Page 78 of Crown of Storm and Silence
"Nesilhan," she says, her voice carrying that particular gravelly tone that speaks of countless battles. "I heard you'd returned." Her sharp gaze takes in the visible injuries, the way Nesilhan still holds herself with unconscious protective caution. "You look like hell."
Before Nesilhan can respond, Elçin steps forward and pulls her into a fierce embrace—careful of her injuries but unmistakably protective. I watch my wife's face crumble slightly at the unexpected comfort, her eyes filling with tears she's been holding back.
"How are you holding up?" Elçin asks quietly, her warrior's mask slipping just enough to show genuine concern. "And don't give me some polite deflection. I want the truth."
"I'm..." Nesilhan's voice cracks slightly as she pulls back from the embrace. "I'm alive. We both are. That has to be enough for now." She wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Elçin,thank you. For going with Kaan to search for me. I know you barely knew me, but you still?—"
"Family doesn't abandon family," Elçin cuts her off with characteristic bluntness. "Even family who can't remember why they matter."
Her attention shifts to me, and I see her catalog the silver veins pulsing beneath my skin, the way shadows writhe with increasing violence around my feet. "Shadow Lord. You look... luminescent. In a deeply unnatural way."
"The poison spreads," I reply simply. There's no point in elaborating—Elçin is experienced enough to recognize the signs of magical poisoning when she sees them.
"Mm." She crosses her arms, studying us both with the calculating gaze of a warrior evaluating potential threats. "I suppose you didn't come here for a social visit."
"No, we didn’t," Nesilhan says, her voice carrying steel I'm beginning to recognize as part of who she truly is. "Before, when you first arrived, you said people were coming for me. I need to know—who? And when?"
Elçin's expression grows grave, her warrior's mask settling back into place. She glances meaningfully at Mira, then back to Nesilhan. "Perhaps we should speak privately."
"No." Nesilhan's response is immediate and firm. "Kaan stays. And Mira has a right to know if danger is coming to her village."
Pride swells in my chest despite the poison writhing beneath my skin. Even after everything she's endured, she's still protecting others, still thinking of their safety alongside her own.
After a moment's consideration, Elçin nods. "Very well." She straightens, every inch the seasoned warrior delivering a battle report. "It was whispers in all the courts that led me to you in the first place. The family—your blood family—selected me as their best warrior to find and protect you."
I step forward instinctively, shadows coiling more violently around my feet as possessive fury surges through me. "She has my protection. She doesn't need?—"
"With respect, Shadow Lord," Elçin cuts me off with cool dismissal, not even glancing in my direction, "your condition makes you... unreliable for long-term protection."
The casual way she dismisses me, the truth of her words—it makes the silver veins beneath my skin pulse with humiliated rage. But she's right, and we both know it. In weeks, maybe less, if I can’t get this poison under control, I'll be gone, and Nesilhan will need someone else to keep her safe.
Elçin's attention remains fixed on my wife. "The whispers have grown louder since I found you. In the Light Court, the Shadow Court, even in the neutral territories—everyone is talking about the same thing."
I watch Nesilhan's hand move unconsciously to her throat, fingers tracing the silver scars there—a gesture that never fails to make protective fury burn in my chest. "What kind of whispers?"
"The dangerous kind." Elçin's voice drops lower, more urgent. "There's going to be an attack on you. Soon. Multiple sources, all saying the same thing—someone wants you dead before..."
"Before what?" I demand, my voice carrying harmonics that make the cottage windows vibrate. The poison responds to my agitation, shadows reaching toward things they shouldn't touch.
Elçin's jaw tightens. "Before the prophecy can be fulfilled."
Nesilhan gasps, her free hand moving protectively to her belly. The gesture makes something crack inside my chest—she's protecting our child even as she learns how much danger they're both in. "TheObur? Are they coming back for me?"
Elçin shakes her head grimly. "I don't think so. TheOburwanted to use you, to corrupt you and the child for their own purposes. This is different." Her eyes meet Nesilhan's with starkhonesty. "When they come, it won't be to capture you. They're coming to kill you. Both of you."
The silence that follows feels deafening. Even the shadows around my feet seem to still, as if the very air is holding its breath. Cold certainty settles in my bones—they want to kill my wife and child, and I'm dying too quickly to be their reliable protector.
"They can't let the prophecy come to pass," Elçin continues relentlessly. "A child born of shadow and light, with the power to unite the realms or destroy them entirely? There are too many who see that as a threat to their carefully maintained power structures."
Mira's face has gone pale, her healer's instincts clearly warring with the terrible knowledge of what's coming. "How long do we have?"
"That's what I don't know," Elçin admits, and the uncertainty in her voice is perhaps more frightening than any specific timeline would have been. "Days. Weeks at most. The whispers suggest they're gathering forces, coordinating between courts that have never worked together before."
I watch Nesilhan stand slowly. There's something different in her posture now, something that speaks to muscle memory and instincts buried deep.
"They can come," I say.
“Because when they do…” Rage sends the poison pulsing through my body, choking off my words until my head feels like it will explode.
