After dinner, silence accompanied me to my room.
My mother's words and Kaelis's coldness still weighed on me, but what echoed most in my mind were Selene's gazes: warm, intense, impossible to ignore.
The day's heat and the exhaustion from training made me seek out the private bath in the east wing. The bathtub, made of dark marble, was filled with warm water that gave off steam scented with nocturnal herbs. I slid slowly into the water, letting the tension leave my body.
I closed my eyes, and for a moment, the shadows calmed.
A soft creak interrupted the peace. The door opened slightly, and a silhouette entered without announcement.
"Nyx…" whispered a voice I would recognize among thousands.
"Selene." My heart sped up.
She closed the door behind her, with a gesture that was shy yet determined. Her steps drew closer, and the steam enveloped her like an ethereal veil. She wasn't wearing the formal robes from dinner, but a light linen tunic that hinted at the delicacy of her skin.
"You shouldn't be here," I said, though my voice lacked firmness.
"And yet I came," she replied softly, kneeling beside the bathtub. Her blue eyes met mine, and for an instant, all the weight of the world disappeared.
Selene reached out and touched the water, creating ripples that caressed my skin. The contact was minimal, but I felt a shiver run through my entire body.
"Since you awoke… I can't stop looking at you. It's as if you've been reborn, and it frightens me… but it also draws me in."
I swallowed, unsure. My right eye throbbed with a different kind of hunger, but it wasn't for blood: it was desire.
"Selene… you don't understand the danger. I'm… changed. I could hurt you."
She smiled tenderly and, without breaking eye contact, took my hand under the water.
"Then control yourself with me."
The world grew smaller: only her, her breath close, the heat of her skin beneath my fingers. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
I leaned forward slightly, the steam enveloping us. Our faces were a breath apart. Her lips slightly parted, mine trembling. The darkness inside me roared, but for the first time not with hunger, but with a new fire.
And when our lips finally met, it wasn't violence or a monster that was born in me, but an unexpected softness.
The shadows stirred around us, as if celebrating that moment.
The kiss was brief, but enough to mark a broken boundary: we were no longer just betrothed by obligation.
Now there was desire. There was choice.
Selene pulled away slightly, her cheeks flushed.
"If this is a mistake… then let me make it with you."
I smiled, still trembling, as the warm water enveloped us.
For the first time since I awoke, I felt alive.