I awaken to a red cardinal chirping somewhere in the distance, a song of glee and new beginnings. I'm tucked in like a child, wrapped in silken baby blue sheets; surprisingly warm and comforting. I sigh in content, stretching my limbs in a catlike way and savoring the smells of walnuts roasting on a fire.

I feel safe, even though I know nothing of which inn they brought me to— or even if I'm still in the underworld.

Maybe he'd brought me back to Atticus's realm, Holdrex, or maybe this was earth— like some kind of medieval festival cabin taking place on earth.

My eyes take in the room before me— warm wooden walls of a cabin, a fireplace fully stocked with a new pile of freshly chopped firewood to the side, walnut colored wood flooring, and a dresser to the right of the king sized bed.

It was simple, rustic, and oddly charming.

I make a move to sit up and hear a rustle next to my arm, a crinkling of paper.

Biting my lip, I peak at the wax paper— a bouquet of a type of blue flower, so fragrant that the smell wafts up my nose without me having to bring it close and inhale it.

"They're frost thistles, from his royal pain in the ass himself." Waren leans on the doorframe, and for added effect, she knocks on the already opened door.

"Can I come in?"

I give a small, groggy smile as I pat the bed next to me.

"Come on over."

She grins widely and closes the cedar wood door, nearly skipping in glee over to the spot that I patted. Her blue cloak is over her head, covering the horns that adorn her head; but she looks the same as before. Crystals line her throat and ears in lavish jewelry, and her gown is the most beautiful color of ivory. It almost looks as if she's in wedding attire, but nonetheless— stunning. To my admiring glance, she flashes her fangs in giddiness.

"Yes, my lady— I've already been told that I look like I'm attending a wedding today." She says with childlike happiness— an almost unseen side of her from the couple times that I've seen her.

"Well— are you?" My eyes slightly widen as I stare at her, still taking in the smell from the flowers and hanging onto the words she'd spoken before coming into the room.

I've never gotten a bouquet of flowers before. My heart stutters, almost in a frost being thawed way, but I brush it off. It does that to every kind gesture I stumble on— they were so sparse these days, after all.

"No— I'm in training to be a guardian." She says with hope in her eyes.

"The right hand to the next queen." She grins at me slyly as my eyebrows raise slightly.

"The color ivory signifies the purity in guardians." She finishes as I nod in understanding.

"Guardians—is that a thing in Holdrex?" I question as her expression falters a bit.

"Well, no. Frost thistles aren't from Holdrex either, my lady." She says cautiously, almost as if she's treading on dangerous waters. I continue to stare at her, waiting for her to finish as she sighs at me.

"He's going to kill me for breaking the news to you but—" she's interrupted as a deep voice rings out before she's able to.

"You're not in Holdrex, sweetheart." Callence says from the doorway.

"You're in Cyron."

He's holding onto the top of the doorway again, just like he was back at the inn. His muscles go taut, pressing on the material of his button down white shirt that's rolled up to his elbows. The black is still fading from his veins— from his skin and hair, but his eyes look the same as they always do; smoldering and mischievous.

His hair drops onto his tan forehead as his deep cobalt eyes heatedly drop to the flowers I'm holding on my lap as my brain scrambles to try to understand what they're saying to me; but I'm in disbelief.

"Cyron— as in," I start to say, but bring my fingertips to my lips as my head snaps to the large window to my right.

I make a move to sit up, placing the flowers carefully down on the pillow as they both watch me.

I realize that at some point someone might have bathed me because I feel cleaner— my face lacks oil and my hair is out and smells like cranberries; I'm wearing a long sleeve lavender satin nightgown that reaches halfway down my thighs, but I barely manage to process that as I move in a hurry out of bed and to the wooden windowpane.

My fingers clutch onto the wood, nails digging into it as the breath is knocked out of me, seeing all that I am.

"My family," I begin to speak distractedly as I watch the intricately large snowflakes gently fall outside of the window.

"Downstairs— we've been waiting for you to wake up." Callence replies instantly, before the worry could hit my heart truly.

