The mirror.

Kaelith still standing on the bridge. Now started to move forward, and Elyria followed behind, not knowing what lay ahead.

Beyond the Breathing Bridge lay veins of the city not meant for the human eyes. The path narrowed, the wind changed, now carrying the scent of something sharp like old copper. The corridor led into a sealed door, which opened only when Kaelith whispered something in a language that made her skin crawl.

Elyria hesitated.

Kaelith turned back to her, a dim light glowed across the high ridges of his cheekbones. "You're not going to faint, are you?"

"I'll manage. You better not let me walk into anything cursed."

"No promises."

They descended together into the door.

The Bone Vault.

The chamber was vast, circular, and mysterious. Massive bones, some animal like, others humanoid, lined the walls like cathedral pillars. Soft mist flowed from the floor. Elyria felt it around her ankles, tasting her.

"This is the Archive of Bloodlines," Kaelith said. "Every noble house keeps record here. Not in books. In bone."

Her throat tightened. "And my name?"

"Please." he said mockingly.

He stepped to a rib bone taller than her and touched it with two fingers. It shook. A memory flashed in the air, an echo of a dark haired woman screaming through fire, carrying a child.

Elyria jolted.

"That wasn't—"

"My mother," Kaelith said. "I was still little there."

The memory faded. Elyria touched the bone. It was still warm.

"Why show me this?"

"Because you're trying to decide if you belong."

She looked up at him, eyes narrowed. "And do I?"

"I don't know yet."

They left the Vault in silence. Outside, a new path stretched across the city of Nox, this one was lined with black lantern trees whose leaves glowed in the dim.

"The Drowned Garden," Kaelith said, as they stepped into it. "It grows only in places where death was kind."

"That's a contradiction."

"So is love."

She hesitated. "You believe in that?"

He smiled slowly. "Not often. But I have seen what it ruins."

The garden was eerily beautiful. Fountains carved into weeping angels poured silver water. Flowers with teeth grew. Beneath the silver fountain, drowned spirits drifted like fishes.

Kaelith sat on the edge of the fountain, legs spread, one arm over his knee. Elyria remained standing, arms crossed.

"Did you bring me here to intimidate me?"

"No, I brought you here to decide something."

"Decide what?"

"If you'll be just a human in this realm," he said, "or a princess."

Elyria's lips parted, a sharp grin rising only to die as his eyes caught hers.

He rose. Closed the distance.

Her back hit the cold marble of the fountain.

Kaelith leaned in close, breath touching her skin. "You've been having dreams, haven't you?"

She didn't answer.

"Or maybe something else."

Still, silence.

His hand came up, not to touch, but to rest beside her head. "There's something waking in you, Elyria. Something older than either of us."

Her voice was unsteady. "You sound afraid."

He chuckled quietly.

"Maybe."

She looked at his mouth. Then his eyes. And stepped around him.

Kaelith let her go.

"Thank you for the view," she said.

"Don't thank me yet," he murmured, watching her go.

Behind her, the Garden whispered.

The wind blew.

---

Later, when Kaelith had returned to his private chambers to tend to a sudden summon, Elyria tried to find her way back to her rooms alone. Pride overrode her sense of direction.

At first, the halls were quiet—lit by lanterns glowing with trapped embers. But the corridors suddenly branched, and began to stretch. Symbols etched into the walls pulsed softly as she passed, some shifting shape behind her back.

"Left. Then right." She whispered. "where had the stairs gone?"

"Stupid demon palace," she muttered.

The air thickened. The light dimmed. She heard something, faint and eerie. Her heartbeat quickened. She walked faster.

Then she turned a corner and stopped.

A mirror stood in the middle of the hall. Floor to ceiling. No frame. No reflection.

Instead, it showed a vision of Nox—older, darker, broken.

And in the distance: herself, crowned in bone, eyes burning gold.

Elyria blinked. The mirror vanished.

She stood very still for a long moment. Then spun on her heel and retraced her steps back, only to find Kaelith waiting at the top of a staircase that hadn't been there before.

"You got lost?"

"No," she lied, flustered.

"You found the Mirror Hall, didn't you?" he said, amused.

"I was lost."

"Everyone always is. It only shows itself to those it wants to."

She frowned. "And what does it want with me?"

Kaelith's expression was unreadable. "That depends. What did it show you?"

"Nothing."

He studied her. "Liar."

She walked past him without another word.

He didn't stop her. But the smirk in his voice followed her all the way back to her door.