Chapter Twenty-Six

Trigger Warning- self-harm, suicidal attempt.

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After tending to Irina alongside Aelia, we finally returned to the luxurious expanse of my chamber in the Dawn Court. The room, perched like a sentinel on the edge of the ocean, basked in the shimmering embrace of the night. Stars adorned the velvet sky, their distant light cascading onto the horizonless waves, lending an ethereal glow to the surroundings. The rhythmic sound of the waves crashing against the shore was a comforting backdrop, a soothing lullaby of the cosmos.

Amaya and the Kaimari's presence permeated the room, their hushed conversation creating an intimate atmosphere in the midst of the grandeur. Yet, there was something more—a subtle undercurrent, a resonance of emotions that whispered secrets beneath their words. Amaya's touch upon his legs was a tactile connection, her smile a testament to the connection that had evidently formed between them. Had the Kaimari, with his enigmatic presence, captured Amaya's heart?

"Ah, there you are," Amaya's voice cut through the air, her words preempting my unspoken query. "Saija has retired for the night. And no, there's no record of any unauthorized flight. Irina's absence is a mystery." The certainty of her words eased the tension that had been twisting my insides.

The Kaimari's attention shifted towards me, his helmet sweeping over my form as if assessing my state. "Irina," he repeated, his voice a low rumble, his presence akin to a vigilant sentinel.

“We are all Irina,” Amaya winked to him. Okay, so she was flirting with him. Amaya stood, “alright, I’m headed to bed,” she pointed two cyro-covered suit fingers in our direction. “Not a word of this to Nerida, I already negotiated with the warrior for silence.” I wondered, more than anything in the world, what she had negotiated for his silence for.

The hidden door that connected our chambers swung open before her, a portal to privacy that only a select few knew existed. "I will go too," Aelia volunteered, her easy smile revealing a trust in the warrior that felt both intriguing and unexpected.

"Aelia, we're not meant to reveal the secret passages," I scolded her gently, but Aelia only smiled. "I trust him," she assured me, her gaze unwavering as she disappeared into the hidden corridor.

The Kaimari's voice resounded in the aftermath of their departures, a deep resonance that lingered in the room. "I look forward to the painting class tomorrow," he called after Aelia, his words carrying an almost genuine note of anticipation. The mention of a painting class held a mystique I hadn't been privy to. My brows furrowed in quiet curiosity—had there been a development I'd somehow missed? Were my friends, one by one, becoming enamored with the warrior who had entered our lives with an air of mystery?

As the room settled into stillness, I found myself alone with the flickering fireplace, its shifting flames casting a dance of light and shadow across the walls. The Kaimari remained a steadfast presence, a pillar of strength wrapped in the iridium armor that defined him. A part of me was acutely aware of the cyrosuit that clung to my form, an attire he had never seen me in before. I was no fool, I knew it hugged every curve and inch of my body. And I knew that he was looking.

"You've grown quite popular," I observed, my voice gentle as I folded my nightgown and placed it on the bed before me. The air seemed to thicken, charged with a mixture of tension and anticipation. The cyrosuit felt like a second skin, a boundary that blurred the line between exposure and modesty. I remained where I was, allowing him to look, to see. There was a vulnerability in his presence, an unspoken admission that he saw through not just the armor, but the layers beneath.

Without allowing him to respond, I retreated to my bathroom and turned on my faucet. The view from its window was a breathtaking marvel—a replica of Irina's own tub, carved from a single pearl, offered a vista of stars stretching beyond imagination, a respite from the city lights that defined the castle's northern side. It was a sanctuary.

Emerging from the embrace of the bath's ethereal view, I wrapped a towel around myself. The soft fabric offered a sense of comfort, a barrier against the world beyond my door. What I hadn't expected was his continued presence, his figure unchanged, leaning with an aura of unyielding strength against the frame of my bed.

"You're a Shadow," his voice reverberated as if the assertion itself held an underlying truth that required no validation. His words were statements, not questions.

I didn’t deny this. “I am.”

"But you are the princess I took to the island," he commented, and the mention of the island sent a pang through me, a visceral memory of pain and longing.

I turned to face him, my eyes seeking the armor-clad figure whose presence invoked both frustration and an undeniable connection. My voice emerged soft yet firm, a reflection of my unyielding stance. "I've already told you," I responded, my words weighted with the echoes of a past that refused to fade. "I am not."

As if driven by an unseen compulsion, his gloved hand closed around my wrist, the sensation of his touch both cold and oddly grounding against the warmth of his armor. His gaze, hidden behind the inscrutable visor of his helmet, bore into mine, an unspoken conversation that transcended words. "I know it's you," he asserted, the certainty in his voice creating ripples of uncertainty within me.

I turned away, allowing my gaze to drink in the vastness of the ocean beyond the window. The horizon stretched infinitely, a mirror to the chasm that separated us. "It is not," I repeated, my voice soft but resolute.

