Page 254 of Emylia

Still, the feeling clung to me like smoke.

He’d love it. Iknewhe would. The ring I’d forged from my father’s bracelet—reshaped, reborn. A piece of my past given to him.

But there was still a voice in the back of my head. Quiet. Cruel.

This is too good to be real.

A man like Maalikai doesn’t choose a girl like me.

Sometimes I had to pinch myself. Sometimes I still didn’t believe it. But today… today I’d show him.

What he meant to me.

He deserved something worthy of him.

And I hoped—Gods, I hoped—I was enough.

ChapterFifty-Five

By the time the Aelinthian Forrest loomed before us, the sun had climbed higher in the sky, casting its brilliance across the crystal-clear stream.

Not a single ripple marred the surface. The water lay still—mirror-like—so pristine it looked as if flames danced across it. Beautiful. Iridescent.

Gods, I was too easily distracted. Not ideal when I should be focused.

I lifted a hand in greeting to the young men stationed along the perimeter of Ophelia. Their eyes were sharp, movements precise, each one alert despite the weeks of uneasy silence.

The threat of the warlord still loomed—just beneath the surface, like a blade pressed to the throat of peace. Even if the violence had paused, none of us believed it would stay that way.

The warriors stances were rigid, fingers never far from their weapons, scanning the trees like shadows might come alive at any second.

My uncle’s orders had been clear: vigilance, always.

And they obeyed.

A shiver of nervous energy ran down my spine as I dismounted Stormfire, trailing behind Maalikai beneath the thick canopy of the ancient trees.

The hum of magik stirred instantly, uncoiling through my veins like a snake waking from slumber. It crackled at my fingertips—hot, sharp—and then, just as quickly, faded.

In its place, dread bloomed in my chest.

The colossal trees of the Aelinthian Forrest towered above us, their inky magik already winding tendrils around my limbs. With a hesitant breath, I followed Maalikai into the shadows. The deeper we walked, the smaller I felt—like the trees were swallowing me whole.

Usually, my first steps into the forest were laced with wonder. Ethereal. Electric. But today, that feeling was coated in something heavier.

The magik clung thick in the air—so dense it was hard to breathe. Each step dragged me deeper into the fog, into the dark, until I felt completely untethered.

Maalikai didn’t speak, and neither did I. The silence between us was uncharacteristic—too quiet, too heavy—and I knew it was because of me.

Something was wrong.

Something I couldn’t shake.

Finally, I stopped. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Something’s wrong,” I whispered, the words barely audible.

Maalikai’s head snapped toward me. “Are you okay?”

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