Chapter 39: Devotion
Theron felt her gaze before he saw it.
When he turned, she looked away almost instantly, as though being caught would reveal too much.
Something in his chest tightened, but he let it pass.
"Let’s get you something to eat," he said gently, his hand coming to rest against her back in a quiet, reassuring gesture.
She didn’t pull away. But she didn’t lean into it either.
Theron smiled faintly to himself.
So... she had learned.
His little hare was no longer as trusting as she once was. There was caution in her now, a careful distance that hadn’t existed before. And perhaps... that was for the best. The world she stood in now demanded it.
She needed to protect herself...Even from him.
He would allow that.
He would allow her wariness, her silence, even the way she seemed to shrink away from his presence.
She could do anything... except leave him.
Because that... was the one thing he would never survive.
*****
Theron bought Aveline everything she used to love.
Warm food, rich with flavor. Small sweets, he remembered, she would once reach for without hesitation. Things that should have drawn that bright, unguarded smile from her again.
But now... She barely ate.
Her attention wandered, her responses quiet and distracted. And more than anything, she avoided his gaze, as though even meeting his eyes had become too much.
And yet...
She clung to the bouquet as if it were something precious beyond measure.
And the stone...that strange, insignificant stone... She held it just as tightly, her fingers wrapped around it as though it contained something only she could understand.
Theron noticed. Of course, he did. But he didn’t question it. Instead, something thoughtful settled behind his eyes.
He had already given the order.
His men would gather more of those stones—the overlooked ones, the dismissed ones, the ones scholars had deemed useless.
Because she had seen something in it. And that alone made it valuable.
Until now, researchers had managed to extract only the faintest trace of ether from that stone. Nothing stable. Nothing practical. It had been discarded as a curiosity at best.
But Aveline... Aveline did not see things the way others did. She saw beyond what was known.
And if she understood it, if she could unlock it, then everything would change.
A quiet vision began to take shape in his mind.
Aveline standing beside him, guiding him to what others could not find, revealing what others could not see.
He could build something with that. Something no one else could rival.
Greenvale would rise, become the heart of Aetherstone research, the center of power, the kingdom others would turn to, depend on... fear.
And her name... He would make sure her name was tied to it. She could name the stone herself. She could have anything she wanted.
His gaze softened slightly as it lingered on her.
This was the future.
And with Aveline by his side, the entire continent could be his.
*****
That evening, the world felt quieter than it should have.
Aveline sat at the table, the soft clink of cutlery and the low murmur of distant voices fading into something indistinct. She chewed slowly, almost mechanically, the taste of the food barely registering. She had not eaten much the entire day, and even now, hunger felt like something far away, drowned beneath a heaviness she could not name.
Her chest ached, persistently, like something sitting there, refusing to move.
She didn’t want to speak. Didn’t want to be spoken to. Even sleep had abandoned her, slipping just out of reach no matter how tightly she shut her eyes.
It felt like grief.
And yet, she could not say what she had lost.
Every time Theron stepped into her presence, every time his voice brushed against her senses, that ache sharpened. It twisted, deep and quiet, somewhere she could not touch or understand.
She didn’t want to think about why he had come back after ten years and what he wanted.
She clung, stubbornly, to the one truth she could not deny.
He had saved her.
Whatever his reasons, whatever his intentions, he had pulled her away from a fate she did not even want to imagine. That alone should have been enough. It should have steadied her.
But it didn’t.
Because it was him.
And that was enough to make something inside her hurt all over again.
She lowered her gaze to her plate, forcing herself to swallow.
"Aveline..."
His voice was gentle. Too gentle.
"Huh?" She blinked, startled, pulled out of the quiet storm of her thoughts.
Theron was watching her closely.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked.
He already knew the answer wasn’t simple. The brightness that used to live in her eyes had dimmed, replaced by something quieter, something guarded.
Aveline hesitated. Then she looked at him.
"You did me a great favor back at the slave market, Theron," she said softly.
The words felt deliberate, like something she had repeated to herself over and over until they settled into place.
"I won’t forget that."
She wouldn’t allow herself to forget it.
No matter what happened next, no matter if he turned cold, distant, or even cruel, this truth would remain. Her life could have been far worse if he had not chosen her that night.
"I’ll do anything in return," she said.
It was the only way she knew how to balance what stood between them.
So what if he wanted her ability?
She had already broken her promise to her mother the moment she revealed it to him. Whatever came of it now... she would accept it.
"Anything?" Theron echoed, one brow lifting slightly.
There was something in his voice—quiet, unreadable. He moved closer, taking the seat beside her instead of across. His hand came to rest over hers, warm, steady.
Her fingers felt small beneath his; smaller than he remembered. They used to be the same once. Now she felt fragile in a way that unsettled him.
His gaze lifted from their hands to her face.
And then, without meaning to... it landed on her lips.
The memory returned uninvited. That moment earlier. The near-miss.... The way her finger had pressed against his mouth, stopping him, but not before he had felt how close he had come.
And that kiss they shared that morning... how soft and delicate her lips were... how warm and delicious they tasted...
He knew he shouldn’t dwell on it, for his sake. But more importantly, for hers.
And yet...
His gaze lingered.
Aveline felt it.
Of course, she could sense that subtle shift in the air. The weight of his attention settling somewhere too intimate, too dangerous. Her breath faltered almost imperceptibly before she caught herself.
Her tongue brushed over her lips before she could stop it, a nervous, instinctive gesture. Then she pressed them together, almost biting them lightly, as though she could hide them from him.
Her heart betrayed her. A small, traitorous flutter in her chest. She didn’t understand it. Didn’t want to.
Because he belonged to someone else. And she would not take what was not hers... even if a part of her already had.
The thought came sharp and unwelcome.
There were questions she wanted to ask, details she wanted to know, but something in her refused. Pride, perhaps. Or self-preservation. She would not lower herself to that, not for something she had no right to.
Slowly, carefully, she slipped her hand out from beneath his.
The warmth disappeared instantly.
"Anything..." she repeated quietly, her voice steady despite the storm beneath it. "Except kissing... or touching."
The space between them shifted, subtle, but undeniable.
Theron’s fingers stilled where they rested on the table, with something quieter; something that did not understand why she thought she could choose where the line was drawn.
And for the first time...
Theron felt something in him falter, as though an unseen hand had reached inside and pulled, sharp and sudden, at something he had not realized was so tightly held.