Chapter 77 Chapter Seventy-Seven
Draevyn’s kiss turned hungry—no longer careful, no longer restrained. Need sharpened the way his mouth moved against hers.
Then his hands drifted lower.
Sliding along her hips, fingers brushing her thighs as if his intention was to lift her—draw her legs around him.
Kaelani flinched.
The kiss broke.
She moved back just enough to create space between them, breath uneven.
Draevyn immediately stilled.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, genuine regret flickering across his face. “I shouldn’t have pushed.”
Kaelani shook her head, brushing a damp strand of hair from her cheek.
“It’s fine,” she said reassuringly. “I just… would like to take things a little slower.”
For a moment, Draevyn studied her.
Then the faintest smile curved his mouth.
“Kaelani,” he said gently, “I’ve waited fifteen hundred years.”
Deep in her mind, her wolf snorted in disdain. “Ancient fossil.”
Draevyn continued, the words brushing the air between them.
“I can wait a little longer.”
His hand rose, brushing lightly against her arm.
“You’re worth every moment of it.”
The words weren’t grand.
They were simple.
But something in them settled warm in her chest.
He leaned in again.
This kiss was softer.
Slower.
Almost worshipful.
And strangely—
her breath vanished.
Not stolen in the poetic sense.
Literally gone.
Kaelani pulled back with a gasp, a little dizzy, chest rising as she tried to steady herself.
Draevyn’s eyes gleamed faintly in the crystal light of the cavern.
“Did I just… take your breath away?”
She laughed lightly, a touch winded.
“As you did mine,” he added quietly.
Kaelani shifted in the water, turning to step toward the stone edge—
—and suddenly her footing slipped.
Her knees buckled.
The world tilted for a heartbeat, the cavern lights smearing into streaks of silver and gold.
Draevyn caught her before she could fall.
His hands closed around her arms, steadying her easily as he drew her upright. His brows pulled together as he studied her face.
“Kaelani?” His voice lowered, threaded with concern. “Are you alright?”
She blinked, pressing her fingers lightly to her temple.
“I’m fine,” she murmured. “Just… a little faint.”
The dizziness rolled through her again, softer this time but enough to make her lean slightly into him.
“The lagoon can do that the first time,” he explained. “Its waters are… deeply calming. They draw tension from the body. Sometimes more than one expects.”
Before she could protest, he slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back, lifting her effortlessly from the water.
Kaelani let out a small breath of surprise as he carried her bridal-style toward the cavern shore.
“You should rest,” he said.
The world folded around them in a shimmer of shadow and light as he teleported them from the cavern.
A heartbeat later, they were standing in her chambers.
The air was warmer here, the soft glow of enchanted lanterns replacing the cavern’s starlike shimmer. Draevyn stepped forward and set her gently on her feet beside the dresser, his hands lingering just long enough to make sure she was steady.
“Would you like me to call someone to help you change?” he asked. “Your clothes are soaked.”
Kaelani shook her head, brushing damp hair from her face.
“No, I’m alright,” she said. “I can manage.”
He studied her another moment, clearly weighing whether to argue, then inclined his head.
“The court will be gathering in the courtyard tonight,” he said. “Nothing formal. Just games, music, conversation. The Unseelie have always preferred… lively evenings.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“If you feel up to it later, that’s where you’ll find me.”
Kaelani nodded.
“I’ll see how I feel.”
Draevyn gave her one last look—half protective, half reluctant—before the shadows curled around him.
Then he was gone.
The room fell quiet.
Kaelani reached for the dresser, gripping the edge as another wave of dizziness rolled through her. It wasn’t painful—just heavy, like her body suddenly weighed twice as much.
“Okay…” she muttered under her breath.
Carefully, she peeled the wet dress from her skin, letting the soaked fabric slide to the floor. Her undergarments followed, cold and clinging. She replaced them with soft, dry clothing from the wardrobe—something loose and comfortable.
By the time she finished, the dull ache behind her eyes had deepened.
She crossed the room slowly and sat on the edge of the bed, pressing her fingers to her temples once again.
The lagoon had done more than make her lightheaded.
Something about it had seeped into her bones—warm, heavy, draining the last of her strength.
All she wanted now was to lie down.
Kaelani sank onto the bed, the soft mattress dipping beneath her weight.
The moment her head touched the pillow, her body seemed to surrender. Her eyelids grew heavy—too heavy. She tried to blink them open once, twice, but the effort felt distant, like her limbs no longer belonged to her.
She wasn’t just tired.
She was exhausted.
