Chapter 27

Kaan wakes with Raeve’s blade at his throat, recognizing from her posture and vacant eyes that Raeve believes he is someone else. He speaks softly, identifies himself, and steadies her hand until she recognizes him and recoils, discarding the weapon.

Raeve retreats to the washroom, where Kaan follows carefully and waits. She breaks the silence to ask if Elluin had bound to another, and Kaan confirms it. After a long pause, Raeve says Elluin still loved Kaan with her whole heart, a confession that devastates him.

When Kaan asks if she remembers, Raeve claims the recollection is brief and mostly a feeling. Kaan senses the lie in her body language but doesn’t press. He leads her back to the pallet, removes her boots, and holds her as she faces away from the window, unusually turning from the snow she usually favors.

Raeve asserts the memory is already gone. Kaan accepts the moment, sings “Song of the Silent Sun,” and focuses on grounding her as snow beats the panes and shadows gather. He reflects that if Elluin loved him yet still returned to The Shade, bound to his brother and consummated, then the lark she left was likely a protective lie hiding a worse truth.

Exhaustion from Roan’s earlier jitung berry dose pulls Kaan under, leaving him troubled by what Elluin—and now Raeve—might be shielding him from.