Page 143 of Elemental Becoming

“And how is your family?”

The words sound light. Casual. But I feel the impact before Thane even reacts. Because I know what she means. Because everyone does.

The music still plays. The ballroom still spins with dancers. But something in the air has shifted, like something sharp hidden beneath silk and civility.

Ardyn watches Thane carefully.

“Your father?” she continues politely, as though this is nothing more than harmless conversation. “I imagine he’s still struggling with his grief.”

A pause. A sip of wine.

My fingers curl into fists.

Not because Thane reacts. Not because he gives her the satisfaction of emotion. Because he doesn’t. He simply stands there, cool and controlled, taking the blow without letting it show. As if he’s done this a hundred times before.

As though people have always weaponized his past against him, and he learned long ago how to survive it.

And that’s what makes my blood boil.

The ballroom glows with gold and silk and opulence, but thewarmth does not reach me now.

Ardyn’s words linger. A reminder. A warning. Something carefully aimed to wound without leaving visible damage.

I feel Thane beside me, unmoving, unreadable. He does not flinch. Does not speak. Does not react.

But I do.

Because fuck her.

I’ve had enough of her games.

“It must be exhausting.”

Ardyn looks at me, wearing curiosity like another polished mask.

“What must?”

I offer a pleasant, empty smile.

“Carrying around all that bitterness.”

Something flickers across her face—quick and sharp. Something she masks a fraction too late.

“Bitterness?” she echoes, her expression smoothing carefully back into place. “That’s an awfully bold assumption, Spiritborn.”

I hum softly, slipping easily into the rhythm of it now. “Is it though?”

Her lips curve faintly. “Or is it simply what you want to believe?”

And there it is.

There it is again. The probing. The careful search for weakness.

I will not give her the satisfaction.

“Of course,” I murmur, feigning sympathy as I gesture lightly. “You clearly still feel something about the way things ended between you two. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be standing here, testing me like this.”

Through the bond, I catch the faintest glimmer of amusement.