I hum, not quite hearing him as my mind is still trying to wrap itself in the beauty of the realm I'm in.

"The cardinals song is so beautiful here— they sound peaceful." I whisper, awed to even be able to take in the scene of my winter wonderland dreams.

I meet Callence's stare through the reflection of the window as he moves closer to me, stopping just a couple paces behind me as Waren takes a cue and silently leaves the room.

His humorous smile makes me grin slightly, the joy contagious.

"What?" I ask expectantly. "What did I say?"

"Nothing, it's just—" he looks to the ground with his smile, folding his arms across his chest as he holds in his chuckle.

"Just?" I press on, raising a sole eyebrow to help myself seem more intimidating. He licks his lips as he looks up at me through the reflection once again, his cheeks tinged with a hint of pink.

"Cardinals— the song that you hear is far from peaceful." His deep chuckle Timbers softly. "What you woke up hearing is actually a war cry— they're warning death to anyone who comes close to their territory and anything that is theirs." He finishes, taking a the initiative to close the space between us and place his arms on each side of me as I still face the window on a bated breath.

Though— the thought of tiny birds being so vicious does manage to pull a small laugh from me. Fuck around and find out, basically.

I want to meet his eyes again— but this time I dare myself to turn around.

Tensing slightly, the nerves inside of me turning my heart into a rabbit, I turn to face Callence.

His scent is just like him, contagious and has my senses purring in delight at the freshness. His face is angled down toward me, mere inches away as I swallow slightly, observing the stubble running across his face and realizing that he was closer than I initially had thought.

His blue eyes are almost glowing as I watch in expectation— of what, I didn't know.

"For that very reason, those birds are the national bird of this realm." He gives me a soft smile, but it's so fleeting as his face becomes unreadable again, the intensity just getting deeper as the seconds pass.

I fold my arms against my chest, and I can see it's an effort for him to keep his eyes on my face as he swallows slightly, any hint of a smile gone.

My eyes flicker to the frost thistles on the bed, the blue flowers reminding me of a bouquet of baby's breath— just painted blue in an extraordinary way.

"And the flowers?" I question him. Why'd you get me those, when I'd already told you not to have hope?

A kernel of warmth sparks in my chest, but I crush it down. Look where that got you with Kilian— and just a day ago too.

"Thought you'd like to be introduced to the cultures of our land— those are the national flowers." He says in response, almost as if he'd expected the question from me; like it was a game of 'how many questions can you expect from Viola'.

"Let me guess, next there's a national flag too?" I say smugly as his face breaks out into a deep laugh, too quick to hold it in. I hide my smile as he looks back down at me, something akin to admiration as he responds.

"I can make one up if you'd like me to." He says lowly as I find myself laughing softly.

But as I sober up from the soft hidden gem of a moment I'd stash away in my memory, my smile drops slowly.

"Callence, why am I here? Am I going to be forced to be anything that I don't want to be?" I ask lowly as I look up into his eyes, and see such a hidden turmoil that it makes me shiver. He swallows again.

"No, I will never force your hand at anything." He says solemnly. "And if I ever try to, I'll hand you my blade to cut out my throat myself." His hands tighten on the wood as he swears this to me, an unsaid vow being spoken between us.

"Then, why am I here?" I ask, dreading the answer to come from his pink lips; but nonetheless, the answer comes.

"While we were in Settrinos, Kilian blindsided us and staged a Coup. He has Holdrex." Callence says, silent fury rolling across his features again, and that familiar inhumane side peaking from beneath his skin reminding me of what he was.

While we were in Settrinos? The entire time he'd been romancing me and putting on a show to Atticus, he was really moving his forces into Holdrex and taking that realm as his?

A bitter taste enters my mouth as my thoughts race.

Where was Varla? Is she dead?

"The war has officially commenced." Callence says, his face sparkling from the reflections of the soft white snow outside in a realm that seemed peaceful until a moment ago.

"And that—my breathtaking mate," He softens his expression, taking a tendril of my brown hair between his fingers as he inhales my scent with a serene calmness that only a monster in possession of a gazelle could obtain.

"Means that the prophecy is almost completed."

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