Shae wasrestless the night before. Ever since she'd spent that evening in that forest with Sebastian, the guy who saved herlife, Shae had gained a fluttering in her chest, a feeling she had only felt described in the books her mother, Queen Alderaic had given her, and she'd ALSO seen this feeling escalate both in those same books, but also in some particularlysteamy ones her mother hadforbidden her from reading, but she read them anyway, keeping them in a box under her bed. She decided to alert her advisors she was going to leave for a few hours, since she was going to "assimilate herself with the populus" as an excuse to go to a cliffside she had heard about in hopes of finding her friend. Yep, friend. DEFINITELY not her secret crush or anything. Yep, just a friend... A friend she had met when he saved her life.
The air was thick with the scent of wildflowers, the soft rustling of leaves, and the distant murmur of a creek that wound through the woods. The sun was beginning its slow descent, casting the world in warm shades of gold, pink, and lavender as it sank toward the horizon. The perfect kind of sunset—the kind that made the world feel quieter, softer.
Shae stood at the edge of the cliffside, watching the sun dip lower, its rays reflecting off the distant water below. The view was breathtaking. But as she gazed out, something else lingered in the air. A tension. A quiet awareness. A feeling she couldn't quite shake.
She wasn't alone.
Sebastian stood beside her, his eyes trained on the horizon, but his presence filled the space between them, like an invisible thread that tightened with every passing moment. The sunset was beautiful, yes, but for Shae, it wasn't just the scenery that captured her attention. It was him.
She tugged her cloak a little tighter, suddenly aware of the way the light seemed to paint him in shades of gold, despite his black and gray clothing, and a single blood-red lock of hair, making him look… almost ethereal. He wasn't the same as other people. No one else she had ever met had such power, such control over nature, and yet, here he was, standing beside her like they were equals.
Her heart fluttered, and she quickly dismissed the feeling, looking down at the cliff's edge to avoid meeting his gaze.
"You seem quiet today," Sebastian said, his voice breaking through her thoughts. His tone was casual, but she could tell he was watching her, his usual mask of composure slightly softened in the glow of the sunset.
She cleared her throat, trying to regain her usual lightness. "Just taking it all in," she replied, though her voice sounded thinner than she intended. She was hiding something, and theybothknew it. It was impossible to pretend otherwise.
He nodded, his eyes scanning the horizon once again. "It's a beautiful view."
The words were simple, but there was something in the way he said them that made her stomach twist. It wasn't just the landscape he was admiring. Shae couldn't help but feel that the moment held more weight than she was willing to admit. And for some reason, the warm sunset made everything feel too intimate, too raw.
She forced herself to look out over the cliffside, to focus on anything other than the way her chest seemed to tighten whenever he was close. But the more she tried to focus on the view, the more her mind wandered back to him.
Sebastian shifted beside her, his hand resting casually on the stone railing at the edge of the cliff. He wasn't acting any differently, but Shae couldn't shake the feeling that something was changing between them. The more time they spent together, the more she felt like she was unraveling.
And yet, as much as she wanted to resist the pull he had on her, she couldn't.
The soft hum of magic in the air—the feeling of the forest sprites playing somewhere nearby—felt like it was carrying the weight of their unspoken thoughts. For a brief, fleeting moment, the distance between them felt impossible to bridge. He wasn't just a stranger to her anymore. He was something else entirely.
But what? She couldn't allow herself to question that. Not yet.
"So, what do you think about fate?" she blurted out suddenly, her voice a little too sharp, as though she could distract herself by asking something she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised by her sudden question. "Fate?" he repeated, as though tasting the word on his tongue. "What, like destiny?"
"Yeah," Shae replied, turning her head slightly to look at him. "Do you believe in it?"
He chuckled softly, the sound a little rougher than usual. "I don't know. It seems like everything we do is just a result of choices, right? But then again… sometimes things just fall into place. Like today."
Shae's heart skipped a beat, though she tried to hide it. "You think today just happened to 'fall into place'?"
Sebastian's eyes flicked to hers for a brief moment before looking away, his expression guarded. "Maybe I'm just saying that so I don't look like I've been waiting for this moment to happen. No need to make it sound too… fated."
Shae bit her lip, trying to hide her sudden flush. She had no idea what was going on between them, but it was far too complicated for words.
There was a long, almost uncomfortable silence between them. The sun was nearly gone now, leaving only a sliver of light on the horizon, casting the sky in dusky purples and deep blues.
And yet, Shae couldn't stop the thoughts that were racing through her mind. She glanced at Sebastian, her pulse quickening as she caught the last rays of sunlight glinting off his hair, making him seem almost untouchable.
Why did she feel this way?
She didn't even know him. And yet, everything about this moment—about him—made her feel like there was something she was missing. Something she couldn't grasp.
"You're staring," Sebastian said suddenly, his voice calm but with a hint of humor.
Shae snapped her gaze away, heart pounding in her chest. "I was not," she replied too quickly, her words a bit too defensive.
Sebastian grinned, clearly enjoying her flustered reaction. "You've been staring at the sunset for a while now. I guess it's easy to get lost in it. Can't blame you."
Shae's face was burning. "Right." She turned her eyes back to the horizon, doing everything in her power to ignore the heat creeping up her neck.
A part of her wanted to change the subject. A part of her wanted to pretend that everything was fine, that she wasn't feeling so exposed in the quiet of the sunset. But another part of her—the part that had been so curious about him—wondered if he was feeling the same thing. Another part of her wanted to launch herself at him and launch into a passionate kiss straight out of a romance nove-Nope. "I(Shae) am not going to try anything" she told herself
But then, as though fate had decided it was time to complicate things even further, the wind picked up, carrying with it a strange sense of change.
Sebastian glanced at her, his expression unreadable. "It's strange, isn't it? How easy it is to get caught up in moments like this."
Shae swallowed hard, trying to ignore the wild rush of emotions flooding her. She hadn't realized how close she had gotten to him until she could feel the heat of his body against hers. The very air between them seemed charged.
Maybe they weren't just strangers anymore.
Maybe this moment—this quiet, glowing moment at the edge of the world—was more than just a fleeting connection.
"Yeah," she whispered, her voice barely carrying over the wind. "It's strange."
But as she looked at him again, this time her gaze lingering a little longer than before, she knew that whatever this was—whatever they were—it was something neither of them could easily walk away from.
