The wedding fire has burned to embers. The guests are gone. You sit in the bridal chamber, still dressed in red and gold, the scent of marigolds and smoke clinging to your skin. The sindoor feels warm on your hairline, warmer than it should. When Rudraveer enters and looks at you, something shifts. His eyes hold a depth that has no business belonging to a man you met three months ago. Still. Vast. Like looking into the eye of a storm that has raged since before time. Your chest tightens with a recognition you cannot explain. You have never met him before. And yet some part of you has been waiting for this exact moment for a thousand lifetimes.