Reana had known this man from when they were young, and he’d never shown attachnt to anyone – not even to his own siblings. He was always composed, calculating, a storm kept tightly bottled beneath layers of cold. So why now? Why this shift?
She watched him intently, her eyes narrowing slightly. Or was he planning sothing? Because the Kael that she knew wouldn’t care about holding a funeral for a ’loser’ who had ruined his plans.
As a seer who’d read their future, Reana should have known these things, but she didn’t. Nothing about this funeral showed up anywhere in her readings.
Vivian’s future ended when she died. As for Kael’s, there were lots of potholes she encountered, especially after Vivian’s death. When Reana read futures –although what she saw ca in fleeting fragnts– she could piece them together and form sothing coherent, but for Kael, a lot of things didn’t make sense.
There were gaps where gaps shouldn’t be, like Chapters torn from a book.
Monts that should have existed, like his coronation, his victory, even his death, were blurry or missing entirely. She could see the storm forming around him, the blood, the fire, a gigantic throne like one she’d never seen before...
Kael was shrouded in total chaos. Perhaps this was why she was scared of him. She couldn’t get through to him. She couldn’t decipher what he was thinking. It scared her more than she could care to admit.
"You..."
Kael’s voice pulled Reana back from her reverie. Her gaze shifted up to his face and they locked eyes. His expression was calm now, just like the Kael she’d always known.
"I like your wit, your mind. Have I told you that before?"
"Yours is not exactly likable," Reana replied, though her mind was screaming for her to be careful with him.
anwhile, Kael didn’t feel offended, and if he did, he didn’t show it.
"If we were not on opposite sides, being beside would have been inevitable. But unfortunately, you chose this path from the mont you were born with a Luna wolf. And now, one of us must die for the other to rule." He said it so casually that Reana felt her hackles rising.
But she stood her ground, her shoulders squared. "Isn’t it obvious whose death you talk about? You and your family have tried countless tis and—"
"Actually, that’s my mother. I’ve not even lifted a finger against you...yet."
Reana felt a chill run down her spine. But he wasn’t done.
"However, I did plan to assassinate your mate, Hale –was that his na? – on your coronation day. But..." he shook his head, "soone else was faster." He continued. "I hate unexpected attacks or stupidity that ruins my plans, which is why Vivian or anyone who ruins my plans has to die."
Reana’s hand trembled as she stared hard at him. Her face betrayed no emotions, but her heart was a drumbeat of fear. "Vivian?" she asked quietly, her voice like the calm before a storm. "You killed her?"
She already suspected they were the ones who sent that rogue assassins after Hale.
He smiled faintly, unbothered. "Not exactly. Have you heard of aging poison?" He watched her calmly. Seeing her expression didn’t change, he continued, "Just like its na, it doesn’t kill you right away. Instead, it accelerates ti inside your body. Days, months, even years can pass within minutes.
"The pain is agonizing, oh, you have no idea. You don’t sleep. You stay awake. You feel every pain, every ache." His voice was low, almost gentle, but the words carried a cruel weight. "But the poison works best when it grows old with the wine.
"Before Vivian stole the wine, it was eight years old. I was hoping it would be at least ten before use," he said with a sigh. "The older it is, the more... exquisite the suffering."
His eyes t hers again, glinting with sothing unreadable. "But eight should be enough for you to feel the terror, Reana."
Reana stiffened, her fingers curling into the fabric of her skirt. The weight of his words pressed into her chest, squeezing the air from her lungs.
Aging poison.
The na alone clawed at sothing primal inside her, sothing that whispered of death that didn’t co swiftly but crept, lingering, savoring its feast.
"You’re lying," she whispered, but her voice wavered, betraying the ice she tried to summon. "Vivian died instantly. I saw it with–"
"Did you?"
Reana froze. She didn’t. She left when Vivian was fighting for her life.
Seeing her face paling, he smiled, a slow, almost pitying thing. "You saw what you were ant to see," he murmured. "But her soul, her wolf – they fought to stay alive.
"Aging poison devours from the inside out, Reana. No scream, no chance. Just a slow, silent death... masked by whatever fool’s toxin you thought would work."
Her stomach twisted violently. "Vivian scread."
"Because she was weak. Her body was weak, her ntal health was weak. She was stressed. Stressed that she’d be dying alone without you." He continued, watching her like a hawk. "It wasn’t the poison that made her react that way... or maybe it contributed to her agony. But it was the fear she instilled in herself. The knowledge that she’d just drunk a poisoned wine."
A beat of silence passed.
Then he added, almost absently, "The real beauty of it? No cure. No antidote. Once it’s in your veins, ti becos your cage."
"A fitting punishnt, don’t you think?"
"Vivian is not dead...?" Reana asked and he confird.
"She wasn’t. But she is now." He glanced back at the grave.
Reana shivered involuntarily. She took a step back, her eyes slightly wide. "What do you want from ?" she choked out, hating the thin thread of fear that snuck into her voice.
His eyes glead, rciless. "Terror, Reana. And then... surrender. But I don’t want you alive."
The urge to lunge at him twisted through her body like a whip. Rage and fear tangled so tightly in her chest that she could barely breathe. Her nails bit into her palms, drawing blood, but it was the only thing grounding her.
She finally understood what he wanted. Why he held this funeral with so many people. Reana finally understood why he was provoking her.
Kael wanted her to lose her mind and attack him, with so many people as witnesses, on the day of soone’s funeral... It was a taboo to fight at a funeral.
He stepped closer, slow and deliberate, like a wolf savoring the final monts before the kill. "You were never ant to survive this," he murmured, voice almost tender. "Just to understand - right before the end - where you truly belong..." he pointed to the ground. "Down."
Reana bared her teeth, hatred flooding every vein. "I’d rather die on my feet than kneel to you."
A smile, cruel and lazy, curved his lips.
"Good," he whispered. "It will make breaking you so much sweeter."
"My Luna..."
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