The night after Aven left was… strange.
There was no battle.
No chase.
No divine threat on the horizon.
Just firelight, camp stew, and silence.
Zara sharpened her axes.
Claire made tea.
Velda sat far from the group, watching the flames but never speaking.
And Lucius?
He noticed.
---
"Talk," he said, walking over to Velda.
She didn't even pretend to play dumb.
"There's something I haven't told you," she said softly.
Lucius waited.
Velda didn't meet his gaze.
"I was there… the night she died."
Lucius's eyes narrowed.
"The girl in the garden?"
Velda nodded.
"I wasn't part of the Church or the betrayal. I was just a kid. A runaway magic scholar trying to watch the stars from a cursed valley."
She looked at him, voice cracking for the first time.
"But I saw her burn. I saw you scream. I saw the gods watch."
---
> [Bond Path Expanded: Velda – "The Witness"]
Trait Gained: Guilt Mage – Her magic strengthens the more she remembers the things she ran from.
---
Lucius didn't speak.
He just reached out.
Velda froze—then accepted his hand.
"I wasn't brave enough to help then," she whispered.
"You are now," Lucius said. "Stay that way."
---
Later that night...
Lilith didn't sleep.
She couldn't.
Because when she closed her eyes—
She saw fire.
A garden.
Lucius… dying again and again.
And her—standing still, doing nothing.
---
She sat up in the dark, shaking.
Claire noticed.
"You okay?"
Lilith didn't answer.
Claire crawled over beside her.
Carefully. Quietly.
"You loved her, didn't you?" Claire asked.
Lilith nodded once.
"Maybe more than I knew. Maybe more than I could admit back then."
Claire hesitated, then whispered:
"Do you love him now?"
Lilith's hands clenched.
"I don't know how to stop."
---
> [Corruption: Dropped to 10%]
[New Trait Gained: Bound by Flame]
Effect: If Lucius is betrayed again… Lilith will burn heaven itself.
---
Meanwhile…
Deep below the continent. Far from the gods, far from prayer.
A coffin opened.
A clawed hand emerged.
A whisper crawled from its lips.
"…Lucius…"
---
> [New Faction Detected: The Slumbering Court]
Status: Awakened
Queen: ???
Connection to Lucius: Intimate / Forgotten / Dangerous
---
Lucius sat up in his tent, gasping.
He felt it.
A bond.
Old.
Powerful.
And jealous.
"…She's waking up."