"Because they tried to control it," Xyrek said. "They didn’t just live without mates. They chose their own."
That set off a ripple of reactions.
"So what?" Nova snapped. "They fell in love on their own? That was enough to get them kicked out?"
"They didn’t just deny themselves a mate," Zaarek’s voice came through. "They stole one from someone else."
"What?" Sloane turned to look at the screen as if hoping Zaarek would appear and explain.
"The Soulweb doesn’t just bind two people together," Xyrek said. "It weaves an entire path. When a pair chooses each other instead of their fated mates, they don’t just change their own lives. They cheat two other people out of ever meeting their true mate in this life."
"That’s… dark," Hannah murmured, her fingers tapping against her arm.
"That’s ridiculous," Zoe interjected. "People should be able to love who they want."
"It’s not about love," Zaarek said. "It’s about balance. The gods wove the Soulweb for a reason."
"That is a convenient way to keep people in line," Sloane muttered.
"It's not about control," Xyrek argued. "It's about harmony. The Shadebound didn’t just choose for themselves. They chose for others. They took something they had no right to take."
That hit differently.
I swallowed, shifting in my seat. "So you’re telling me," I said slowly, "that by running off and picking their own partners, they left two people completely alone?"
"Yes."
The weight of it settled like a stone in my stomach.
"That’s brutal," Nova muttered.
"It’s the truth," Zaarek said.
A tense silence stretched over the bridge until Hannah spoke again—her voice cold, distant, filled with something none of us expected.
"They were hollow. They walked in the shadows, forsaking the light of the gods. They gave in to their own selfish longings and defied the gods' will."
The entire room fell silent.
"What the hell, Hannah?" Tucker muttered.
She blinked, confusion and horror crossing her face. "I—I don’t know why I said that."
We all looked at her, then back at each other. Zaarek’s voice cut through the silence like a blade. "Because you were our High Priestess, Suahaana."
And just like that, another bomb dropped.
Hannah’s breath hitched, her eyes widening in shock. Luph took a slow, disbelieving step back as if reeling from its weight. Sloane cursed under her breath.
And me?
I just stood there, watching the pieces of our past fall into place like an unstoppable chain reaction.
XYREK
The river stretched widebetween us. Its surface shimmered under the purple light that filtered through the thick canopy of Darlam's forests. The current was calm but steady, winding through the valley, a lifeline that had kept these people alive all this time.
People we hadn’t even known existed.
