Chapter 259: Episode 259.

Two days later:

The castle remained awake, but the realm remained quiet. Guards changed shifts without speaking.

The witches moved through the corridors with books pressed against their chests, and their voices lowered whenever they passed the healing chambers.

Prince Alaric remained unconscious. Or dead.

Nobody knew if he would wake. Nobody knew if the Dark Fae magic would loosen its grip on his heart.

Nobody knew anything.

Meanwhile, at another end of the castle, Aire lay completely still. The room around her was warm and dim.

Soft sunlight filtered through the curtains, leaving pale golden shapes across the bed.

She had barely moved in two days.

Her breathing remained slow and even. Her face had been almost completely drained of colour when she first returned.

Now, something had changed.

It was subtle.

So subtle that Nate almost convinced himself he had imagined it. He sat beside her bed, with one hand wrapped carefully around hers.

His thumb moved slowly over her knuckles. He hadn’t left her side.

Xander sat on the other side of the bed. His back rested against the wooden chair. His arms were folded across his chest, but there was nothing relaxed about him.

His eyes remained fixed on Aire.

Every few minutes, his gaze drifted toward the door, then back to her. Neither of them had spoken much that morning.

There wasn’t much left to say.

Nate leaned closer. “Aire.” His voice was soft. Almost like a whisper. “Can you hear me?”

She didn’t move.

He smiled faintly anyway. “You probably can.” He looked down at their hands. “You always hear me when I don’t want you to.”

Xander glanced at him.

Nate ignored him.

Nate’s smile slowly faded. He brought her hand closer to his chest. “You scared us.” His voice softened even more. “You know that?”

Xander looked away.

Nate swallowed. “You scared me. I thought I’d lost you.” His eyes burned. “I thought…”

He stopped.

He couldn’t say it.

Instead, he lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss against her knuckles. “Just wake up.”

His voice cracked slightly.

“That’s all.”

Xander’s eyes lowered.

“You can yell at us when you wake up.” Nate laughed quietly. “Please do.”

A faint light appeared between them, then disappeared. Neither of them noticed the change immediately.

It began at Aire’s cheeks. It was a little colour at first, barely there. Just a faint warmth beneath her skin.

Nate’s thumb stopped moving.

He stared.

Xander noticed his expression. “What?”

Nate didn’t answer. He leaned closer. “Aire?”

Xander immediately straightened. “What is it?”

Nate carefully touched her cheek. Her cheeks were warmer. “Her face.”

Xander stood. “What about it?”

“Look.”

Xander moved closer.

His eyes widened.

Colour was slowly returning to Aire’s face. The pale, almost lifeless appearance she had carried for two days was fading.

Very slowly.

Her lips were becoming pink again. Her cheeks carried the faintest hint of warmth.

Xander’s breath caught. “She’s…” He couldn’t finish.

The door opened, cutting him off his words.

The eldest witch stepped inside with two younger witches behind her.

Nate immediately turned.

The eldest witch approached the bed.

Her eyes moved over Aire’s face.

For several seconds, she said nothing. Then she smiled. It was the first genuine smile anyone had seen from her in two days.

“That’s good.”

Nate’s shoulders immediately loosened. “Good?”

“Very good.” She placed two fingers against Aire’s forehead. “Her body is beginning to restore itself.”

Xander released a breath. “So she’s waking?”

The witch shook her head gently. “Not yet.”

His expression fell.

“But this is the first sign that she’s moving toward consciousness.”

Nate looked back at Aire.

The witch continued. “Her magic has been recovering alongside her body.”

Nate frowned. “I thought her magic was nearly gone.”

“It was.” The witch’s gaze remained on Aire. “But Aire’s magic doesn’t behave like ordinary magic.”

Xander crossed his arms.

The witch smiled faintly. “We don’t know how her magic works. She’s the first with this pure magic. Might as well be the last.”

Before either of them could respond, Aire’s fingers moved.

Nate froze. “Aire?”

Her hand twitched inside his, then went still. Something else happened. A strand of her silver hair had shifted.

There was no wind in the room, yet it moved slowly. Almost imperceptibly.

Nate stared at it.

The eldest witch noticed. Her smile disappeared. She stepped closer. “Nobody move.” She ordered, her voice growing stern.

The room went still.

Another strand lifted, then another.

Aire’s silver hair slowly began to rise from the pillow. Softly, and almost tenderly. A faint silver glow appeared at the ends.

More strands began glowing.

The light wasn’t bright. It was soft, like moonlight resting on snow.

Aire remained completely unconscious. Her breathing continued as it was, but her hair continued to rise.

A gentle current of air began moving through the room.

The curtains stirred, and the flames of the candles bent sideways.

Xander took one step backward. “Is she doing this?”

