The sky had already forgotten peace.
What remained above the palace was not wind, not air, not even something the living realm could still fully claim—it was pressure. Thick, coiling, restless pressure that bent around two beings who did not belong entirely to this world.
Sebastian hovered at its center.
Between storm and silence.
Between restraint—
and something far more dangerous.
Below and slightly behind him, Aliena stood on the unstable current of air he had shaped for her. It trembled now, not from weakness, but from the sheer strain of holding form beneath the weight of what surrounded them.
Her breath was uneven.
Her body still adjusting to the impossible.
Her heart—
not yet ready for what came next.
Dineski watched them both.
Not like an enemy.
Not yet.
Like a judge waiting for proof.
"You hesitate," he said again, his voice smooth, almost conversational despite the tension threading through the sky.
Sebastian didn't answer.
