The Forgotten Pulse of the Bond-Chapter 31: Magnolia Breaks In

She picked it in under ten seconds.

Inside, Sterling’s quarters were cold.

Every object was placed with purpose. Not a scroll out of line, not a loose book. His writing desk faced east, always positioned for sunrise. Two paintings hung above the mantle one of a wolf with eyes like polished stone, the other a faceless child standing before a gate.

Magnolia ignored them.

She crossed to the bookshelf.

Fourth shelf, third book from the right.

That was what Beckett’s note had said.

She pulled the volume.

It clicked.

The shelf shifted.

A hidden compartment opened below the floorboard.

She slipped inside.

The hidden chamber was barely lit. A single candle burned on a wrought-iron table, the flame cold blue. The walls were lined with black cases, blood-sealed, bond-locked.

But one stood open.

Inside it: Camille’s name.

Or rather, Caelia.

Magnolia reached for the stack of letters and pulled out the top one.

It was addressed to the High Circle.

Not the current council.

The old one.

Dated seventeen years ago.

Subject: "Request for subject relocation and final seal integration."

Her blood froze.

She read the next.

"Subject Caelia has exhibited rare tolerance to bond stressors and lunar phase compression. Emotional development inconsistent with projections. Recommend memory partitioning and external bond guardian implant."

She flipped the page.

Elara’s signature.

Her hand trembled.

So they all knew.

She turned to leave only to find herself face to face with Rhett.

He stood in the entry to the vault, breath hard, face pale.

His coat was still dusted with ash. His boots caked in mud.

He’d just returned.

And now he stared at her like he’d caught her bleeding.

"What are you doing?" he asked, voice low.

Magnolia stepped back. "Looking for the truth."

"By breaking in?"

"You broke into the past."

His jaw clenched. "I didn’t hide it from her."

"You didn’t tell her either."

He closed the distance between them.

"You think I wanted this? You think I like knowing what they did to her?"

She pressed a hand to his chest.

Felt the journal inside his coat.

"You found the cradle, didn’t you?"

He didn’t deny it.

"She’s not just a girl," he said. "They built her, Maggie."

"I know." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

They stared at each other, breath caught between confession and guilt.

Then he whispered, "She doesn’t deserve this."

"No," Magnolia agreed. "But she deserves to know."

"She’ll break."

"Then let her break on our terms."

Rhett took her face in his hands.

And kissed her.

It was desperation and regret.

It was fury and longing.

It was two years of unspoken grief colliding into now.

Magnolia didn’t stop it.

She leaned into it.

Let the fire burn through her ribs.

Let herself believe, for one breathless second, that the world hadn’t shattered already.

When they pulled apart, their foreheads stayed pressed.

"I’m sorry," she whispered.

Rhett didn’t answer.

Because Camille was standing in the doorway.

She stood in the open threshold of Sterling’s hidden archive, her hair half-loosed from sleep, her eyes wide with something that wasn’t just betrayal. It was worse. It was recognition.

She had seen the kiss.

And it hadn’t surprised her.

Only confirmed what the mirror already whispered.

Rhett stepped back first, as if physically hit by the look on her face.

"Camille "

She said nothing.

Magnolia turned, voice raw. "Cam wait "

But she was already walking away.

No scream.

No accusation.

Just the sound of her bare feet on cold stone.

Magnolia bolted after her.

"Camille!"

The corridor blurred as she ran. Every shadow seemed to stretch. The Keep itself exhaled around her, groaning under the weight of everything unsaid. She caught sight of the hem of Camille’s tunic as it vanished past the west stairwell.

"Please stop!"

Camille reached the top of the tower steps and turned.

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it cracked like a whip.

"I don’t want you to explain."

"I have to."

"No," Camille said. "You have to admit it."

Magnolia froze halfway up the steps.

Camille continued, voice trembling. "It wasn’t a moment. It wasn’t the stress. You kissed him because you’ve always wanted to."

"I didn’t mean to hurt you."

"But you did."

Magnolia swallowed hard. "He was trying to comfort me."

