Page 137 of Unravelled
Ren lifted his chin. “Within the year, she has already agreed.” His voice did not waver.
Sarelle inhaled sharply, but it wasn’t anger that flickered across her face. It was quieter. Knowing. A recognition that ran deeper than approval, not a blessing, but understanding.
Caelric’s placed his hands against the table. His voice came low, taut. “You cannot be this naïve.”
Ren’s jaw tightened. “I am not asking for permission.”
Sarelle’s eyes stayed fixed on him. “Does she know?” she asked quietly. “The truth of your lineages?”
Ren paused. “No.”
Sarelle’s face didn’t change. But her gaze lingered on him for a beat too long. The kind of knowing only a mother possesses. She let him lie, not because he’d fooled her, but because she saw no danger in the love he had chosen to share the truth with. No threat in the girl who now held his heart. No reason to strip it bare before he was ready.
She simply inclined her head, measured and calm, an unspoken grace given without permission or need.
"At least you’re smart enough to keep that to yourself," Caelric muttered.
Ren said nothing. Because if he knew the truth, if his father realized who Mira was, and that she already knew everything, this conversation would end with guards escorting her here, shackled or worse.
Caelric studied him for a long moment, sharp-eyed and unsparing, before speaking again. “Do you genuinely believe anyone will bond the two of you?”
Ren had hoped. But hope was a dangerous thing.
“Do you think you can find someone who will bind you without a blessing?” Sarelle’s tone was calm, almost gentle. Beneath it was something quieter still. Sympathy. Something that understood what it meant to want what the world would never willingly give.
“You know how difficult it is,” Sarelle continued. “We, of all people, how impossible it is without the Navigators’ Acolyte's sanction.”
Ren didn’t answer. A strange weight settled over the room. Caelric let out a slow breath, his fingers tapping once against the arm of his chair.
“What your mother is saying,” he said, “is that you have time, Ren.”
Ren’s breath hitched. “And how long do you expect us to wait?”
A pause. Sarelle’s lips parted, then closed. And then, finally, "Until you are both twenty-seven."
Ren blinked. “…Twenty-seven?” His pulse thundered in his throat.
Caelric did not waver. “That is the law of this kingdom.”
Ren laughed, but there was no humor in it. Just disbelief, bitter and raw. “The law?” He shook his head. “You tried to bend the law when it suited you. And now suddenly it’s sacred? How is this any different to what you did?”
Sarelle looked at him, quiet, but there was no denial in her eyes. "You are asking us to risk everything, Ren.”
Caelric’s voice was still controlled, but now edged with something harder. "Your future. This kingdom. Your life. For a choice you do not have to make right now."
Ren’s hands curled into fists at his sides as he exhaled sharply. "Bonding with her won’t expose me."
Caelric exhaled, his tension unrelenting. “A bond will tie you together in ways you cannot imagine. And when people take notice of that, they will wonder why the bastard prince has been allowed to bond ahead of any noble-born heir.” His eyes narrowed. “They will demand to know why. And if the answers do not satisfy them, they will find the truth themselves.”
Ren’s breath was ragged. His hands curled into fists. He forced himself to breathe, steadying his voice even as it trembled at the edges.
"We're already connected," he said quietly.
There was no triumph in the words. No challenge. Just truth, laid bare and heavy in his chest. Silence. Thick. Weighted. Sarelle’s expression flickered with concern. Caelric stiffened. Barely. But Ren saw it. A fracture in his father’s control.
Sarelle recovered first. “What do you mean?” Her voice was quiet now, cautious.
Ren exhaled sharply. “I feel her. Not just when she’s near.” He swallowed, his throat tight. “When she’s anxious, I feel it. When she’s happy, it’s like a fire in mychest.” His hands raked through his hair. “And when she’s hurting...” His voice cut off. Raw. Unraveling.
