Snow closes around us like a cage of memories—
sharp, cold, merciless.
I keep walking.
One step.
Another.
The sound of my boots sinking into the snow is swallowed by the storm,
as if the world doesn't want witnesses to what comes next.
Aiden walks at my side—
not in front of me anymore,
not blocking me—
but with me,
matching each step like we're walking into the same grave we once crawled out of.
The corpse—
his corpse—
waits in the center of the clearing,
head still lifted from the snow,
eyes empty pits of frost.
My lungs squeeze tighter.
'Why didn't you save me?'
The voice still echoes in my mind.
A memory wearing Aiden's skin.
A nightmare shaped like the man I love.
Aiden growls low beside me,
a sound not of aggression,
but agony.
"Moonlight…"
he murmurs through the bond,
voice trembling.
"You don't have to answer it.
It's not me.
It's not even alive."
"I know," I whisper.
But my voice cracks anyway.
Because the snow crunches under the corpse's arm
as it begins dragging itself toward me again—
slow, broken movements,
like death refusing to stay dead.
Aiden's head snaps toward it.
His hackles lift.
Magic crackles from his fur.
"Try it," he snarls.
"TRY getting one inch closer to her."
But he doesn't attack.
He doesn't dare.
Not after what the Sovereign warned.
If he interferes,
the trial resets.
We relive this again.
We repeat the worst night of our lives
until my soul shatters.
So he walks beside me instead,
trembling with the effort of holding himself back.
I feel every emotion ripping through him—
rage, grief, helplessness, love.
Especially love.
It burns down the bond like wildfire radiating from his soul into mine.
"Don't break," he whispers,
and I don't know whether he's talking to me
or begging himself.
My knees weaken,
but he nudges my hand with his warm muzzle.
"Lean on me," he murmurs.
"We do this together."
I force my feet forward.
And the corpse speaks again.
"You weren't strong enough…"
A blade through my ribs.
I grip Aiden's fur harder,
fingers sinking into the heat of his coat.
This time he doesn't growl—
he whimpers.
A sound so soft,
so wounded,
it hurts more than the corpse's words.
"Don't listen," he whispers.
"Please don't listen."
I shake my head slowly,
snow collecting in my hair.
"Aiden… I have to."
He stiffens.
The storm howls around us
as we come only a few feet from the corpse.
It tilts its head—
bones cracking—
and whispers,
"Why did you scream my name
after I was gone?"
The world tilts.
Suddenly I'm back in that night.
Snow soaking my knees.
Blood slipping down my wrists.
Aiden's chest cold under my hands.
My magic spiraling uncontrollable.
My scream tearing open the sky—
"Aiden…"
I drop to my knees.
Aiden lunges to catch me—
not with teeth or wings or starfire—
but with his body,
curling around me like a shield.
"Don't fall," he pleads.
"Don't go back there—stay with me—stay here—"
Tears leak from my eyes,
hot against the freezing air.
"I can't—
I can't—
I remember everything—"
His nose presses to my cheek,
gentle, trembling.
"Then remember this too," he whispers.
"I'm alive.
I'm here.
I'm breathing.
I'm not leaving you again."
I lift my hand onto his chest—
where his heart beats strong and steady now.
Something I once lost.
Something I refuse to lose again.
Aiden shifts closer,
his huge body dwarfing mine,
as if trying to block the corpse from seeing me.
"I hate this trial," he mutters.
"I HATE that it uses your love for me against you."
I manage a broken laugh.
"Since when do you hate being loved?"
"Since it hurts you," he growls softly.
The corpse drags itself closer—
its blood staining the snow in sickening red streaks.
Aiden snaps:
"I SAID stay back.
She's not yours to torment."
The corpse freezes.
Its dead eyes shift to me.
And it whispers—
"Why did you let me die?"
My heart tears.
But Aiden bows his head against me
just before I can collapse again.
"Tell it," he murmurs.
"Tell the truth."
The truth?
My throat burns.
"I—I didn't let you die."
The corpse twitches.
Aiden nudges me harder.
"Again."
"I didn't let you die."
"Louder."
My voice pierces the storm.
"I DIDN'T LET YOU DIE."
The corpse jerks—
like my voice is a blade.
Aiden's tail brushes my back,
reassurance flowing through the bond.
"You fought," he whispers.
"I saw it.
I REMEMBER it now.
You gave everything you had."
"I wasn't strong enough," I choke out.
He lifts his head,
eyes burning gold.
"You. Were. ENOUGH."
I look at him—
alive, warm, real—
and something inside me shifts.
Snow gathers around us.
The corpse trembles.
The realm waits.
Aiden rises to his full height,
standing tall beside me.
"Say it," he whispers.
My voice steadies.
"I tried to save you."
The corpse hisses—
steam rising as if the truth sears it.
"I tried to save you," I repeat.
"And when you fell…"
I lift my chin.
"…I fell too."
Aiden inhales sharply.
His voice breaks.
"And we rose."
The corpse freezes completely.
I stand—
with Aiden pressing against my legs for strength—
and walk the remaining steps
until I stand over the image of his death.
This time,
my knees do not buckle.
My wings—
silver, gold, shadow—
flare open behind me.
"I'm not walking to mourn you," I whisper.
"I'm walking to rewrite this night."
Aiden leans into me,
voice soft as breath:
"And I'm right here."
Moonfire burns up my arm—
soft, warm, bright—
gathering in my palm like the sun held inside skin.
I lower my hand onto the corpse's chest.
It whispers desperately:
"Don't leave me…"
My tears fall onto its fur.
And I whisper back:
"I never did."
Moonfire erupts.
Not cruel flames—
cleansing ones.
Beautiful.
Gentle.
Final.
The corpse dissolves into embers.
The blood evaporates.
The snow melts into shimmering silver mist.
The lake cracks and shatters like glass giving way to dawn.
The memory dies.
But Aiden—
Aiden remains.
Warm.
Alive.
Right beside me.
When the snow is gone,
we stand on the stone bridge again.
Aiden transforms back into his human form,
grabbing my face in both hands.
His forehead slams to mine.
"You did it," he whispers, voice hoarse.
"No," I whisper back.
"We did."
The air stirs—
and the Sovereign appears,
her wings dimmed by something like awe.
"The Trial of the Broken Crown is complete."
Aiden bares his teeth in a humorless smile.
"Good.
Bring the last one."
Her gaze darkens.
"The final trial…"
A heartbeat.
"…is the Trial of the Heart's Choice."
Aiden stiffens beside me.
I grip his arm.
The stars dim overhead.
And the chapter ends with:
Liyana and Aiden standing hand in hand,
the final test rising before them—
one that won't break their past,
but threaten their future.