Page 51 of Blood Marked

But she did sit with it.

Let the ache settle. Let the Mark pulse quietly on her skin.

It wasn’t demanding anything of her. It justwas.

Like Kael. Like whatever this thing was growing between them.

That night, she didn’t eat dinner. Didn’t join the firelight-soaked main hall or the courtiers who whispered when she passed. She sat in her quarters until the moons climbed high enough that the snow outside the citadel glowed like polished bone.

And then she stood. Because enough was enough.

If he thought he could break her with silence, he didn’t know her at all.

Kael’s chambers were deeper in the mountain, tucked behind heavy double doors with silver veins running through the wood. The guards posted outside didn’t stop her. Just bowed and opened the way without a word.

Maybe Kael had warned them off.

Or maybe they’d finally realized Selene Morwen wasn’t a girl who waited for permission anymore.

She stepped inside without knocking.

The room was dim, only the fire lit, a soft amber pulse in the stone hearth. Shadows curled around the walls like sleeping beasts. And there, shirtless and still bruised from the patrol, sat Kael.

His gaze lifted when she entered.

He didn’t speak. Didn’t stand. Just stared like he was waiting for her to scream at him.

Selene closed the door quietly.

“I’m not here to yell,” she said.

Kael’s brows drew together. “Then why?—”

“Because I’m tired,” she interrupted. “Tired of you carrying the weight like I’m not capable of helping you hold it.”

He flinched. Almost imperceptibly. But she saw it.

She stepped closer, cloak slipping from her shoulders. The fire warmed her skin, lit her hair with gold.

“You think pushing me away is noble?” she said. “Like you’re saving me? Letting me go before your dreams make them real?”

His jaw tensed and his shoulders went rigid.

She smiled, bitter and soft. “You think I don’t feel it? The fear? The pressure? Ido, Kael. I’ve beendrowningin it.”

He stood then, sudden and too close. “You don’t understand.”

“Ido,” she said, quieter now. “Because Nyra told me.”

Kael stilled, jaw clenched even harder now. “She told you about Elara.”

She didn’t flinch. “I don’t know her name,” Selene said. “I don’t need to. I just know she was someone you loved. And she died. And it broke you.”

His hands shook. “You don’t get to use her.”

“I’m not,” she said gently. “But you should’ve been the one to tell me. Not your sister. Not a court rumor.”

Silence.

---