The Reborn Sovereign of Ruin, Bound by His Star

Arik did not wait for Liam to finish examining his useless hand.

He turned toward Severin. "Seal the room. Nothing leaves the system, nothing reconnects to the palace, and nobody touches that console until the arcanists examine it."

Then his arm settled around Liam’s waist.

Liam recognized the movement immediately.

"I can walk."

"Good."

Arik still kept hold of him.

The reinforced doors closed behind them, cutting off the operations chamber and its dead displays. The corridor outside was colder, lit by narrow gold formations running along the dark stone walls. Two guards fell into position behind them, keeping several meters of distance while Arik guided Liam toward the private lift.

Liam flexed his right hand again.

Nothing.

Not entirely nothing anymore. A faint prickling had started beneath his palm, like circulation returning after sleeping on an arm badly, but his fingers still refused to cooperate.

Arik noticed.

He took Liam’s hand carefully, turned the numb palm upward, and pressed his mouth against the center of it.

Liam blinked.

"That is medically useless."

Arik kissed his fingers next.

"I know."

Warm ether followed.

It entered at Liam’s wrist first, controlled enough not to disturb the containment around Felix’s corruption. Gold spread beneath his skin in fine lines, moving carefully along the shocked pathways instead of forcing through them.

Pins and needles exploded through Liam’s fingertips.

He winced.

Arik stopped immediately.

"No. Again."

"Does it hurt?"

"Yes, which means I can feel it."

Arik’s jaw tightened, but he released another smaller current.

By the time the lift carried them upward, Liam could curl two fingers.

He considered that encouraging.

"We need to go inside."

Arik’s eyes closed briefly.

Liam knew that expression.

"No."

"We cannot understand the system from a drone if the system itself is using the drone as a route back to us."

"That is precisely why you are not entering the palace."

"The equipment is changing the conditions."

Arik turned toward him fully as the lift continued its silent ascent. His black council coat was still perfectly fitted despite his abrupt departure, though one cuff remained open and the gold embroidery at his wrist framed the sovereign mark beneath it.

"We discussed this."

"We discussed entering when we believed the danger required physical proximity."

"And now we know it does not."

"That changes the investigation."

"It changes my willingness to let you anywhere near that building from low to nonexistent."

Liam stared at him.

Arik stared back.

"I am not insane, Liam."

"I wasn’t suggesting—"

"You were attacked through a console several districts away from Felix’s palace after the live transmission had already been severed, and your conclusion is that you should walk through the front door."

"When you phrase it like that—"

"There is no alternative phrasing that improves it."

The lift opened into the private residential wing.

Arik walked out without releasing Liam’s hand.

Kamal appeared at the far end of the corridor, took one look at them, and wisely redirected the attendants following him without asking questions.

Liam waited until they entered their rooms before trying again.

"The palace reacted specifically to me."

"Yes."

"That matters."

"It matters enough that you are never going inside."

Arik removed Liam’s coat himself and dropped it across a chair before leading him toward the sitting area near the windows. Deira spread beyond the glass, suspended towers glowing against the late afternoon sky while golden ether moved in broad currents beneath the bridges.

Liam sat reluctantly.

Arik knelt in front of him.

He took the numb hand again and worked another thread of ether through it, slower this time. Sensation returned painfully along Liam’s index finger.

Liam watched the gold moving beneath his skin.

"If the palace could identify me through the relay, then Severin was right."

Arik’s attention stayed on his hand. "About what?"

"It wasn’t waiting for a person to enter. It was waiting for something already connected to it."

Arik’s ether stopped, and for several seconds, neither spoke.

Liam looked down at him.

"Whatever Felix put in me."

Arik’s expression went cold.

That was the part neither of them could dismiss anymore.

Felix’s palace had responded through machinery. Something had traveled back along an ether transmission and reached for Liam specifically.

Arik rose slowly.

"We were right from the beginning."

Liam frowned. "About the contamination?"

"About you being targeted."

The distinction made Liam quiet.

Arik moved toward the windows, one hand resting against the back of a chair as he looked out over Deira. Beyond the glass, suspended districts glowed in the late afternoon haze, their bridges threaded with slow currents of gold.

Liam let out a long breath and massaged his recovering hand with his left thumb. Pins and needles had replaced the numbness now, unpleasant but reassuring.

"Arik... we know Felix is somewhere in Wrohan, or gods know where by now. Maybe he crossed the Gate again. Maybe he is somewhere behind it." Liam flexed his fingers, watching two respond properly and the others twitch. "Something is targeting me, and we need to know why."

Arik turned from the window.

Liam held his gaze. "I’m Felix’s ticket to you. Whatever he planned with rebirth, sovereign ether, or the Core—he needs access. I don’t think he wants me dead that easily."

"Maybe." Arik’s voice remained calm, which Liam had learned was usually a bad sign. "But I am still considering blowing the entire palace down."

Liam stared at him.

Arik looked entirely serious.

"You cannot destroy the evidence because you dislike it."

"I dislike that it attacked my mate through a disconnected console."

"That is not a technical criterion."

"It is sufficient for me."

Liam leaned back in the chair, studying him. The anger under Arik’s composure was not really directed at the palace. It was aimed at Felix, at the distance between them and a man who had already poisoned one sovereign, killed his family, and was now reaching toward another through Liam.

"If you destroy it now, we lose the best intact source we have."

"If I leave it standing, it remains capable of reaching you."

"Then isolate it better." Liam’s tone sharpened with renewed focus. "Cut every external relay. Power nothing from the palace’s grid. Use disposable systems, one-way recording, and physical storage if we have to. But we keep looking."

Arik crossed the room again and crouched in front of him. He took Liam’s hand, turning it palm-up before pressing his mouth against the center of it.

Warm sovereign ether followed the kiss.

Liam’s fingers finally curled.

Arik watched the movement before meeting his eyes.

"You are still not going inside."

Liam sighed.

"I heard you."

"That is not the same as agreeing."

"No." Liam tested his grip, satisfaction flickering across his face when it held. "But if you are going to be unreasonable, I can work around you."

Arik’s eyes narrowed.

Liam immediately lifted his recovering hand between them. "Not today."

That earned him a long, suspicious look.