CHAPTER 87: CLIMB OUT OF EXILE

Lucian stood frozen among the suspended icicles, each shard glinting dangerously in the cold air. The ringing silence left by Elyndra’s last words pressed against his skull, heavy and suffocating as if even the chamber itself dared not move.

Both.

Both.

The word clawed through him like cold steel.

Elyndra’s lips curved into a slow, satisfied smirk as she nodded, "You definitely heard that right... I mean, both."

Her tone was almost playful as she reached for one of the hovering icicles and plucked it delicately from the air, examining it like a toy.

She tapped the icicle lightly against Seraphina’s own head.

"First, this stupid woman," she said with a careless flick, "and second... ah, the little creature that was just beginning to form in her womb."

The icicle slipped from her fingers and shattered against the floor.

But Lucian didn’t hear the sound. His entire world tilted. His breath almost stopped and his hands went numb.

His chest clenched so violently he thought something inside him had fractured.

’No. No—Seraphina pregnant?’

His mind refused to fully grasp it. The words hit him like a blow, hopelessly out of place in the surrounding chaos, too fragile to belong in this moment.

But Elyndra was watching him closely, drinking in every flicker of horror that crossed his face.

"Oh?" she drawled, lifting Seraphina’s brow with a mocking pout. "You didn’t know? I think she didn’t know either... How cute."

Lucian staggered back a step, the cold around him collapsing into a sudden, unstable wave. The icicles trembled violently, some fell, some cracking, others dissolving into frost as his magic spiraled out of his control.

Seraphina...

A child...

His child.

Elyndra let out a soft, cruel laugh.

"Don’t tell me you didn’t feel it," she said, running a hand over Seraphina’s flat stomach with deliberate cruelty. "Phoenix bodies hum differently when a new flame is being woven inside. It’s quite beautiful, actually. Such a delicate little spark... shame it would have faded with her."

"No!"

Lucian’s voice tore through the chamber, raw and shaking. He surged forward, the cold around him erupting into a violent wave as he closed the distance between them. "Get out! Get out of her body right this instant! Bring Seraphina back!"

His hand lifted as if to seize her again, to drag Elyndra out by force if he had to.

But Elyndra didn’t even flinch.

A century ago, she would have. She would have recoiled, bracing for his anger, wary of the power he once wielded so mercilessly.

But now?

Now she only watched him, unbothered, amused, her stolen lips curving into a slow, taunting smile.

"Oh, Lucian..." she murmured, stepping closer instead of retreating. "It’s adorable how you think shouting at me will do anything."

She tapped the center of his chest with a single finger...light and almost affectionate, but it made him go rigid.

"I’m not the weak little fairy you cursed a hundred years ago," she continued, her voice dropping into something colder, older, something that did not belong in Seraphina’s throat. "I have a phoenix body now."

Her smile widened, slow and merciless, "Your loved one’s body."

Lucian’s breath hitched as the words struck him harder than any physical blow. Something inside his chest twisted painfully, the force of it nearly doubling him over.

"I know you wouldn’t even hurt this one," she said lightly, her voice dripping with delight. "Not even a pinch..."

She lifted Seraphina’s hand to her lips, laughing silently behind her fingers, an elegant, cruel gesture that belonged nowhere near Seraphina’s gentle face.

"Ah! The feeling of satisfaction..." she sighed, almost breathless with amusement.

Then, in a movement far too carefree for the situation, Elyndra spread Seraphina’s arms wide and spun slowly on her heel, as if enjoying the space, the air, the body she had stolen. Her laughter echoed softly, bright and vicious, filling the chamber with a chill Lucian had never felt before.

"I waited a century for this," she said, her voice carrying a triumphant lilt. "A century with my soul wandering around this world, with nothing but hatred and stubborn will to keep me alive... and now..." She spun back toward him, the hem of Seraphina’s robe brushing the frost-crusted floor.

"Now I get to enjoy her life... and your misery."

Lucian clenched his fists so tightly the frost beneath him fractured with a sharp, splintering crack. Cold surged outward in an uncontrolled wave, spiderwebbing across the chamber floor and up the broken walls.

"What do you want?" he bit out, teeth clenched, each word forced past the fury vibrating inside him.

Elyndra paused mid-spin.

For the first time, she truly looked at him, not with mockery, not with playful cruelty, but with a slow, calculating interest. The tilt of her head softened, and a small, thoughtful smile touched Seraphina’s stolen lips.

"What I want..." she echoed, almost savoring the words as she drifted closer, her fingertips trailing lightly over the frost in admiration. "You ask that as if I haven’t wanted the same thing for a hundred years."

She stepped into his space, close enough that he could see the glint of ancient malice shimmering behind Seraphina’s eyes.

"I want what I was promised," she said gently, almost tenderly. "You."

Lucian’s breath iced in his lungs.

Elyndra smiled at his stillness, her expression softening into something almost nostalgic. "Do you know how long I clung to life just to stand here in front of you?" she whispered, her fingers tracing the air between them as if outlining a memory. "A century, Lucian. A century of wandering without a body, without warmth, without breath. But I held on." Her voice dipped, shimmering with pride. "Because I wanted to show you. I wanted you to see how I would rise... how I would climb out of exile and restore my clan’s place in this world."

She took another step, her gaze sharpening.

"You were supposed to be part of that rise," she murmured. "My proof that a fairy could stand at the top of the world. My proof that we were worthy."

Lucian’s jaw tightened.

Elyndra leaned in, her words turning venomous.

"And the one who should have carried your child," she whispered, brushing her hand over Seraphina’s stomach, "was supposed to be me. Not this stupid, reckless woman who throws herself into danger for sentiment."

Lucian froze.

Elyndra’s smile deepened.

"Shall I show you," she breathed, "how easily I can take everything she was meant to have?"