Like if I stare long enough, I can see the waves move within his eyes.
His shoulders fill the archway, the runes along his throat faintly glowing.
He doesn’t look at anyone else,just me.
I’m not doing anything special, just sitting at a side table with his maid’s son, stew staining my fingertips, laughter still warm on my lips. But the way he looks at me? It’s enough to make me tremble.
“Phoebe.”
My name from his mouth is both a statement and a claim.
I stiffen, because I don’t know how to respond to the pull in his voice.
A voice that is both command and tide.
“Lord Kael,” Amber says quickly, standing straighter, her cheeks flushing bronze.
She dips her head low, then nudges Corin. “Up, boy.”
Corin scrambles off his chair, bowing awkwardly. I hate the sudden stiffness, the way the room holds its breath for him.
I hate that I feel it too—the awe, the nervous flutter low in my stomach.
“Be at ease,” he says, and the kitchen workers begin to stir again.
Kael steps inside fully now, his gaze never leaving mine.
His hand brushes the back of a chair, long fingers flexing like he’s considering dragging it close.
I force myself to speak first, because if I don’t, I’ll drown in the silence.
“I, uh, I was hungry.”
He blinks. Then, something like amusement flickers over his impossibly sharp features.
“Then you should eat.”
It sounds simple. Obvious.
But the way he says it, like it’s a personal gift he’s granting me, makes my pulse skip.
Amber sets a steaming basket of rolls in front of me, bowing low again before backing away.
Kael’s gaze follows the motion, then returns to me, heavier now.
“Enjoy it,” he murmurs, as though the stew isn’t just food but some ritual I’ve unknowingly entered into. “You’ll need your strength, viyella.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks at the way he says it—viyella.
Mate.
Not just a title.
A vow.
And for the first time since waking in this impossible place, I wonder what it would feel like to stop fighting the pull of his tide and let myself sink.
“My Lord?” Amber cants her head, waiting for instruction.