"Irina," he growled my name, a growl woven with frustration and an almost desperate plea. "I know you."

“You don’t know me, Kaimari,” I responded, my voice carrying a blend of defiance and vulnerability. "Not my desires, nor my birthplace. You don't even know my name."

His grip on my wrist tightened, a sensation that was both restraining and electrifying. "I would recognize you blind," his words were a confession, a testament to a truth he held deep within his soul. "In total darkness, in the midst of the void. I would recognize the tips of your hair, the jolt of your collarbones.”

My eyes were welled with tears, emotions spilling over like an uncontainable flood. "No, stop.”

His hold remained firm, an unyielding connection that defied my attempts to pull away. "I would know you across planets, across stars, across the very tapestry of this galaxy. Nameless, faceless, I would find you." His voice grew softer, a declaration that felt as if it emanated from the depths of his soul. "And if not in this life, then in the next. I would traverse dimensions and timelines, all for you."

In another lifetime, I would have kissed him. Confessed back to him that I, too, would follow him across the stars. But such fantasies were locked behind the bars of my commitment to another. And yet, even in this fleeting moment, I wasn't solely his prisoner; I remained shackled to another, too. And it was in the corner of my vision that I saw her.

Irina, forty feet away, her form swathed in the silken embrace of her nightclothes, stood at the precipice of the castle's edge. Delicately, she danced upon the thin stone handrail, a delicate waltz upon the precipice of danger itself. A guttural ache clawed at my chest, a protective instinct that transcended any boundary. I pivoted to the Kaimari, my eyes beseeching his understanding.
“Would you excuse me for a moment?” I implored, my voice threaded with urgency.

“Should I join you–”

“No!” I shouted frantically over my shoulder. “Find Aelia!”

"Irina!" The shout tore from my throat, a desperate cry fueled by the realization that time was running out. She was teetering on the brink, her footsteps too close to oblivion. “Stop dancing!”

"The water calls to me," her voice trembled, carrying a haunting melody of longing. “I will join with it.”

My feet propelled me forward, a sprint fueled by a terror that clawed at my very core. "Step away!" I commanded, my words infused with every ounce of urgency I possessed. “The cliffs Irina, the cliffs!”

Her twirl ceased the desolation in her eyes reflecting the ache within my own heart. Tears traced pathways down her cheeks, mingling with the sorrow that shadowed her soul. "You were the daughter my parents yearned for," her words pierced me, each syllable a blade carving into my very essence. “Goodbye, Aurora,” and with those heart-rending words, she leaped.

Time distorted, the universe momentarily suspended in its path. Instincts consumed me, overriding any rationale or fear. With swiftness born of desperation, I reached her just as her body plummeted, but it was too late she had already jumped, and we were all but flying to the death-drop rocks.

Instinctively, I shed my towel and triggered the cryo suit's mechanism, its liquid-metal embrace enveloping me with a protective urgency. The suit couldn’t wrap around me fast enough as we plummeted, the gulf of impending doom yawning beneath us. In a heartbeat, I launched my cyro coil rope over the ledge from where we had just fallen. But there was nothing up there, it wasn’t going to catch on anything. There were only twenty feet of tile.
Miraculously, it found purchase, securing itself to an anchor invisible to my panicked eyes. I cried out, a mixture of relief and exultation, clutching Irina close to my body as we dangled precipitously. Yet, salvation came at a cost—we were swinging towards the distant castle wall.

I, of course, absorbed the brunt of the impact, the unforgiving stone a merciless adversary as it pressed into my ribs, pain blossoming like a malevolent flower. My breath fled my lungs, a pained gasp seeping past my lips. But Irina was intact, her life saved and her heartbeat beating beautifully against mine. We were both alive.

The ascent to salvation was a battle in itself, each muscle ached, every movement demanding an offering of pain. The Astran guards came to our rescue, like ethereal saviors descending from the heavens, providing ropes that promised a lifeline out of our dire predicament. Irina, a willing participant now, received their assistance with grace, while I dangled, suspended by my determination and willpower.

From above, Amaya's voice wafted over the edge, concern laced with relief. “I’m fine,” I answered her, “help Irina.”

Irina was carried up effortlessly while I was left to fend for myself. I sighed, my hands were cutting into the thin rope, my palms splitting against the cyro technology like paper. My muscles screamed in protest, each movement agony's price. But I prevailed, driven by a force that overcame my limits. With unwavering focus, I embarked on the climb, a dance of willpower against the pull of gravity.

As I drew closer to the ledge's edge, the anchor of the rope manifested—a presence unforeseen, enigmatic. There he stood—the Kaimari warrior—unyielding in his posture, an unbreakable bastion of strength. The rope's vicious, spider-like appendages burrowed into his unguarded flesh, the metallic tendrils tearing into his skin, exacting a cruel toll for his unexpected intercession. Despite the searing agony, his stance remained unwavering, a testament to his unshakable determination, each movement of the rope a relentless cut into his resolve.