The message arrived before Alexander had finished breakfast. A rider from the eastern patrol had come through the gates at first light, his horse lathered from the road and one sleeve torn at the shoulder.
Alexander was halfway through a cup of tea when General Lucius entered the room. He did not bother with the usual formalities. "The Viperid is gone."
Alexander set the cup down. "What happened?"
"It broke through the patrol at the northern pass sometime during the night. Three men were injured. The creature is heading toward Luminar."
Alexander's first thought was not the monster. It was Ariella. He looked toward the window. Beyond the palace grounds, the road to Verdura disappeared into the trees. "When do we leave?"
Lucius gave him a tired look. "You've only just recovered."
"I asked when."
"Within the hour."
Alexander stood. His side still pulled when he moved too quickly, but the pain was manageable. He reached for his coat.
Lucius watched him fasten the belt. "You could leave the pursuit to the army."
"And let the creature cross into another territory?"
"That would be the sensible choice."
Alexander looked at him. "Since when have you known me to make the sensible choice?"
Lucius sighed. "That is precisely what worries me."
Alexander almost smiled. He had promised Ariella he would return. Now he had to leave her again. He found her in the garden. She was kneeling beside a row of herbs, a basket resting at her side.
She looked up when she heard his footsteps. "You've been summoned."
Alexander stopped beside her. "The Viperid has escaped. It's heading for Luminar."
Ariella's fingers closed around the stem she had been holding. "That far already?"
"Lucius believes it has been moving through the northern pass."
She set the herb carefully into the basket. "Then you have to go."
Alexander crouched beside her. "I do."
The answer sat between them for a moment. Ariella looked down at the basket, then back at him.
"You've only just returned to me."
"I know."
Her mouth curved faintly. "And now you're leaving again."
"I'll come back."
"You'd better."
There was no pleading in her voice, only a quiet certainty that made Alexander's chest tighten.
He reached for her hand. "Wait for me."
Ariella's fingers slipped between his. "Come back in one piece. I have no intention of nursing you through another wound."
A laugh escaped him. "I'll do my best."
"Your best nearly got you killed the last time."
"Fair point."
He looked at the garden around them. "This place."
Ariella followed his gaze. "The tree?"
"The garden." He smiled faintly. "When I return, I'll find you here."
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps?"
"You might have to look for me." She gave him an amused look. "You're a prince. You should be capable of finding one woman."
Alexander laughed. Then the laughter faded. He leaned forward and kissed her. It lasted only a moment.
When they parted, Ariella rested her forehead against his. "Come back alive."
"I intend to."
She released his hand. Alexander walked away before he could change his mind. At the edge of the garden, he glanced back. Ariella was still standing beneath the tree. Then the path curved, and she disappeared from view.
***
The road to Luminar was rougher than the one he had taken to Verdura. Alexander travelled with a smaller force this time. Lucius rode at the head of the column, with Gabriel and Liam close behind Alexander. The Viperid was fast, and taking the entire army would slow them down. For two days, they followed tracks through the forest. Broken branches. Deep impressions in the mud. A dead deer with two puncture wounds in its neck. The creature was close.
On the third day, they found one of the patrols that had been sent after it. The men were alive, but barely. Lucius dismounted before the others and crouched beside the most severely wounded soldier.
"How long ago?"
"Less than an hour," the soldier managed.
Lucius looked at the torn ground ahead. "Which way?"
The injured soldier raised a trembling hand. "North."
Alexander looked at the mountains. Luminar. The serpent was heading into the highlands. "How long?"
"Hours."
Lucius stood and looked at the darkening sky. "We're losing daylight."
Alexander tightened his grip on the reins. "Then we ride."
Lucius nodded to the soldiers. "Stay together. No one pursues the creature alone. If it attacks, fall back and draw it toward the main group."
Gabriel checked the straps on his sword. Liam glanced at the wounded patrol before mounting. "Let's hope we catch it before it finds another village."
No one answered. They all knew what would happen if they didn't.
***
The Viperid struck before sunset. It came from the rocks. A long body flashed between the trees, scales catching what little light remained. Its head snapped toward the nearest soldier, fangs exposed. The soldier barely raised his shield. Alexander's sword cut across the creature's neck. The Viperid recoiled. Its tail swept through the undergrowth, knocking two men from their feet.
"Spread out!" Alexander shouted.
Lucius was already directing the soldiers. "Archers to the left! Keep the horses back!"
The serpent moved faster than anything that size should have been able to move. Alexander tracked its head. Left. Right. Gone. A hiss came from behind him. He turned. Too late. The Viperid lunged. Alexander twisted aside. One fang scraped his armour. He drove his sword into the creature's jaw. The serpent thrashed violently. Its body wrapped around a tree and tightened.
