The radiant light that had erupted from the bud began to settle, losing its searing intensity and dimming into a gentle, ethereal glow that bathed the stone chamber in golden luminescence. The walls, once stark and cold, now shimmered with divine light like sunlight glancing off dew-covered marble. Aurorwen slowly lowered her hands from her eyes, blinking away the residual blindness as her vision began to adjust.
Her golden eyes, sharp and vigilant, flicked toward the source of the brilliance. Her breath hitched.
There, hovering at the heart of the opened bud like a miracle in bloom, was Lucien.