our 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 Commitm

t 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 b