to understand what was happening. The mysterious young man in the black cloak was still standing twenty feet away, trying to look at jewelry. But I could feel his eyes on me like fire on my skin.
This had to be Prince Kael. Everything about him fit the descriptions from my first life - tall, silver eyes, dangerous aura that made people step away without knowing why. But something was different about him. Something that made my dragon magic respond in ways I didn't understand.
"Are you alright, Your Highness?" the flower seller asked, looking worried.
"Fine," I lied, buying white roses to keep my hands busy. "Just a little dizzy from the heat."
But it wasn't the heat making me dizzy. It was the fact that every time I looked at the stranger, I saw flashes of memories that couldn't be mine. Memories of fighting beside him. Of him holding me while I died. Of loving him so much it felt like my heart was being ripped out.
That was impossible. In my first life, Kael and I had been foes. We had never fought together. We had certainly never been in love.
So why did seeing him make me feel like I was remembering a life I had never lived?
I took a big breath and walked toward him. If he was here early, it meant something in the timeline had already changed. I needed to find out what he knew and what he was planning.
"Excuse me," I said, tapping him on the shoulder.
He spun around so fast his hand went to his sword, and for a split second I saw his eyes flash with silver light. Definitely Prince Kael. No one else had magic that made their eyes glow like metal.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly, relaxing when he saw I was just a young woman. "You startled me."
I smiled my most innocent princess smile. "I was thinking if you could help me. I'm looking for my cousin Marina, and I thought I saw her talking to you earlier."
It was a complete lie, but I wanted to see how he would respond to being questioned by someone he thought was just a random noble girl.
"I think you have me confused with someone else," Kael said carefully. "I don't know anyone named Marina."
He was a good liar, but not perfect. I could see the way his jaw stiffened when he said Marina's name. He knew exactly who she was, which meant he had been studying our family for longer than I thought.
"Oh well," I said with a little laugh. "You just look like someone who would know all the important people at court."
Kael's eyebrows rose slightly. "What makes you say that?"
"The way you hold yourself. The way your eyes never stop moving, like you're watching for danger. The fact that you're wearing expensive boots but cheap clothes, which means you're trying to fit in." I tilted my head and pretended to study him. "You're either a spy or a prince in disguise."
For a moment, he looked truly shocked. Then he started laughing, and the sound made something warm and painful twist in my chest.
"You're very observant," he said. "Most people don't notice things like that."
"Most people don't have to worry about assassination attempts at breakfast," I answered without thinking.
The words slipped out before I could stop them, and I quickly regretted saying anything. Kael's expression became very serious, and I could feel his magic probing at the edges of my thoughts like cold fingers.
"That's an interesting thing for a young lady to say," he said quietly. "Almost like you're speaking from experience."
I was about to make up some excuse when the screams started.
"Demons!" someone shrieked from near the castle gates. "Shadow demons!"
My blood turned to ice. In my first life, the monster attack hadn't happened until next month. But here they were, tearing through the fair crowd like black lightning.
I could see three huge creatures made of living shadow, their red eyes burning like coals as they slashed at anyone who got too close. People were running and yelling, but the demons weren't interested in random victims.
They were going straight for me.
"Get behind me," Kael ordered, his hand going to his sword.
"No," I said strongly. "These demons aren't here by chance. Someone sent them specifically to kill me."
Kael's eyes widened. "How could you possibly know that?"
Because I had seen this exact same attack before, just not here and not now. Someone was changing the timeline, speeding up events that weren't meant to happen yet.
The biggest demon leaped toward us, its claws aimed at my heart. I could have dodged. I could have run. Instead, I did something that would change everything between Kael and me forever.
I let my dragon fire free.
Golden flames burst from my hands, so hot and bright they turned the air itself into liquid light. The demon didn't just die - it was totally erased, like I had burned it out of existence itself.
But the moment my fire touched Kael's shadow magic, something incredible happened.
Time stopped.
Everything around us froze like a picture. The frightened people became motionless statues. The other devils hung in the air like dark sculptures. Even my own heartbeat went quiet.
