Long before the stars bore witness to peace, two kingdoms stood divided by blood, steel, and an ancient grudge older than memory. The northern kingdom of Velmara, fierce and unyielding, rose from ice-bound mountains where war was tradition and loyalty, law. To the south, the sun-drenched realm of Seravelle shimmered with gold, song, and cunning—its people no less dangerous, their blades veiled behind silk and smile.

On the eve of yet another war, beneath skies heavy with the scent of smoke and betrayal, fate did what neither crown could—it broke the mold, forged eons ago by the legacy of their forefathers.

In the forest between borders—an untamed stretch of land where neither kingdom dared claim dominion—they met under the cover of twilight.

He wore the crimson garb of Velmara, his sword still stained from a hard fought battle. She bore the crest of Seravelle, her steel dagger hidden beneath a cloak once golden, now darkened with the blood of her kin and enemy alike.

They should have killed each other.

Instead, they hesitated.

And in that breathless pause, something ancient stirred between them.

The trees gather under the cloak of night, whispering an unknown language in the cooling breeze. The air was thick and silent, able to be cut with the dullest blade. Even the very earth seemed to stand still.

"You came" she breathed shakily, voice barely above a whisper. Her left hand was fidgeting with the tired trim of her cloak, the other alternating between resting and hovering over the ornate handle of her dagger.

He stepped forward, the dry earth awakening beneath his very feet.

"I am not such a fool that I would leave your call unanswered, my love"

"Kael. If they knew you were here.. if they knew I called for you.." her head lifted, hardened gaze meeting his.

"I know. We both knew the risks- and yet here are"

Lifting a calloused hand, he places it gently on her shoulder, bringing her into his warmth. She resisted, at first. Her body taut and controlled, honed over years of discipline. But the promise of feeling safe, and loved, in his hold had her leaning into his embrace. Her forehead rests against his chest- right above the blood splattered crest of Velmara. Her eyes flutter closed- allowing herself this moment of respite from the ravages of war that awaited them outside the confines of the forest.

"I dreamt last night. The first in a long, long time" she inhales shakily.

" I was standing alone, in a field of ash. Bodies piled so high I could not see the top. No smoke, nor flames. I was the only one left alive."

Kael's breath hitched. Mara could feel his breathing change pace. Less controlled, like the very air was attempting to escape from his lungs. "What do you believe it means?"

"I could not tell you, Kael. For I know not the meaning myself" she tilts her chin upwards to meet his eyes. "Perhaps it shows us the true meaning of victory. A graveyard- for the brave men who died for no other reason than the cruel, honeyed ambition of our fathers".

He sighed, trembling cold-bitten fingers pushing back the errant strands of hair from her face. "A war fought on a pile of rotting bones"

Mara studied him in that moment- not the soldier, the prince, the enemy, but as the man who chose her over his title and the promise of the crown- who came to her when she called on the eve of battle. She knows not what their future holds, but here, under a thick canopy of evergeens, she knew love.

It was light, pure and effervescent. A fragile blue flame in the dark, burrowing deep into their chests and blooming where grief had long since made its home. Their home, once a glorious sight to behold, attracting many an intrepid explorer to its gilded gates, had been ravaged by a pointless war- rife in the greed and corruption of its crown. They clung to each other in their mourning, as if adrift in an endless sea and the other was their only chance at reaching the shoreline.