“No.” The eldest witch’s voice was barely audible. “She’s not conscious.”

The wind grew stronger.

Aire’s hair lifted higher.

Silver strands floated around her head and shoulders, glowing brighter with every passing second.

Nate refused to let go of her hand. “Aire…”

The light spread.

From her hair to across her shoulders, to down her arms and then, her chest began to glow.

Nate’s breath caught.

A soft silver light appeared directly over her heart. It pulsed once, ahe entire room responded.

The sound of a heartbeat resounded I’m the room. The windows rattled, and every candle flame went out at once.

Darkness filled the room.

The silver light brightened.

Xander stared. “What…”

The light beneath Aire’s chest pulsed again. This time, the floor beneath the bed trembled softly.

The witches immediately stepped backward. One of them whispered something in an ancient language.

The eldest raised a hand. “Do not interfere.” She warned. Her eyes never left Aire. “Because whatever this is…” She swallowed. “…she is doing it without waking.”

The wind suddenly intensified.

Aire’s body began to rise.

Nate instinctively reached for her. “Wait—”

The eldest witch grabbed his wrist. “Don’t interfere.”

Aire lifted several inches above the mattress.

Her body remained completely relaxed with her silver hair floating around her like an enormous glowing veil.

The light grew brighter, and then, something fell from her hair. It was a single flower. It landed gently on the white sheets.

Nate stared at it.

It was small, and blue. Its petals shimmered faintly. Another flower appeared, then another. Dozens followed.

They slipped from the glowing strands of Aire’s hair as though they had been hidden inside them all along.

Flowers of every colour, they fell slowly. They seemed to float, and each one landed beneath her.

Soon the floor was covered.

A carpet of flowers spread outward from beneath her floating body. The witches stared in complete disbelief.

One dropped her book.

It hit the floor with a soft thud.

The eldest witch didn’t speak. Her eyes had filled with tears.

Nate looked at Aire.

Her face remained peaceful, and her eyes were still closed. But her hair continued glowing.

The flowers continued appearing, and the light in her chest continued pulsing. With every pulse, another wave of wind moved through the chamber.

The flowers responded. Their petals lifted. The entire room seemed to breathe with her.

For a moment, Nate forgot about Alaric.

All he could see was Aire, suspended above the bed, and surrounded by silver light. She looked so beautiful, fragile, and somehow more powerful than anything he had ever seen.

“Aire…”

She didn’t answer.

A tiny flower drifted from her hair. It landed against her chest. The moment it touched the glowing light over her heart, it transformed.

Its petals became silver, then dissolved into light. The light sank into her.

Nate swallowed. “What was that?”

The eldest witch finally spoke. “I don’t know.”

Xander looked at her. “You keep saying that.”

She shook her head. “This is different.” Her voice trembled. “Much different.”

The silver glow suddenly spread farther. It moved beneath Aire’s skin. Thin lines of light appeared along her arms, then around her throat, and her face.

They weren’t veins. They looked like ancient markings. They appeared for only a moment before disappearing again.

The eldest witch stepped forward.

Her lips parted.

The half-crescent mark behind Aire’s ear began glowing. Then another symbol appeared over her heart.

A symbol none of the witches recognized. Yet every witch in the room immediately dropped to one knee.

Nate stared at them. “What are you doing?” He almost panicked.

No one answered.

Xander looked around in confusion.

Every witch lowered her head. Every single one, and even the eldest. The silver light continued to pulse.

Aire remained suspended.

Her hair moved gently around her.

The flowers covered the floor, and the wind carried their scent through the room. For one strange moment, the entire chamber felt outside of time.

Then the light slowly began to fade. The wind weakened, and Aire’s hair descended. The flowers stopped falling, and her body lowered gently.

The silver glow beneath her chest softened until it became nothing more than a faint warmth.

Her body slowly settled back onto the mattress without a sound. Her hair fell across the pillow.

The last remaining strands continued glowing for several seconds. Then, darkness covered the chamber again.

Aire lay still. Fortunately, she was breathing, and alive.

Nate stared at her.

He didn’t know whether to speak. He looked down at the floor, and flowers covered everything.

Hundreds of them with every colour imaginable. And yet none of them had existed before that moment.

Xander slowly stood. His eyes remained fixed on Aire. “Aire…”

His voice failed him.

The eldest witch finally lifted her head.

Her face was wet with tears. She looked at Aire for a long moment. Then slowly, she bowed to Aire.

One by one, the other witches followed.

Every witch in the chamber lowered herself until her forehead nearly touched the floor. They bowed in perfect unison.

Nate stared at them.

His heart hammered. He looked back at Aire. She still hadn’t opened her eyes, but the faint silver glow remained over her heart.

Happy New Month.