Alexander pulled his sword free. "Now!"
Liam and Gabriel, with one soldier between them, attacked from the other side. Gabriel struck first, forcing the Viperid to turn. Liam drove his blade toward its exposed flank, then rolled clear when the creature's tail whipped across the ground.
The Viperid turned toward them. Alexander saw the opening. He drove his blade beneath its scales. The creature convulsed. Then collapsed. For several seconds, nobody moved. Alexander stood over it, breathing hard.
Liam approached cautiously, keeping his sword raised. "Is it dead?"
Alexander nudged the creature with his boot. "Yes."
Lucius came forward and examined the body before looking at Alexander. "Then let's make sure it stays that way." He ordered two soldiers to secure the carcass while the others checked for injuries.
Alexander wiped the blood from his sword. He looked toward the mountains. Luminar waited ahead. He had won. Yet all he could think about was getting back to Verdura. Back to Ariella. He had kept his promise. Now he wanted to collect it.
***
The return journey should have been simple. It wasn't. They had barely left the mountain pass when they heard the screams. Alexander pulled his horse to a stop.
Lucius rode up behind him. "What is it?"
Another scream echoed through the forest. Alexander drew his sword. "Someone in trouble."
Lucius raised his hand, stopping the column. "The rest stay here. Gabriel, Liam, and archers with us," he ordered the soldiers.
Alexander spurred his horse forward. The trees opened into a clearing. Something black moved between the trunks. The Lurking Shadowfiend. Its body seemed to absorb the fading light around it. Dark tendrils stretched from its back, striking at anything that came too close.
And someone was fighting it.
A young woman stood near the centre of the clearing. She held a sword in both hands. Her dark hair had come loose around her shoulders. Her dress was torn at the sleeve, and blood ran down one arm. She was fast. But she was losing ground. The Shadowfiend struck. She blocked. The force drove her backward.
Alexander was already moving. "Get away from it!"
The woman turned. The creature lunged. Alexander intercepted it. Its tendril slammed against his sword with enough force to numb his hand.
Gabriel and Liam entered the clearing behind him.
"Your Highness!" Gabriel shouted.
"I'm fine. Get the creature's flank!"
Lucius followed with two soldiers and immediately began directing the others away from the clearing. "Keep the horses back! Don't let those tendrils reach the men!"
The woman recovered quickly. "Left!"
Alexander moved without questioning her. A blade swept through the space where the Shadowfiend had been. The creature twisted. She attacked again. For several seconds, they fought without speaking. Alexander began to notice her rhythm. She attacked high. He drove the creature low. She moved left. He covered her right. Neither needed to give the other instructions. The Shadowfiend changed tactics. Its body split into a mass of dark tendrils.
Alexander stepped back. "Careful!"
The woman ducked. A tendril passed over her head. She rolled beneath it and drove her sword into the creature's side. Alexander followed. His blade struck the same opening. The Shadowfiend shrieked. The sound made the horses outside the clearing rear.
"Again!" Alexander shouted.
Gabriel seized the opening from the opposite side, striking one of the creature's tendrils before it could reach Alexander. Liam followed with a second blow.
"Now!" Lucius called.
The soldiers released their arrows. They attacked together. Steel cut through darkness. The creature recoiled. The woman drove forward with a final strike while Alexander brought his sword down from above. The Shadowfiend convulsed. Then its form began to break apart. Black fragments scattered across the ground like ash before dissolving into the air. Silence returned to the clearing.
The woman lowered her sword. Alexander looked at her. She looked back.
Lucius approached first, surveying the clearing and the soldiers. "Any injuries?"
"Nothing serious," Gabriel answered.
Liam looked toward the woman. "She did most of the work before we arrived."
The woman gave him a brief glance but said nothing.
Alexander sheathed his sword. Then he noticed the building behind her. Or what remained of it.
A workshop had been destroyed. Wooden beams had collapsed across the floor. Half-finished tapestries hung in torn pieces from the walls. Threads were tangled among broken furniture, and coloured cloth lay scattered beneath the dust.
The woman stared at the ruins. Alexander lowered his sword. "Was this yours?"
She nodded. "My workshop."
He looked at the wreckage. "I'm sorry."
She turned toward him. "You didn't destroy it."
"I should have arrived sooner."
"You were fighting the same creature I was."
"I could have prevented this."
Her expression softened, though she did not answer immediately. "Perhaps. But standing here blaming yourself won't rebuild it."
Alexander looked at the ruins. Lucius came up beside him. "We should search the area before dark."
Alexander nodded. "Take the men."
