The celebration lasted until sunset.
Not because anyone had planned one.
There were no musicians.
No wine was poured.
No grand proclamation announced the beginning of peace.
There were simply soldiers who had spent weeks preparing to kill one another slowly realizing that they would not have to.
And sometimes, that was celebration enough.
Lexander stood alone on the balcony of the royal fortress.
Below him, the capital of Dinar was beginning to breathe again.
The gates had opened.
Queen Io’s soldiers entered the city in disciplined columns, not as conquerors tearing through the streets, but as an occupying force under strict command.
No looting.
No violence against civilians.
No entering private homes without cause.
Lexander had personally heard Io give the orders.
He had not expected her to.
That troubled him more than he cared to admit.
He rested his hands against the cold stone railing.
Behind him, the doors opened.
“You’re brooding.”
Lexander didn’t turn around.
“I am contemplating.”
Lysandra walked onto the balcony.
“You’re brooding.”
“I’m a future king. I’m allowed.”
“You don’t want to be king.”
Lexander sighed.
“No.”
“Then you’re just brooding.”
She joined him at the railing.
For a while, they watched the city together.
It was strange.
For three weeks, Lexander had stared at stone walls from inside a dungeon cell.
Before that, he had watched his father’s kingdom slowly transform into something he no longer recognized.
Now the war was over.
And somehow—
He felt more afraid than ever.
“Do you trust her?”
Lysandra asked.
Lexander glanced sideways.
“I barely remember her.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
His sister nodded.
“At least you’re honest.”
Lexander looked down toward the courtyard.
Queen Io stood among a group of officers.
Even from this distance, he could recognize her.
She carried herself differently than anyone else.
There was something almost—
Ancient about her.
The thought came unbidden.
Lexander frowned.
Ancient.
He shook his head.
That was ridiculous.
She was only a few years older than him.
Perhaps five.
Maybe six.
Hardly ancient.
Yet when she had looked into his eyes earlier, something inside him had reacted.
Not recognition.
Not exactly.
It was something far stranger.
Like remembering a dream he had never had.
“Why does she keep looking at me like that?”
Lysandra smiled.
“Oh?”
Lexander immediately regretted asking.
“Like what?”
“You know.”
“I absolutely do not.”
“The way women look at men when—”
“Lyssy.”
“What?”
“You’re fourteen.”
“And?”
“And stop talking.”
Lysandra laughed.
“You’re blushing.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
“I was imprisoned for three weeks. My complexion is unusual at the moment.”
“That might be the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The doors opened again.
This time, neither of them laughed.
A servant stepped onto the balcony.
“Your Highness.”
Lexander turned.
The servant bowed.
“Queen Io requests your presence.”
Lysandra immediately looked at her brother.
Lexander groaned.
“Already?”
The servant looked uncomfortable.
“She said it was important.”
Lysandra narrowed her eyes.
“That sounds suspicious.”
Lexander looked toward the city.
“I agree.”
The servant waited.
Finally, Lexander sighed.
“Where?”
“The old chapel.”
Lexander froze.
The servant noticed.
“Your Highness?”
“The chapel?”
“Yes.”
The old royal chapel had been abandoned years ago.
His father had ordered it closed after accusing several priests of speaking against the crown.
The priests had disappeared shortly afterward.
Lexander had never learned what happened to them.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to.
“Fine.”
He turned toward Lysandra.
“You stay here.”
She crossed her arms.
“No.”
“Lyssy.”
“You just got out of prison.”
“And?”
“And I don’t trust mysterious invitations to abandoned chapels.”
Lexander stared at her.
“That is surprisingly reasonable.”
“Thank you.”
“Still no.”
“Lexander.”
“Lysandra.”
She narrowed her eyes.
He smiled.
She hated when he used her full name.
“Fine,” she muttered.
Lexander began walking toward the doors.
Then stopped.
“Stay near Mother.”
Lysandra’s expression softened.
“I will.”
He nodded.
Then disappeared into the fortress.
The old chapel smelled of dust.