Camille gave a breathless laugh sharp, painful. "Do you kiss everyone who holds your hand?"

"No Camille, please, it wasn’t what you think."

Camille stepped down slowly, her eyes gleaming wet.

"You said you were mine. That we were tethered. That we were all we had."

"We are "

"Not anymore."

She pushed past Magnolia.

Walked straight to her quarters.

And slammed the door.

Magnolia didn’t follow.

She leaned against the wall, chest heaving.

The mark on her palm burned.

Inside, Camille dropped to her knees.

Her hands shook as she reached for the edge of the mirror draped in her room. She flung the cloth away.

The glass rippled.

And the girl was waiting.

Same face. Same eyes.

But this time, she spoke first.

"Told you."

Camille’s throat tightened. "Shut up."

"You weren’t made to be loved."

"Stop."

"They made you to carry grief."

"I said "

"You don’t break curses," the reflection whispered. "You become them."

Camille screamed.

The mirror shattered.

Rhett found Magnolia on the battlement wall just after midnight.

The wind had picked up, biting through her cloak, but she didn’t move.

He stood beside her, silent.

"I didn’t mean for her to see," she whispered.

"She didn’t need to."

"I failed her."

"No," Rhett said. "They failed her. Long before you or I had a chance."

"She hates me now."

"She doesn’t."

"But she should."

Rhett looked at the stars.

"She’ll come back from this."

"Or she won’t."

They stood in silence.

Then Rhett reached for her hand.

Magnolia didn’t pull away.

But neither of them looked at each other.

Because the wind carried something else.

A sound.

Like glass breaking.

And a voice.

Low.

Broken.

"She’s gone."

She had not screamed again after the first time.

The girl in the mirror was gone.

And now, Camille wasn’t sure what was left behind.

Blood ran in a thin line down the inside of her foot, and she didn’t bother wiping it. It felt distant. Disconnected. Like it belonged to another version of her. Maybe it did.

Everything felt blurred since the kiss.

Not just the sight of it the shape of their bodies, the intimacy of their hands but what it confirmed.

She had always suspected.

That Magnolia would never be fully hers.

That Rhett had never stopped loving someone else.

But the mirror... the mirror had made it law.

She stood.

Wiped her hands on the hem of her tunic.

The cuts stung, but they grounded her.

Let her feel the present through something other than rage.

Then she turned, stepped carefully over the glass, and opened the door.

The hall outside was dark. No guards. No sentries.

Just whispers.

Old stone whispered differently than fresh air. It repeated things.

Camille walked past it all.

She didn’t run.

She didn’t hide.

She walked.

She found them in the eastern courtyard.

Magnolia sitting on the stone ledge near the broken fountain. Rhett standing a pace away, arms crossed, eyes half-shadowed by the lantern overhead.

Camille stepped into the light.

Neither of them noticed at first.

It wasn’t until her blood touched the stone that Magnolia lifted her head.

She rose instantly.

"Camille "

Camille stopped.

Raised a hand.

Magnolia fell silent.

Rhett moved forward. "You’re bleeding."

"I know."

He reached for her wrist.

She stepped back.

The rejection wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t even cold.

It was final.

She met his eyes and said, "I need to ask you something."

He nodded slowly. "Anything."

"Did you ever love me?"

The question hit like a blade between ribs.

Rhett swallowed.

"I cared "

"That’s not what I asked."

Silence.

Then, quietly:

"No."

Magnolia turned away.

Eyes closed.

Jaw locked.

Camille only nodded.

"I thought so."

Then she looked at Magnolia.

"You once told me that bonds aren’t always about fate. Sometimes they’re about choice."

"I remember," Magnolia said, voice low.

Camille’s eyes didn’t flinch. "Then choose. Him or me."

Magnolia looked at Rhett.

Then at Camille.

And didn’t answer.

Camille smiled.

Tired. Empty.

"I already knew."

She turned.

Walked away again.

But this time

She didn’t cry.

Not even when her knees buckled in the corridor just out of sight.

Not even when her blood left little red prints behind her on the marble.

Because the girl in the mirror had been right.

You don’t break curses.

You become them.