A deep, soul-weary fatigue spread through her, the kind that made it feel as if she hadn’t slept in days… maybe longer.
The room blurred.
Darkness folded over her thoughts.
And then—
The dream pulled her under.
⸻
The moment her feet touched the ground, Kaelani knew where she was.
The Seelie Court.
Cold marble stretched beneath her feet, the same eerie corridor unfolding before her. Tall pillars lined the hall like silent sentries, their pale surfaces glowing faintly in the dull light that filled the space.
At the far end, the throne room waited.
Kaelani felt it again—that unseen pull.
Not a command.
A summons.
And this time… she didn’t resist.
Her footsteps echoed softly through the hall as she moved forward, letting the invisible thread guide her deeper into the hall until the massive throne room doors loomed before her once more.
They parted without sound.
Inside, everything remained exactly as she remembered.
Frozen.
Time held captive in a silent, unmoving moment.
And there—upon the throne—
sat the Seelie Queen.
Lyressa.
Kaelani approached slowly this time.
Curiosity had long since overtaken fear.
She studied the queen’s face again—the troubled expression, the regal posture locked in eternal stillness. Lyressa looked like a statue carved from moonlight.
Kaelani leaned closer, her eyes narrowing as she studied the queen’s face more carefully.
And then she saw it.
A tear.
A single crystalline tear that had slipped from the corner of Lyressa’s eye, frozen halfway down her cheek.
A voice echoed suddenly through the chamber.
Not spoken.
Felt.
Inside her mind.
Unseelie Queen…
The sound stretched unnaturally, like wind threading through hollow stone.
Born of two realms…
The words seemed to curl through the air, dragging along the edges of her thoughts.
See…
Kaelani straightened slowly.
Something inside her stirred—not fear this time, but frustration.
Enough of the riddles.
Enough of the fragments.
“Fine,” Kaelani muttered into the silent throne room.
Her voice echoed faintly through the frozen hall.
“You want me to see?”
Her jaw tightened.
“Then show me.”
Without fully understanding why—or what compelled her—Kaelani stepped forward and reached for Lyressa’s hand.
What she was about to do had been forbidden in the Fae realm for centuries.
She was going to dream-walk the Seelie Queen.
The Queen had been dragging Kaelani into her domain—into her dreams… or perhaps her nightmares.
Now Kaelani would drag the Queen into hers.
The moment her fingers touched Lyressa’s skin, something ancient stirred.
Something powerful.
⸻
Light exploded across the world.
Blinding.
Alive.
It flooded every corner of her senses, pouring through her like sunlight after an endless night—a radiant brilliance that felt like the very light that breathes life into the world.
Kaelani gasped as air rushed into her lungs—sharp, desperate, as though she had been drowning for an eternity and only now remembered how to breathe.
When her vision cleared, the throne room stood before her again.
But this time…
it wasn’t frozen.
It was alive.
The air hummed with magic—warm, vibrant, thriving. Silk banners bearing ancient Seelie crests swayed gently above the hall.
Courtiers moved through the chamber in elegant gowns and tailored robes, their voices soft and musical as they spoke in quiet conversation.
Life.
This was the throne room as it had once been.
Before the silence.
Before the curse.
Kaelani tried to move—
But her body didn’t obey.
Hands—elegant, pale hands—rested against the throne’s armrests.
Not hers.
A Seelie guard stepped forward, bowing respectfully before offering his hand.
“My Queen.”
Kaelani rose with his help.
But when she looked down—
the body moving wasn’t her own.
She walked forward, guided by instinct she didn’t understand, leaving the throne room behind as attendants and courtiers dipped their heads in quiet reverence.
Her steps carried her into the adjoining hall.
There, a small decorative table stood against the wall, its surface carved from polished ivory. A mirror rested atop it—tall and framed in a beautiful array of flowers.
Kaelani stopped before it.
Slowly—
she looked up.
And froze.
The woman staring back at her wasn’t Kaelani.
Piercing blue eyes shone like the clearest ocean water beneath sunlight.
Long platinum hair spilled over her shoulders in silken waves, braided with delicate threads of silver.
A gown of luminous white and pale sapphire draped her figure, woven from fabric that shimmered like captured starlight—every inch of it unmistakably regal.
Fit for a queen.
Not just any queen.
The Seelie Queen.
Lyressa.
Kaelani’s breath caught in her throat as the realization settled over her like a rising storm.
She wasn’t just watching the memory.
She was inside it.
And somewhere beyond the reflection—deep within the dream—
Lyressa was watching her too.