Alina's fingers tightened around the parchment, her mind racing. This was impossible. She had only just discovered the star tonight—how could someone else have known about it beforehand? And why would it be important enough to send mercenaries after her?
She looked at Kael, who stood motionless, his gaze fixed on the constellation sketched on the parchment. His entire body was tense, as if bracing for something unseen.
"You need to explain," she demanded, voice firm. "I don't believe in coincidences, and I don't believe you just happened to be here at the right time. You knew something was coming. You *knew* about this star."
Kael exhaled slowly, then met her gaze. "Not the star itself. But I knew something was stirring."
"That doesn't tell me anything."
Kael hesitated, as if debating whether to share more. Finally, he spoke. "My family has always been… cursed."
Alina blinked. "Cursed?"
He nodded, his expression unreadable. "I don't expect you to believe it, but my ancestors have been haunted for generations. Each time the cycle begins anew, something awakens in the sky—something that shouldn't exist. And when it does, people die."
Alina's breath caught. She wanted to dismiss his words as superstition, but the weight in his voice made it impossible.
Still, she was a scientist. A woman of reason. "You're saying this star is connected to your family's… misfortune?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "Not just mine. Every time this star appears, disaster follows. Wars, famine, entire civilizations wiped from history."
Alina shivered despite herself. "That's just folklore."
"Is it?" Kael gestured to the parchment. "Tell me, why would a group of men risk their lives to steal a map of the stars? Why would someone go through so much trouble to keep this hidden?"
Alina had no answer.
She turned back to the telescope, adjusting the lens to find the star again. It was still there, pulsing against the blackness of space like a heartbeat. She had spent her life searching for something extraordinary, something that would change the way people understood the cosmos.
And now that she had found it, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the truth.
"I need to study it," she said finally. "If what you're saying is true—if this star really does signal something dangerous—then I need to understand it."
Kael's eyes darkened. "That's exactly what they want."
Alina frowned. "Who?"
"The ones who sent those men after you."
A rustling sound in the trees made them both freeze. Kael moved first, his hand instinctively reaching for his sword. Alina felt her pulse quicken as she stepped back, gripping the parchment as if it were a lifeline.
From the shadows, a figure emerged.
Not a bandit this time.
A woman. Cloaked, hood drawn over her face, but something about her presence sent a chill through the air.
She stepped forward, stopping just at the edge of the moonlight. Then she spoke, her voice smooth as silk but sharp as a dagger.
"You should have left the star alone."
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