Page 294 of Elemental Becoming

At least my family had land. We had soil to turn, fields to tend. It wasn’t much, but it was ours. We worked for what we had and what we ate. Standing here, surrounded by such abundance, I can’t ignore the contrast.

Thane’s voice cuts gently through my thoughts.

“You don’t have your shields up.”

I blink, startled.

“I can hear your thoughts.”

I glance up at him. His smoke-gray eyes are already on me, calm and knowing. He’s not guessing. He knows.

I hadn’t even realized I’d let my guard slip.

Thane has been relentless about it since the morning after the ball, drilling it into me until it became second nature. I’vegotten better, but somewhere along the way I’ve grown too comfortable. Too used to his presence beside me and the quiet hum of the bond in the background.

I look away, focusing on the path ahead. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” he says, glancing toward me.

Thane doesn’t push for an explanation. Instead, his voice brushes against my mind through the bond.

“I know it seems wasteful.”

I glance at him, feeling a flicker of guilt moving through me. Not because I think I’m wrong, but because I don’t want him to think I’m judging his way of life.

The emotion slips through the bond before I can stop it. Thane holds my gaze before speaking, his acceptance of my feelings plain on his face.

“I understand,”he says quietly. “This is one of the reasons I spend more time at the outposts than here.”

Something inside me eases.

“It’s beautiful, but . . . why?”

He waits, letting me find the words.

I gesture to the sprawling gardens around us, the endless flower beds, the sculpted hedges, the carefully tended trees that bear nothing but shade.

“It’s all decorative. Why not convert this into land that could be used to feed people?”

My throat tightens as I think of home. Of the people in our village who had nothing. Who barely made it through each winter. Who fought every season just to put food on their tables.

“So many people don’t have enough,” I say quietly. “I think about the families in my village who struggled just to survive. And then I see this.”

I shake my head.

“All this space. All this care. For beauty instead of need.”

I don’t realize how much I’ve let spill through the bond untilI look up at him again. He’s still watching me, and though his expression gives little away, I can see the understanding in his eyes.

Thane keeps leading me through the garden paths, his hand wrapped around mine. When he speaks, his voice is quiet but certain.

“It’s a show of power. To have this much land and not need it for anything but flowers?” He shakes his head slightly. “That’s the point.”

I frown, glancing around again, taking in the sheer luxury of it. The vast stretches of earth devoted to beauty alone, the intricate fountains, the sculpted hedges carved into elegant, useless shapes. No crops, no livestock, nothing born of necessity.

Because they can. Because having enough land to devote it entirely to beauty is its own kind of statement.

My stomach sours. “So it’s wasteful on purpose.”