By morning, the palace buzzed with whispers.
An assassin had struck. A priest had vanished. A prince had lived.
But none of them knew what Lucien had heard in the dark.
None of them knew what now sharedhisbody.
---
Lucien walked through the throne corridor, robes unfastened, sigil bare. The guards stared but didn't speak. Some lowered their eyes. Others didn't blink. The energy around him had shifted — subtly but unmistakably.
Where once his presence crackled like fire, it now pulled like gravity.
Kael met him near the war chamber. His armor gleamed, but his face was tight.
"You look… different," he said carefully.
Lucien tilted his head. "Maybe I am."
Kael stepped closer. "Is it the curse?"
"It's not a curse anymore," Lucien said softly. "It's me."
Kael reached for him — fingers grazing Lucien's shoulder. But the sigil pulsed in warning. Kael flinched as heat flashed beneath his palm, not enough to burn, but enough to warn.
Lucien's eyes didn't waver. "Careful. It doesn't like to be touched by doubt."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Lucien, whatever it's telling you—"
"It's not telling," Lucien said. "It's remembering. I'm remembering."
He walked past him, slow and regal. "The only question is… which of you will still recognize me by the end."
---
In the Flame Temple, Elias uncovered bloodied robes behind the sanctum. A secret dagger. A symbol scorched into the wall: "SILENCE THE CHOICE."
His chest pounded.
They weren't just trying to bind Lucien anymore.
They were trying to *force* him — by removing one of the options.
And he had almost been it.
---
Later, Lucien returned to the sealed dungeon. His brother — the chained man — was waiting, kneeling in shadow.
"You felt it awaken," the brother said. "Did it speak?"
Lucien nodded.
"What did it offer you?"
Lucien's eyes glittered. "Freedom. Power. Protection."
"And what did it want in return?"
Lucien's lips curved into something unreadable. "Nothing I haven't already given."
The brother lowered his head. "Then it has begun. The merging."
Lucien stepped into the circle. The cursed soul inside him pulsed in approval, warm and dangerous.
He closed his eyes. "What am I becoming?"
"You're not becoming," the brother whispered. "You're remembering. You were this once. Before you died. Before the Emperor ripped your soul out and fed it into a vessel."
Lucien's breath hitched. "Then who was I?"
The brother's voice was soft.
"You were the soul meant to destroy the first Empire. But you hesitated… and died."
---
In the war chamber, Kael stared at a wall of glowing strategy runes.
Behind him, the Emperor stood.
"Is he slipping?" the Emperor asked.
Kael didn't answer.
"I need him contained. I gave you time. I gave you the hunt. I gave you access."
Kael turned slowly. "He's not containable."
The Emperor's eyes hardened. "Then he's a weapon gone rogue."
Kael took a slow breath. "He was never just a weapon. And if you keep treating him like one—"
The Emperor raised a hand.
Magic flared.
And Kael froze mid-sentence — air ripped from his lungs, held in place by golden bindings.
"Don't forget," the Emperor said coldly, "I raised you to kill kings, not love them."
He released him. Kael dropped to one knee, gasping.
"Make him choose soon," the Emperor growled. "Or I'll choose for him."
---
That night, Lucien stood at the tallest balcony of the palace. Alone.
Or so it seemed.
The soul inside him stirred — but not with violence.
With… longing.
"They will betray you," it whispered. "They already have."
Lucien's heart ached. "They cared."
"They feared. You confuse the two."
Silence.
Then: "Let me show you how it feels to be *loved without fear."*
Lucien gripped the balcony rail. "If I say yes?"
"Then we'll stop surviving. And start ruling."
---
Far below, in the palace courtyard, Kael and Elias crossed paths in the rain.
Neither spoke.
Until Elias said, "We're losing him."
Kael didn't deny it.
But his voice was quiet.
"No. He's just finally becoming what they were afraid of."
Elias looked up at the thunder rolling overhead.
"And what if that includes us?"