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I remembered all those times in Sídhe when I was terrified of everything around me, but mostly of myself. Of allowing myself to want things, to desire, to hope. I never used to let myself do it. But now, it burned so brightly in me that I couldn't deny it had taken permanent residence.

My eyes found the eclipse above us, the sun's rays reaching out from behind the moon's attempt to hide them, as if mirroring my thoughts.

The sound of a blade sliding against leather brought me back. I turned to find Aether drawing his sword, but his eyes were fixed on the expanse beyond.

"You know," he said, his voice taking on an odd tone, "there's an old tradition in Umbrathia. One that's faded in and out of history, I’ve been told."

He turned to face me, his expression somehow more serious than before. "If there was ever a moment that deserved it, it would be now."

Before I could process his words, Aether dropped to one knee before me, resting his sword across his lap.

"What are you?—"

"I've never understood devotion to higher powers," he said, cutting me off. "Never grasped why people pray to gods who remain silent while realms die." His jaw tightened. "I've never given myself to anything like that. Never felt the pull."

"Aether—"

"Thirty years I've been here," he continued, "trying to make sense of this world. Why I found my way here. Whether I even had a purpose, or if this was some form of punishment for whatever atrocities I committed in my first life."

"I believe I understand now." Aether's eyes swept across the field, falling on the arcanite where essence pooled just beneath its crystalline surface. "All of those decades spent here, all of the sleepless nights searching for any kind of meaning to my existence—it was so that I could find you."

The wind caught his hair, dark strands falling across his face as those golden eyes found mine again. My heart thundered in my chest at the raw honesty in his gaze.

"I give myself to you," he said, voice deadly calm. "My life, myshadows, my loyalty—they belong to you now. Not because you're the heir to this realm, but because you're the only thing I've ever wanted to believe in."

I sank to my knees before him, suddenly feeling unworthy of such devotion. This man who could bend armies to his will, who could tear reality apart with a thought, who had completely pulled me into his orbit, even as we both fought it—offering himself to me like I was something sacred.

I reached out to brush the hair from his face. "I don't need a servant. I need you."

The intensity in his eyes nearly stole my breath as he looked at me. And I couldn’t hold myself back anymore. I lunged, tangling myself around him—dragging my lips over his neck, across his cheek until they met his own.

“Fia,” he murmured against my lips before pulling back and taking my face in his hands. “It’s terribly rude to interrupt a man when he’s swearing his life to you.”

“I can think of other ways to get the point across,” I whispered, leaning in against his grip and nipping at his bottom lip.

He studied me briefly, running his hands through my hair before his lips pressed against my throat. “Now?” He murmured dangerously.

“Unless you think your vow can wait?—”

The flex of his body surrounding mine cut me off, and in seconds, I was in his arms as he carried me through the field and into the depths of a broken, gnarled forest.

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

We hadn't madeit to the bed yet. Not even to the front door of his cabin before his lips found mine again.

"I meant what I said," he murmured against my skin. "Every word."

My fingers traced the void burns along his neck, feeling his muscles tense beneath my touch. "I know you did."

He pressed his forehead to mine, our breaths mingling. "I've never wanted anything the way I want you."

"Then have me," I whispered.

His hands found my waist as he guided me through the doorway. When my back met the wooden planks, he paused, eyes searching mine. "In any way I like?" His face held a dangerous curiosity.

Instead of answering, I pulled him down for another kiss. His shadows curled around us as we moved together through the darkness until my legs reached something solid.

He lifted me onto the bed with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with the hunger in his eyes. Dim light trickled in throughthe window, catching on the metal of his piercings, making them gleam against his skin.