Skyhold didn't sleep.
Even with the sub-core claimed and the storm receding from the horizon, there was a strange weight in the air. Like thunder held just beyond hearing. A hush that was too heavy. Too charged. Liam felt it settle into his bones.
The system pulsed again.
> [System Alert]
Rotational Sync Failure: Imminent
Harem Pressure: Critical
Territory Buffs: At Risk
Override Available: Initiate Full Resync Within 12 Hours
He stood alone in the great hall beneath the shattered dome, the relic light still faintly glowing beneath the dais. His reflection rippled across the polished stone, but it wasn't still. It flickered.
Not with system light… with longing.
He wasn't alone for long.
Naia entered first, the desert healer moving with a quiet grace. Her veil was pulled back, hair tousled from the wind outside. She wore no armor now. Just loose crimson cloth wrapped around bronzed skin, her eyes glowing with something deeper than fatigue.
"You've waited too long," she said, not unkindly.
"I've been holding too much," he answered.
"You're not made to hold everything. You're made to lead us. Share the weight."
He met her eyes.
"I forgot how much I need your steadiness."
She smiled faintly, then stepped close enough to brush her hand over his chest.
"Then remember it."
He closed his eyes for a moment, the press of her palm like a brand. Not heat. Not cold. But something anchoring.
"You're not just the healer, Naia," he said. "You're the one who reminds me to breathe."
"And you're the only one I let take my breath away."
---
She didn't stay alone for long.
Kaelith arrived next.
Where Naia had been soft, the duelist was sharp and vivid. Her coat hung open to reveal toned arms, twin blades sheathed at her hips. She strode in like she had a score to settle with the silence.
"Let me guess. The system finally remembered I exist."
"It never forgot," Liam said. "Neither did I."
"You just haven't touched me since the Spire. Not really."
He stepped toward her, slow but certain.
"And you haven't let me."
Kaelith smirked, but the edge of it wavered.
She didn't flinch when his fingers caught her wrist.
"You're always ready to fight," he said, "but what about surrender?"
"To you?" she asked, eyes narrowing. "Only if you earn it."
His grip tightened just slightly.
"I will."
They held the tension there. Breath shared but not spent. Close but not yet claiming. She broke it first, stepping back with a grin that promised both punishment and reward.
"Good. Because I don't want a soft king. I want the one who cut down Overlords and made me kneel."
---
Behind them, the doors opened again.
This time it was Aisha.
The desert warlord didn't walk. She prowled.
Her armor was stripped to its lightest layers. Sand still clung to her thighs, and her shoulders bore fresh claw marks from a skirmish beyond the ridge. She carried no weapon.
She didn't need one.
Liam turned to face her, but she was already moving, a slow circle that never fully closed. Not yet.
"You summoned us," she said. "Or did the system do that for you?"
"A bit of both."
"You're still learning to command what you own."
He didn't argue.
She stopped in front of him, eyes gleaming violet.
"You marked me as yours. But I was never claimed in full. Not the way the others were."
"Do you want to be?"
Her eyes didn't waver.
"No. I want you to fight for it."
Liam stepped into her space, hands finding the edges of her hips.
"Then tell me what it takes."
Aisha leaned close, lips a breath from his. Her voice was a whisper and a challenge all at once.
"Make me forget that I was ever stronger alone."
She didn't kiss him.
She didn't have to.
The system flared behind them.
> [Bond Pressure Rising]
Loyalty Spike: Detected
Warning: Emotional Saturation Nearing Limit
---
The last to arrive was Rena.
She didn't speak.
She didn't need to.
She moved like someone who'd walked the edge of every storm and survived. Her armor was half-unbuckled. Her sword was clean. Her eyes were not.
She watched him with something older than jealousy. Something heavier than love. Something that couldn't be named and didn't want to be.
Liam crossed the space between them, every step quiet. Final.
When he reached her, he didn't touch her right away.
He just looked.
"You're the first," he said. "You're still the one I fall back toward, even when I don't mean to."
"And I'm still the one watching the others get pieces of you while I wait for my turn," she said. "Again."
He touched her cheek.
"You never wait because you're forgotten. You wait because you trust me to come back."
She closed her eyes at that. Just for a heartbeat.
When they opened again, they were wet.
"I don't want to trust," she said. "I want to be wanted."
He pulled her close, holding her without restraint. No pretense. No strategy.
"Then let me show you that you are."
---
The system pulsed again.
> [Harem Resync In Progress]
Bond Intensity: Amplifying
Physical Tension: Unresolved
Emotional Pressure: Critical
Territory Buff: Sustained Through Sync
Naia reached for Liam's hand.
Kaelith stepped to his other side.
Aisha brushed her shoulder against his.
Rena leaned into his back, chin resting on his shoulder.
The circle formed again.
Not all of them.
But the ones who hadn't been seen. Heard. Felt.
Now they were.
And they weren't content with being footnotes.
They pressed against him like tide and flame. Like need and loyalty. Like war and home.
His body hummed with their bond. His mind sharpened with their proximity. His soul steadied under their weight.
He wanted to speak.
The system beat him to it.
> [Resync Threshold Achieved]
Partial Vitality Restoration: Granted
Bonded Wife Stats: Boosted
Alert: Zone 17 Signals Intercepted
Rogue System Thread Detected – Storm Origin Confirmed
He pulled away just enough to breathe.
"The next zone's ready."
Aisha licked her lips. "So are we."
Naia nodded. "But we're not finished here."
Rena grinned. "You've only just remembered us."
Kaelith slid a hand beneath his shirt.
"And now… we remind you."