Page 150 of Court of Aether and Shadows

Helios's breath hitched slightly, his iridescent robes shimmering with barely contained emotion.

"It was different then. We were different."

"Were we? Or were we just brave enough to defy their precious traditions?"The space between us felt charged with possibilities, with roads not taken."Even after Liarel chose me, even after they forced us apart...that connection never truly faded, did it?"

Our elements seemed determined to prove my point; shadow and aether weaving together in patterns that spoke of passion barely contained. We had been magnificent together, the three of us, before the Council's threats had forced us to choose convention over conviction.

"The forbidden prince of shadows," Helios breathed, his voice carrying harmonics of remembered desire. "Always pushing boundaries, always testing limits. You made me question everything I'd been taught to believe."

"And you,"I replied,"made me want to be worthy of questioning."

Those iridescent eyes held me captive, just as they always had.

Like captured auroras swirling with celestial fire, they shifted through impossible colors — gold to silver, azure to amethyst, each shade carrying centuries of complicated history between us.

I remembered how those same eyes had once looked at me with such warmth, such desperate wanting, in those stolen moments between shadow and light.

The hatred that had replaced that warmth after Liarel's choice still haunted me.

The way Helios's perfect features would freeze, his eyes turning cold as winter stars whenever our paths crossed. That dismissive glare had cut deeper than any blade because I knew – we both knew – it was masking pain rather than true hatred.

"I don't regret choosing her,"I said softly, watching emotions flicker through those mesmerizing eyes."But I regret that we weren't brave enough to fight for something more. That we let their fears dictate our happiness."

My shadows curled around his celestial energy, recreating ancient dances.

"We could have found another way. Could have created something new, something that didn't fit their narrow view of what love should look like. Instead..."

"Instead we chose safety over possibility,"Helios finished, his voice carrying harmonics of old pain."Tried to please a world that was determined to reject us regardless of our choices."

The irony wasn't lost on me — how we'd ended up conforming to exactly what the Council wanted, despite our reputations for defiance. The shadow prince and the light lord, forced into separate corners of existence when we could have blazed a trail for others to follow.

Our elements had become almost desperate in their dance, shadows and celestial light weaving together with an intensity that made the very air vibrate. Where our powers touched, they created patterns of such beauty it almost hurt to look at them —like watching galaxies birth and die in endless cycles.

The narrow stairwell could barely contain the energy between us, ancient magic responding to even older desires.

I'd always been the one in control, the dominant force in any relationship.

My reputation as the shadow prince who bent others to his will was well-earned.But Liarel... she had been different.Her fire, her strength had made me want to yield, to let her take the lead.

I had found freedom in that submission, in letting her wild spirit guide us both.

Now, watching Helios's perfect features painted in the light of our mingling powers, I recognized the choice before us. The same choice we'd faced centuries ago, but perhaps with wisdom earned through pain and time.

With deliberate slowness, I pulled back, letting my shadows reluctantly disentangle from his light. The separation felt almost physical, like tearing apart something that was meant to be whole.

But this wasn't my decision to make – not this time.

"The position has always been open," I said softly, watching how his iridescent robes still reached for my shadows despite our increased distance. "Even after everything, even after all these years. Liarel knew it. Just as Sparrow will come to understand it."

His eyes, those impossible pools of shifting color, widened slightly at the implication. The possibility of 'us' hung in the air between us, made more complex by the idea of Sparrow's presence, by the way, both our powers seemed to recognize something within her that echoed our past.

"It's your choice now," I continued, taking another step back. "The Council's threats hold less power in this age. The old prejudices are weakening. The question is whether you're finally ready to defy their precious traditions."

The stairwell seemed to pulse with the weight of unspoken possibilities.

My shadows curled around me, though they still reached tentatively toward his light, unwilling to completely break the connection.

"I'll be seeing you around, old friend,"I said with humming power, allowing a small smile to curve my lips."After all, we both have a vested interest in watching over our Starlight."

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