Silence filled the chamber after she spoke her name, as if the world itself paused to listen. Rhea felt four pairs of eyes fixed on her like she was the only star in a dark sky. Her breath trembled, small and shallow, and she curled her fingers tighter into the sheets.
Aelion was the first to move. He rose from where he'd been kneeling beside her and stood tall, shoulders broad, posture straight, gaze steady. He studied her with the quiet intensity of a man reading constellations. "Rhea," he repeated softly, and the way he said it—calm, reverent, almost protective—made her heartbeat stutter.
Then Seryon whispered her name, his voice low and velvety. "Rhea…" It felt like the moment a tide kisses the shore—gentle, inevitable, deeply intimate. She swallowed hard. His eyes didn't leave her face, even once. He looked at her like he was memorizing every breath she took.
Kaelith didn't whisper. He growled her name. "Rhea." His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing with a hunger he didn't try to hide. "You have no idea what that does to us." His voice dropped lower, rougher. "To me."
Rhea looked away quickly, heat crawling up her neck.
Draeven's voice followed, deep like the rumble before an earthquake. "Rhea." Just her name—yet when he spoke it, the shadows in the room thickened, gathering around him like loyal guardians. He held her gaze without blinking, without shame, without fear. She felt pinned in place by the weight of him.
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't think.
All four of them were too close. Too real. Too overwhelming.
"What… what do you want?" she whispered again.
Kaelith moved first, stepping forward as if he'd been waiting for that question. "You."
Aelion shot him a sharp look, but Kaelith didn't back down.
"You heard me," he said. "We want her. She's ours."
"Kaelith." Seryon's tone wasn't loud, but there was warning in it. "You're frightening her."
"I am stating a truth." He met Rhea's eyes, and even though she felt the heat of him like a wildfire, she couldn't look away. "We came for you. Not this palace. Not this empire. You."
Aelion took a step forward between them, not aggressive, but quietly commanding. The wind stirred around his feet. "She does not belong to you alone."
Kaelith scoffed. "She doesn't belong to any of us. Yet."
Draeven pushed off the wall, golden eyes burning. "Stop talking as if she's not here."
All three turned to Rhea at once.
Her breath caught.
She felt small. Not in a belittled way—more like she had stepped into a story too large for her to hold. Destiny pressed against her like a physical force.
Aelion softened his voice. "Rhea."
She blinked up at him.
"Do you know what happened when you fainted?"
"No…" she whispered.
"The sky cracked," he said simply.
Her stomach twisted.
Seryon leaned forward. "Your magic surged. It called to our realms so loudly the elements obeyed it without question."
Kaelith crossed his arms. "It wasn't gentle. It was raw. Wild. Uncontrolled."
Draeven's voice deepened. "It almost tore us from our sleep."
Rhea shook her head quickly. "I… I didn't mean to. I didn't even know—"
"We know," Aelion said softly. "You didn't do it consciously."
"But your body did," Kaelith added.
Rhea's cheeks flushed. She knew exactly what they were referring to—the bath, the water, the warmth, the shivers she couldn't control.
Seryon's eyes softened in understanding. "It wasn't your fault. The awakening of the Heart Core always starts with instinct."
Her voice trembled. "Awakening?"
Aelion nodded. "Your magic is tied to ours. When you feel strong emotion—fear, pain… desire—your magic responds."
Rhea closed her eyes, mortified, remembering how her body had reacted in the water. She never wanted to think about that moment again, let alone discuss it with four gods.
But Kaelith… Kaelith watched her with eyes that said he knew exactly what she was thinking.
He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping into a low, sinful purr.
"Tell me, princess," he murmured. "What were you feeling before the sky broke?"
Her breath stopped.
Aelion shot him a glare. "Kaelith."
"What?" he asked, shrugging lazily. "It matters."
Draeven growled softly—actual growling—rattling the air around them. "She doesn't need to answer that. You know she was overwhelmed."
Kaelith smirked. "That's not the part I'm talking about."
Seryon moved closer to Rhea's other side, kneeling beside the bed. "Pay him no mind. Fire has no tact."
Kaelith rolled his eyes. "Water has too much."
Rhea hugged her knees tighter. "Please… stop arguing. Please."
The room fell silent instantly.
Four gods fell silent because she asked.
Aelion stepped forward until he stood just in front of her, lowering himself into a quiet, graceful kneel again.
"We will not harm you," he murmured. "Do you understand that?"
She hesitated.
Seryon gently reached toward her hand—not grabbing, just offering. "Please don't be afraid of us."
She almost took it.
Almost.
But then she pulled her hand back.
Seryon's eyes dimmed faintly, a brief flicker of disappointment crossing his features before he regained control.
Kaelith clicked his tongue but didn't comment.
Draeven said nothing, but the golden in his eyes tightened, as if he felt her fear physically.
She swallowed thickly. "I don't understand any of this. I don't understand what I am."
Aelion nodded. "We will explain."
Before he could speak, the doors to the chamber burst open with a violent crash.
Rhea gasped.
Her father, the Emperor, stormed inside with ten guards at his heels.
"Get away from my daughter!"
The guards rushed forward, weapons drawn.
Aelion didn't turn, but the air hardened like invisible steel. The guards hit the barrier and stumbled back, eyes wide.
Fire roared behind Kaelith.
Shadows coiled around Draeven.
Water beaded in the air around Seryon like floating droplets.
The dragon gods didn't even move.
Their power responded for them.
The Emperor paled. "Rhea—are you hurt? Did they touch you? Did they—"
"No!" she cried, reaching out. "Father, wait—"
Kaelith smirked darkly. "Touch her? Not yet."
Seryon shot him a murderous look.
Aelion closed his eyes briefly, exasperated. "Ignore him."
But Draeven stepped forward, his presence like a mountain dropping into the room. "We will not leave her."
The Emperor's voice shook. "She is my daughter!"
Aelion finally rose from his kneel and turned fully to face him.
The calmness vanished.
In its place stood a god.
"She is the Heart Core," he said. "Our fated bride."
The Emperor staggered back. "No… impossible…"
Rhea pressed both hands to her heart as the chamber filled with elemental pressure.
Wind coiled.
Flame twisted.
Water shimmered.
Earth trembled.
All four dragon gods spoke together, their voices overlapping like thunder:
"She belongs with us."
Rhea's breath caught painfully.
Her father trembled.
The guards dropped their weapons.
The world seemed to tilt around her.
"No…" she whispered. "I… I don't belong to anyone."
Kaelith's eyes flashed. "You will."
Aelion's gaze softened. "Only if you choose to."
Seryon whispered, "And we will wait."
Draeven simply said, "We are not going anywhere."
Rhea stared at them through trembling lashes, her heart pulling in directions she didn't understand.
She had never felt so terrified.
She had never felt so protected.
She had never felt so wanted.
And as the four gods drew closer—
not touching her,
but forming a circle around her bed—
the world outside shook with the weight of her awakening.