Chapter 71

Evelyn’s POV

The mirror still trembles.

I stare at it, propped crooked on the carved stand, spiderweb cracks fanning outward like veins of black lightning. My hands ache, fingertips tingling with the echo of the power I pushed too far. A thin thread of blood slips from my nose, and I swipe it away before it can stain my dress. The air is heavy, thick with the ghost of what I summoned like the taste of ash on the tongue after a fire long gone out. I stagger to the edge of the bed and sit down hard, clutching the blanket in my fists until the world stops spinning. This is dangerous. Too dangerous.

The memory of the glass exploding flashes again, sharp and merciless: shards flung across the room, the hiss of raw force burning against my skin, the awful pull in my chest that nearly made me collapse. I thought I had control. I thought I could guide it. But the truth is clear now—this power is a beast with teeth, and I am little more than a girl foolish enough to rattle its cage.

I press a hand over my heart. The bond hums there, steady and insistent, like a string plucked too hard. Kael. He must have felt it. My failure, my fear, the way my body nearly gave out beneath the surge. My cheeks burn hot. If he knows, he will come storming back, and I cannot will not have him treat me like a fragile doll that breaks at the first touch of strain.

I promised myself I would not be powerless again.

“Milady?” A voice muffled by the door. One of the maids.

My spine stiffens. “Yes?”

“The guards said they heard something. A loud crack. Are you are you well?”

I glance at the shards glinting in the corner. My pulse leaps. If anyone sees if anyone suspects word will fly faster than a hawk. The last thing I need is rumors of witchcraft curling through these halls, especially when Kael is away.

I force my voice steady. “The mirror slipped. Clumsy of me. I’ll need another sent in.”

A pause, then the shuffle of retreating footsteps. Not convinced, but unwilling to press. For now.

I let out a shuddering breath. Already the fortress feels like it is watching me, walls leaning close, shadows holding their breath. Every step, every word, carries weight here. Secrets do not stay secrets for long.

I drag myself upright, gathering the larger shards into the folds of a sheet and bundling them out of sight. My hands shake as I work, but I force them still. The trembling is weakness, and weakness is a luxury I cannot afford.

When the last shard is hidden beneath the bed, I wash my face with water chilled from the basin, scrubbing away the blood and sweat. My reflection in the copper basin wavers, distorted, almost mocking. For a heartbeat, I swear the eyes staring back at me are not mine at all—they gleam too bright, like fire hidden under glass.

I slam the basin down, water sloshing over my wrists. “Enough,” I whisper to myself.

But even as I speak, the hunger stirs again. The power is not done with me. It pulses like a second heartbeat, restless, demanding. If I leave it untended, it will tear through me at the worst possible moment. No I have to master it.

Not tonight, though. Tonight my body aches, and exhaustion pulls heavy at my bones. I slip beneath the blankets, clutching them close as though they might shield me from myself. Sleep comes fitfully, filled with jagged visions of fire and glass, of chains snapping only to reform around my wrists.

When dawn comes, it brings no peace.

The maids whisper louder now when they think I cannot hear. They dart glances at my hands, at the faint marks left where glass cut me, at the shadows under my eyes. At breakfast, one of the older women from Kael’s council pauses too long when greeting me, her gaze lingering like she is trying to peel back my skin to see what lies beneath.

And all the while, the bond hums like a drumbeat, Kael’s presence pressing against my mind. It is not words, not truly it is sensation. Worry. Anger. Possessive heat that coils low in my chest until I can hardly breathe. He knows something. Not everything, not yet, but enough.

That night, when the candles burn low and the guards change shifts outside my door, I try again. Carefully this time. Slowly.

I sit cross-legged on the floor, palms open. I close my eyes, drawing my breath deep, imagining the power like water rather than fire. Something that can flow, not shatter.

For a moment, it listens. A flicker of light gathers in my palms, soft as dawn, shimmering with promise. My heart soars yes, this is it, this is control it when the door opened. My concentration splinters. The light jerks, flaring wild, searing a streak across the rug before sputtering out. My palms sting, and I bite back a cry.

The door opens wider. A guard steps in, his brow furrowed. “Milady? I thought I heard"

“Nothing,” I snap too quickly. Too sharp. His frown deepens.

I force my features smooth. “I was praying. The words carry, perhaps. You mustn’t barge in again.”

He bows, stiff and uncertain, retreating with suspicion etched plain across his face.

The moment he leaves, I sag against the bedframe, breath ragged. Fool. Fool! I cannot afford these mistakes. Already I can see how rumors could twist: the lord’s lady locked away, muttering to herself in the night, strange lights leaking beneath her door.

It will not be long before Kael hears of itnot through the bond, but through whispers carried by servants eager to curry favor. And what then? Will he chain me tighter? Strip me of even the small freedom of my chamber?

I press my burning palms to my eyes and swallow the lump rising in my throat.

I wanted strength. I wanted freedom. But what if all I have done is trade one cage for another, glass for fire?

Three days pass in a blur of failed practice and mounting dread. Each attempt leaves me more exhausted, more frayed at the edges. I begin to dread the bond’s pull, Kael’s silent pressure in the back of my mind. At times it feels like he is standing just behind me, breath hot against my ear, though the halls remain empty.

On the fourth night, I wake from a dream of burning hands to find my sheets smoldering where my fingers gripped them too tightly. A thin curl of smoke rises in the moonlight. I smother it with a pillow, heart racing, sweat slick on my skin.

I cannot keep this hidden much longer. Not from Kael. Not from anyone.

And yet, a voice inside whispers, If you master it, truly master it, they will have no choice but to see your worth. No one will be able to touch you again.

The hunger answers, a low, dangerous hum.

I close my eyes and whisper into the darkness, though I know the bond will carry it to him if he is listening.

“Kael… forgive me. I can’t stop.”