The sunlight poured into my eyes until they burned bright like crystal fire. The air rushed past, carrying the scent of wildflowers — sharp, sweet, endless.
Yes… I knew this feeling. I had lived and died too many times, chained by the curse, bound in despair. But this… this was something I had never held before.
Freedom. I could taste it in the wind. I could feel it in the beat of hooves. I could smell it in the speed.
The Bloodrunner turned sharp and smooth, and I bent with it, my body moving like it had always known this rhythm. And in that turn, my gaze fell on Caelum.
Ah—I had forgotten him.
But there he was, standing at the edge of the field, smiling so bright it almost startled me. His hands clapped together, his voice rang clear, carried by the wind:
"Brilliant, Princess! Ride like the wind itself bows to you!"
Why? Why was he cheering for me, his eyes shining as if my victory was his own?
I couldn't understand.
I could not understand why he was happy when I was happy.
Why he smiled when I smiled.
Was he finding his own joy inside mine?
I turned my head away. I hated it. I hated the way my chest tugged, pulling tight in a place I had locked long ago. Why—why did it make my heart ache?
No. No time for this useless feeling. I pressed it down, deep into my ribs, where it would never see the light. I had a path. A hunt. Monsters to kill before they reached the palace.
But before the thought even left me—
The Bloodrunner moved.
It lunged without warning, sudden and sharp, its body twisting, hooves striking the ground like thunder as it angled straight toward Caelum.
I gasped. The reins cut into my palms, the leather biting deep.
I could feel the wind rushing past my ears, loud and sharp, the pounding of hooves shaking through my legs. And over it all, Caelum's voice broke through, desperate and clear.
"Princess—!"
My stomach dropped as the Bloodrunner closed the distance, fierce and unstoppable.
Now afterwards, the world blurred around me, colors and sound twisting together until I couldn't tell sky from ground.
My stomach dropped, weightless for a heartbeat, and I felt myself slipping, sliding, falling from the Bloodrunner's back.
"Princess! Watch yourself!"
That was all I heard — his voice, sharp, full of concern.
I was ready for the ground to break me, for the sharp bite of stone — but what I felt was warmth. Strange, soft, too warm.
I opened my eyes, vision hazy, and my breath caught.
Fuck.
I wasn't on the ground. It was warm. Too warm.
I was on Caelum.
When I lifted my head, his face was there — so close, so impossibly close.
His breath brushed against my skin — warm, steady, too close, far too close. And yet, I couldn't look away.
Our breaths tangled in the narrow space between us, warm against warm, each one feeding the other.
I felt the shiver of it, sharp and sweet, a tingle running through my chest.
His eyes were steady, but I could see it — the faint rise of his chest, the quick beat under his ribs. My breath was his, and his was mine, caught together for one impossible heartbeat.
And in that moment we both forgot everything else.
I was lost. My silver hair slipped across his cheek like silk, and my legs tangled against his, pinning me there.
His eyes held me — dark, steady, glowing with a gentleness that unsettled me.
I could see myself inside them, small and fragile, and at the same time I saw him reflected in mine, closer than anyone had ever been.
The world slipped away, blurred into nothing, and in that moment it felt as though only two souls existed — his and mine.
And all that remained was the heat between us, the sound of his breath mixing with mine, and the strange ache curling tight in my chest.
No. No, no.
My eyes widened as reality slammed back, harsh and merciless.
The warmth vanished. The breath between us vanished. All that remained was the pounding in my chest, ugly and loud.
I pulled myself up, stumbling back onto my feet. My heart was still racing, traitorous, my hands shaking, and I hated it. I hated myself.
How could I let this happen? How could I falter so easily for a foolish mortal touch, for a pair of steady eyes and warm breath?
It was like spitting on my own vow. Like dragging myself down into the very picture they all painted of me — a soft princess, a weak thing, a body meant only to marry and warm the bed of some man.
No.
I was not born for this.
My path was the curse. My enemy was the Princess of War. That was what I was died many times and came back to life. Not this. Never this.
I clenched my fists until my nails bit my palms, the pain biting back harder than the shame.
My stomach churned. My mouth tasted of iron. I wanted to spit at myself, wipe the weakness from my skin.
Caelum's face flickered in my mind.
Those eyes, that gentle smile. No. I would not be moved by them again. I would not let a man's warmth slip chains around my heart.
The next time he looked at me, he would see only the Princess of Thorns — not some girl who stumbled into his arms.
I straightened my spine, forcing air into my lungs as if to crush the weakness out of me. Remember who you are. Remember why you're here. Then move.
This moment would die here. And so would the softness.
I turned my head away and forced myself back onto the saddle. My hands tightened on the reins, my feet pressed into the stirrups, and I pushed the Bloodrunner forward.
I didn't look back. I refused to. But I could feel it — his eyes on me, gentle, warm, following me as I rode away.
Fuck. The thought alone made me spit on myself. I hated it. I hated that I knew what kind of gaze he had without even seeing it.
I pressed my heels harder, faster, driving the Bloodrunner toward the main gate of the palace.
The walls loomed high above me, but my eyes weren't on them. My thoughts were already beyond.
Beyond these walls lay my path.
I could feel it even now — the pull, the promise. A shadow crawling closer from the south, a pulse that matched the beat of my own heart.
Inside me, my Bloodthorns stirred, restless, eager. They whispered of the hunt, of the feast, of the roses that would drink and bloom.
Yes. Beyond this gate, beyond this palace, lay everything.
And soon, the rose would bloom red.