Chapter 1686
Jude reached out, his fingertips brushing the golden shimmer of the portal. It didn’t resist. It pulsed gently, like it recognized his touch - not as an intruder, but as a familiar echo. He glanced at Lucy beside him, her golden-flecked eyes steady, a soft smile tugging at her lips. She nodded once, fingers tightening around his. He turned, taking in the circle of his wives. Twelve faces he had come to know as deeply as his own soul. Each radiant in their own right. Each waiting.
Behind them, the dreamers watched, silent and breathless, as if sensing the weight of the moment.
"What do we become if we step through?" Emma asked, voice low but clear.
"Not something else," Rose answered, walking to the front of the group, her fingers grazing the arch. "Something more."
Sophie tilted her head. "And if we don’t?"
Lucy smiled. "Then we stay here and grow roots, until Elaria blooms again through someone else."
Jude looked to the sky above the trees. The clouds were still swirling with that strange golden light. He could hear the trees breathing. The island was awake - and still listening.
"Maybe this isn’t a choice between here and there," he murmured. "Maybe it’s both."
Zoey stepped forward, her bare feet soundless against the moss. "I don’t think the portal is a place. I think it’s a part of us. Like the pool. Like the flower. Like the song."
Natalie reached out and brushed her fingers along the edge of the doorway. "Then maybe it leads not away - but deeper."
There was a hush, the air heavy with potential.