Chapter 2 Destiny is All

The air shifted instantly.  

I looked up at their leader—long black hair, dark, steady eyes, and skin too smooth for a man who had ever hunted or brawled. There was something off about him. Refined. Untouched.  

The dragon crest on his breastplate caught the light—same as the one carved into the wall of the north shaft.  

“Now what do we have here?” His head tilted slightly, voice sharp—each word precise, deliberate.  

I stepped in front of the priestess.  

“You’re off the main road,” I said, keeping my tone level.  

The lead rider smiled. Not kindly. Like a predator toying with something already caught.  

“Well… that’s unfortunate.”  

“Sir,” I added, firmer now, “the festival is ahead. You should move along.”  

“You want me to leave?” he scoffed. “And miss this?” His gaze slid to the priestess. “On a night like this?”  

Laughter broke from the other riders.  

“Look—we don’t want trouble,” I said.  

He dismounted anyway. Slow—like he had all the time in the world. I glanced back at the priestess. She was still unmoving.  

Still… calm.  

Why?  

“Easy now, tiger,” the man said, circling us. “No need to get territorial.”  

He stepped closer. Too close. His hand reached out—fingers brushing the edge of her sleeve.  

“Don’t.” I knocked his hand away.  

The world paused.  

He looked down at his hand, almost curious. Then back at me.  

“You struck me.”  

“I stopped you.”  

A quiet chuckle slipped from his lips.  

“You… stopped me?”  

Silence.  

Then laughter—low at first, then sharper.  

“Do you know who I am?”  

I stepped forward. “I don’t care.”  

“Hm.” His lips pressed together. “That makes this… interesting.”  

Then he moved. Fast. He grabbed the priestess and pulled her toward him.  

I didn’t think. I moved. My fist slammed into his jaw.  

Clean.  

He staggered back as blood touched his lips—but he was still smiling. That was the problem. He wiped the blood slowly, studying it. When he looked up again, the amusement was gone.  

His eyes lingered on me. Searching.  

“Oh…”  

Behind him, the others dismounted—hands already on their weapons. 

“Enzo!” Darion shouted my name. Some riders I hadn't noticed earlier dragged him back.  

“You shouldn’t have done that, boy,” the man said.  

“Get on your horse and leave,” I warned. “Please.”  

“Too late.” His voice hardened. “You should have known what happens when you spill royal blood.”  

My stomach tightened.  

“Royal—?”  

“Now,” he said calmly, “kneel.”  

I straightened. “The Treaty of the Seven Seas says any chief’s blood spilled without rite breaks the peace. Kill me here, and the riverlands burn. Give me the Trial, and my father buries me without war.”  

Cassian’s smile thinned. “You know the Codex.”  

“I know you can’t afford a tribal war—not now.”  

A pause.  

Then: “If the gods take you, I’m absolved. If they return you, I’m blessed. Either way, I win. You call that mercy?”  

He turned. “Bind him. The Codex is clear. A chief’s son may claim Trial by God on holy ground. We honor the Codex, or we’re no better than the tribes we conquered.”  

Steel whispered free behind him. Even the wind stilled.  

It happened all at once. I moved on instinct—But it didn’t feel like instinct.  

Steel flashed

The god-tear heated up in my pocket again as the first blade came from my left. And for a split second—  

I knew.  

Not saw.  

Knew.  

I pivoted before it landed, caught the wrist, drove my elbow into his throat.  

A crack.  

He dropped.  

I whipped around, and steel kissed my ribs. The pain burned. I grabbed the attacker’s arm, twisted, and drove my forehead into his face.  

Blood burst.  

Another attacker came from behind—I ducked before he struck.  

Not reaction.  

Timing.  

Like I was inside the movement before it happened. I seized his momentum and threw him hard into the dirt.  

For a second—  

Just one—  

Everything sharpened.  

Slowed.  

Aligned.  

The prince hadn’t moved, but he was watching now. Not amused. Focused.  

“Impressive…” he muttered.  

I barely heard him. Something was wrong.  

No—  

Something was too right. Unnaturally so.  

More riders broke from the trees. Five, maybe more. The moment shattered. My chest tightened.  

I turned to the priestess. “Run!”  

She didn’t move.  

“Run!” I snapped.  

“I won’t.”  

That was it.  

They came together this time in perfect sync.  

One high. One low. Trained and precise.  

I saw it before it happened. I moved—blocked the first. But the second still slammed into my leg.  

I dropped. Pain shot up my thigh.  

A boot crashed into my chest. I hit the ground hard—air gone.  

Rolled—  

Barely avoided the next strike—  

But the third—steel drove into my shoulder.  

I roared. Surging forward, I slammed into the nearest man, driving him down. Then my fist came down.  

Once.  

Twice.  

Until he stopped moving.  

Then—  

Cold steel touched the back of my neck.  

“Enough!” The prince growled. He was close. Too close. He stepped around me slowly, studying me. Not as prey. As something else.  

“You fight well,” he said quietly. “But that’s not it, is it?”  

My breath came sharp.  

He tilted his head slightly. “You moved before they struck.”  

A pause.  

“Curious… I've only seen that once before,” he stilled. Just for a second. 

My pulse spiked.  

“What are you?”  

“Step closer, and perhaps you'll understand.”  

He chuckled. Then his expression hardened. “Now, you die.”  

“Sir—”  

“Kneel!”  

“I told you,” I spat, “I am not yours to command.”  

The blade pressed deeper. Blood ran.  

“There’s the problem,” he said softly.  

More riders grabbed me—forcing my arms back. I thrashed, but it was useless. They hauled me upright as the prince turned away from me. Toward her.  

“Don’t you touch her!” I shouted.  

He ignored me, and stepped closer in slow, deliberate strides. His fingers brushed her jaw and something broke inside me.  

The priestess didn’t flinch. Didn’t move.  

Only her eyes shifted—to me. Once. And this time there was no question. Only certainty. The familiar buzzing pressure in my ear returned momentarily, the god-tear heating up even more…  

“No!” I roared—  

But pain exploded at the back of my head and everything stopped. My vision fractured.  

Laughter followed.  

Low.  

Cold.  

“Interesting,” the prince mused. “You bleed for her.”  

A pause.  

“You fight for her.” His gaze sharpened again. “But that’s not why you interest me.”  

My breath caught.  

“Would you die for her though?”  

“Yes.”  

No hesitation.  

No thought.  

The answer was already there.  

He studied me. Longer this time. Then smiled as if he recognized something on my face.  

“I believe you,” he said. “But you misunderstand something.”  

He turned.  

“Bind him.”  

Rough hands forced me forward. Rope cut into my wrists. My body screamed. Still, I didn’t bow.  

The prince mounted his horse smoothly, looking down at me like I already belonged to him.  

“You’ve spilled royal blood,” he said. “Do you know what that means in the capital?”  

I said nothing.  

“It means your life is no longer yours.”  

A heartbeat.  

“It belongs to the Empire.”  

Then—almost as an afterthought—  

“And we take a particular interest… in anomalies.”  

My chest tightened.  

Around us, the distant drums still echoed faintly.  

“Take him.”  

They dragged me forward. My legs nearly gave out—but I forced them steady, and myself upright even as darkness crept in.  

At that moment, I turned. Just once. And she was still there watching.  

Silent.  

But this time—her gaze wasn’t calm. It was knowing.  

Our eyes met. And something locked into place.  

This wasn’t chance.  

It had been waiting.  

And now it had found me.