And memories.
Lexander pushed open the enormous wooden doors.
They groaned in protest.
Sunlight spilled through shattered stained-glass windows, painting the floor in fragments of red, blue, and gold.
The statues of the old gods still stood along the walls.
Some had been damaged.
Others had been deliberately defaced.
One was missing its head.
Lexander looked around.
“Queen Io?”
No answer.
He stepped farther inside.
The doors slowly closed behind him.
Lexander immediately turned.
“That’s not ominous at all.”
“Still making jokes when you’re nervous.”
His body froze.
The voice came from the darkness near the altar.
Queen Io stepped forward.
She wasn’t wearing her crown.
Nor her ceremonial armor.
For the first time since he had seen her again, she looked almost—
Normal.
She wore a simple dark dress beneath a traveling cloak.
Her hair hung loose.
Lexander blinked.
“I’m not nervous.”
Io raised an eyebrow.
“You just threatened the architecture.”
“I said the doors were ominous.”
“You glared at them.”
“They started it.”
For a moment, Io simply stared at him.
Then she laughed.
It was quiet.
Beautiful.
And somehow—
Sad.
Lexander stopped smiling.
There it was again.
That strange feeling.
Like he had heard that laugh before.
Not when they were children.
Long before that.
He frowned.
Io noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Queen Io.”
“Lexander.”
He sighed.
“Why am I here?”
The amusement disappeared from her face.
Immediately, Lexander became serious.
She walked toward the altar.
“Because I need to tell you something.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“I swear to the gods, if you say that word again—”
“Sorry.”
Io took a breath.
For the first time since he had met her outside the walls, she looked nervous.
That frightened him.
A woman who had commanded an army and personally brought down an empire was nervous.
About talking to him.
Lexander’s humor faded.
“Io.”
She looked at him.
“What’s wrong?”
Her eyes dropped.
“Nothing is wrong.”
“That’s worse.”
She laughed once.
Without humor.
Then she turned away.
“Do you believe in reincarnation?”
Lexander blinked.
“No.”
Io nodded.
“That makes this more difficult.”
“Should I start?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He folded his arms.
“Because I genuinely have no idea where this conversation is going.”
Io walked toward one of the broken stained-glass windows.
“The old religions believed that a soul could return.”
Lexander said nothing.
“Again and again.”
Sunlight passed through her hair.
“Sometimes the soul remembered nothing.”
She turned toward him.
“Sometimes it remembered everything.”
Lexander frowned.
“Is this about religion?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Io closed her eyes.
“When I was seventeen years old…”
Her voice became quiet.
“I remembered dying.”
The silence inside the chapel deepened.
Lexander stared at her.
Io continued.
“I remembered another life.”
He almost laughed.
Almost.
But something in her expression stopped him.
“I remembered a different name.”
Her hands slowly clenched.
“A different family.”
Lexander felt cold.
“I remembered falling in love.”
He swallowed.
Io looked directly into his eyes.
“With a man who looked exactly like you.”
Everything stopped.
Lexander stared at her.
The words refused to make sense.
“What?”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Io.”
“His name wasn’t Lexander.”
Her voice cracked.
“But he had your eyes.”
Lexander’s breath caught.
“And your stupid sense of humor.”
“I do not have a stupid—”
“Lex.”
He stopped.
She had never called him that.
Not today.
Not when they were children.
Yet the name came from her lips with such familiarity that it sent a chill down his spine.
Io looked away.
“He died when he was twenty-three.”
Lexander remained silent.
“I was twenty-two.”
Her voice became softer.
“We were supposed to marry.”
The chapel disappeared.
Not physically.
But for Lexander, the rest of the world seemed to grow distant.
“Who was he?”
Io smiled.
A terrible smile.
“I don’t remember his name anymore.”
Lexander frowned.
“What?”
“I remember his face.”
She touched her own chest.
“I remember the way he laughed.”
Her eyes began to shine.
“I remember the way he held my hand when I was afraid.”
She swallowed.
“But his name…”
Io shook her head.
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