I knew the kingdom would burn the moment you touched me. The storm pressed against the stone like a living thing, dragons screaming somewhere beyond the walls as if they sensed the shift in my blood. I slipped through the hidden passage... the one carved for heirs who were never meant to survive their own coronations... and found you waiting in the dark.

You should not have been there. I should not have gone. But when your fingers brushed mine, the world narrowed to a single, dangerous breath. A tenderness sharp enough to wound. A moment that felt like choosing fire over air. “I do not love you,” I said... the lie I told to keep you alive. Your eyes held the truth anyway.

“If morning finds us,” you whispered, “it will unmake everything we are.” And still I stayed. Because I inherited fire, yes! but no one warned me that desire burns quieter, deeper, and far more ruinously than destiny ever could. Outside, the dragons screamed again. Inside, I chose you, knowing dawn would come for its due.