Chapter 4 The Oracle's Warning

The storm arrived at midnight. Not wind or rain-though clouds gathered like clenched fists in the heavens-but magic. Thick, throbbing, and cold. The kind of energy that raised the hairs on your arms and made your breath mist even in summer. Kael felt it first. He stood atop the outer wall of the palace, moonlight silvering his cloak. His thoughts hadn't rested since the Commitment Trial ended in chaos. The golden thread between him and Selene pulsed faintly beneath his skin, glowing sometimes in his palm like a wound, other times like a vow. And tonight, it burned.

"Kael Thornhart," said a voice behind him. He turned, hand on his sword-but stopped when he saw who it was. The Oracle. But not as they had appeared in court. This time, the figure wore no ceremonial robe. No painted mask. Just a simple black hood, and in their hands, a spindle of silver thread that moved without touch. "Come," the Oracle said. "The loom has something to show you." --- Kael followed in silence as they descended into the lower halls of the Temple of Flame. These were ancient paths-sealed to the public, unknown even to most of the Crown Guard. The air was thicker here. Older. Finally, they entered a chamber lit only by the golden glow of a massive, circular loom. It hovered in the air, suspended by nothing, humming like a choir of distant voices. Threads of every color wove in and out of the wheel, disappearing into the air like smoke. "This is the Heartloom," the Oracle said. "It records the soul-bonds of every living being in the kingdom." Kael stepped closer. He saw a red thread, pulsing softly. A blue one. Then gold. His gold. Tied to- "Selene," he whispered. "Yes," the Oracle said. "Your bond is here. Impossible. Dangerous. And... prophetic." Kael turned to them. "What do you mean?" The Oracle held out the spindle. "This thread is not of this world's current law. It matches nothing in our records. Yet it's older than anything we've ever seen." "Older?" The loom pulsed. "A remnant from a time before the Laws. When magic followed intention, not structure. When love was wild. When bonds formed in defiance of fate-not in obedience to it." Kael's jaw tightened. "Why would that be dangerous?" "Because it unravels the system," the Oracle said. "Your bond is beginning to infect others. Did you not notice the hesitation in the flames during the last ceremony?" Kael remembered. The flickers. The pauses. The other couples whispering. "Your love is spreading. People are feeling again. Doubting. Choosing." Kael almost smiled. But the Oracle's next words turned it to ice. "If your bond grows unchecked, the entire web of magical commitments could unravel. Not just law. Not just order. But the threads that hold people's souls together." Kael's heart slammed in his chest. "You're saying-?" "Without structure, magic collapses into chaos," the Oracle said. "And if too many threads break at once... the Heartloom will tear." Kael stared into the loom. For a moment, it pulsed red. Then gold. Then nothing. A vision struck him: fires in the capital, the palace walls falling, people screaming. Lovers running toward each other and burning up mid-step. "What do we do?" he asked, voice low. The Oracle stepped closer. "You have two paths. Sever the bond. Or strengthen it beyond doubt-anchor it so deeply in truth that it becomes a new law." Kael frowned. "A new law?" "A thread others can follow," the Oracle whispered. "A bond forged not by arrangement, but by mutual will. But such a bond must be tested... by fire, blood, and sacrifice." Kael hesitated. "What kind of sacrifice?" But the Oracle had already begun to fade into shadow. "Ask Selene." And then they were gone. --- Selene sat by her window, gazing at the stars as if they might offer an answer the world had refused. She hadn't been able to sleep-not since the Trial. Not since the Queen's threat. Not since the bond between her and Kael began to hum so loudly that she swore it was beating where her heart should be. Her hand kept going to her chest. As if her ribs could no longer contain what lived there. Then Kael was at her door. She opened it before he knocked. "I felt you coming," she said. His eyes held storms. "I saw the Heartloom." Selene let him in, and for a moment, they just stood there-close, but not touching. He told her everything: the Oracle, the prophecy, the danger. How their bond was more than rebellion-it was revolution. And revolution had a price. "We have to either end it," Kael said, voice hoarse, "or finish what we started. Not just loving each other, Selene... but becoming the proof that love can change the law." Selene's hands shook. "Sacrifice?" she said. "They want blood?" Kael nodded. "I don't know what form it takes. Only that we have to earn the right to write a new thread." She stared at him. "I can't lose you, Kael." "You might," he said quietly. "If we do this." Her throat closed. "But if we don't..." he continued, "this thing between us will become a curse. And the world will fall because of it." Selene turned away, eyes full. "This isn't what I wanted," she whispered. "I just wanted to be free." "You still can be," he said. "But freedom isn't given. We have to take it. Together." She looked back at him. And finally, Selene nodded. "We find the source," she said. "We find the truth. And we make a new law-written in gold." Kael reached for her hand. The thread shimmered. The fire waited.