Lucius understood the unspoken request. "We'll secure the perimeter." He took a dozen men with him to scout the area.
Gabriel and Liam began checking the wreckage with the remaining soldiers, salvaging anything that might still be useful. Gabriel lifted a fallen beam while Liam collected rolls of fabric from beneath a broken table.
Alexander turned back to the woman.
She sheathed her sword. "My name is Seraphina."
Alexander looked at her. The name struck him before he could place it. Seraphina. His dream. The woman with the needle. The dark hair. The embroidery in her hands. He stared at her.
She noticed. "Have we met?"
Alexander shook his head. "No." But he was no longer certain. Not after the dreams. Not after Ariella. Not after finding another woman from that strange place standing in front of him.
Seraphina studied him for another moment. "You look as though you're trying to remember something."
"Perhaps I am."
She did not press him. Instead, she turned toward the wreckage. "We should see what can be saved."
Seraphina began gathering the remains of her workshop. Alexander joined Gabriel, Liam and the soldiers. He lifted fallen boards with Gabriel, while Liam carefully separated usable thread and cloth from the damaged pieces. It took time to clear enough space to move through the workshop.
At one point, Liam held up a half-burned piece of embroidery. "This survived."
Seraphina took it from him. "Careful."
Liam handed it over more gently. "Apparently, everyone keeps telling me that today."
Gabriel gave him a look. "You need the reminder."
Seraphina's mouth twitched. It was the first hint of a smile Alexander had seen from her. She turned the embroidery over in her hands. "Thank you."
Liam nodded.
Alexander noticed the care with which she examined even the damaged piece. She was not simply collecting objects. She was deciding what deserved another chance. After a while, Seraphina handed Alexander a bundle of thread. "These survived the fire."
Alexander looked at them. "With this?"
"Not all threads are the same." She pointed toward the different colours. "The red is still usable. The blue has been damaged by the heat. Keep the two separate."
Alexander followed her instructions. "Understood."
She watched him for a moment. "You follow instructions surprisingly well for a prince."
"Don't spread that around."
A small laugh escaped her. It was brief, but genuine. They worked until the light faded. The ruined workshop slowly became less of a wreck. It was still damaged, but the pieces that could be saved had been gathered, sorted and protected.
When the soldiers finally stepped outside to prepare camp, Seraphina sat on the edge of a broken table. Alexander remained nearby.
"You've done enough for today," she said.
"I've done very little compared with the soldiers."
"That's not what I meant."
He looked at her. She glanced around the workshop. "Most men in your position would have left this to their soldiers."
Alexander rested one hand against a wooden beam. "Most men in my position didn't watch a woman fight a monster in the middle of a forest."
Seraphina raised an eyebrow. "That impressed you?"
"It made me curious."
"About what?"
"What kind of person fights a creature like that alone?"
She looked down at the thread in her lap. "Someone who had no choice."
Alexander considered that. "There's always a choice."
Seraphina looked at him then. "Is there?"
The question was quiet, but it carried more weight than he expected. Alexander thought of the crown waiting for him. His father's expectations. Eldoria. Ariella waiting in Verdura. He did not answer immediately.
Seraphina's gaze dropped back to the thread.
"That's what I thought."
She ran her thumb along the damaged edge of the cloth. Alexander watched her. He had expected another conversation like the ones he had shared with Ariella—easy, warm and increasingly intimate. Seraphina was different. She made him think before he spoke.
"What do you think when you look at this?" she asked, holding up the thread.
Alexander studied it. "That someone spent a great deal of time making something that could be destroyed in a few minutes."
"That's one way of looking at it."
"What's yours?"
Seraphina considered the question. "That if the thread survived, the work isn't necessarily finished."
Alexander looked at the damaged workshop. "You intend to rebuild."
"Of course."
"You don't seem very upset."
She gave him a dry look. "I'm upset. I'm simply not planning to let a monster decide what I do next."
Something about the answer stayed with him. Alexander smiled. "I like that."
"You barely know me."
"That's why I'm interested."
For the first time, Seraphina looked genuinely caught off guard. She lowered her gaze. "You're an unusual prince."
"So I've been told."
She shook her head, but there was the beginning of a smile on her lips. Alexander looked at her fingers moving through the surviving threads. They were the same hands. He was sure of it now. The same hands he had seen in his dream. He looked toward the darkening mountains.
Two dreams. Two women.
And somehow, both had become real. He had no explanation for it. For the moment, he kept the thought to himself.
Outside, Lucius called for the men to prepare the camp. Gabriel and Liam carried the last usable timber into a sheltered corner of the workshop. Seraphina began sorting the surviving threads by colour. Alexander reached for another broken beam. There was still work to do.