It was just me and Kael, standing in a world that had forgotten how to breathe.
"What just happened?" he mumbled, his silver eyes wide with shock.
"Our magic," I said, barely able to believe it myself. "When dragon fire and shadow magic touch, they can break through the barriers between worlds."
"That's impossible. Shadow magic and dragon fire are meant to destroy each other."
"Not if the people using them are..." I stopped, not sure how to finish that thought.
"Are what?" Kael stepped closer, and I could feel the amazing power radiating from his skin.
I looked into his eyes and saw the same confusion I was feeling. Neither of us understood what was happening, but we both knew it was important.
"Soulbound," I whispered, the word coming from some deep part of my mind. "People whose souls are connected across multiple lifetimes."
Time started moving again, and the sounds of the event crashed back over us. But Kael and I stood absolutely still, staring at each other.
"Multiple lifetimes?" he repeated slowly.
I nodded, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst. "Kael, I know this sounds crazy, but I think we've met before. In another life. Maybe more than one."
His face went totally white. "How do you know my name?"
The question I had been dreading. Because now I had to decide whether to trust him with the truth or keep lying to be someone I wasn't.
"Because," I said, taking the biggest risk of my second life, "I remember dying in your arms."
Before he could reply, I kissed him.
The moment our lips touched, the world burst into golden fire and silver shadows. I felt his memories crash into mine like two rivers meeting. I saw flashes of fights we had fought together. Of lands we had saved. Of a love so powerful it had survived death itself.
When we broke apart, both of us were gasping for air.
"You're not Princess Lyra," Kael said, his voice barely a whisper.
"Yes and no," I answered. "I'm Lyra, but I'm also someone else. Someone who lived before and died before and came back to change everything."
Kael's shadow magic was swirling around us like a live storm. "Who are you really?"
I smiled, feeling more like myself than I had since my return. "I'm the Dragon Queen you were supposed to marry a thousand years ago. And you're the Shadow King who died trying to save me."
His legs almost gave out. "That's impossible."
"So is stopping time with a kiss, but we just did that too." I reached out and touched his face, and his skin was warm under my fingers. "Kael, someone has been manipulating our countries for lifetimes, making sure we never remember who we really are. Making sure we stay enemies instead of friends."
"Who?" he asked.
Before I could answer, a new voice spoke from behind us.
"Hello, children. Having fun playing with magic you don't understand?"
We spun around to find a woman in a black cape standing just ten feet away. Her eyes were burning red, and the air around her seemed to bend and twist like she was made of pure evil magic.
"Witch Morwyn," I breathed, recognizing her from my first life.
She smiled, showing teeth that were too sharp to be human. "Very good, little dragon. Though I prefer my full title."
"Which is?" Kael asked, his hand moving to his sword.
Morwyn's smile became even more frightening. "I'm the Void Sorceress. The one who has been killing you two lovebirds for over a thousand years, just to watch you find each other again and again."
My heart stopped. "You've been killing us? Lifetime after lifetime?"
"Oh yes," Morwyn laughed, and the sound made flowers wilt and birds fall from the sky. "Because every time you two join your powers, you become strong enough to destroy me. So I make sure you never get the chance."
She raised her hand, and dark power began gathering around her fingers like black lightning.
"But this time is different," she added. "This time, I'm not going to wait for you to fall in love. I'm going to kill you both right now, while you're still finding out who you are."
The evil attack. The early timeline. Everything suddenly made sense.
"You sent the demons to force us to use our magic together," I realized. "You wanted us to remember so you could kill us while we're still weak."
"Clever girl." Morwyn's magic was getting stronger, bending reality around her like heat waves. "Any last words before I erase you from existence forever?"
I looked at Kael, and he looked at me. We both knew we weren't strong enough to fight her. Not yet. Not without fully understanding our reborn powers.
But as Morwyn raised her hand to strike the killing blow, something impossible happened.
A door opened in the air behind her, and someone stepped through.
Someone who looked exactly like me, but older and wearing a crown made of dragon fire.
"Hello, little sister," the other Lyra said quietly. "I think it's time we had a talk."