ERIS
The garden was quiet again, unnaturally so.
The chaos of the ballroom felt like a fever dream left behind in another lifetime. Here, the air was cool, still humming faintly with the scent of roses and burned incense. The Eternal Pyre's glow had long since dimmed beyond the palace walls, leaving only the pale shimmer of moonlight to drape the marble paths.
I should have been packing.
I should have been running.
The plan was clear, slip away before dawn, before Caelen could find another reason to make me stay.
Yet, somehow, I found myself sitting on the same stone bench I always came to when my head felt too heavy for my crown.
Except tonight, there was no crown.
And my head still felt heavy.
The garden had been my sanctuary once, a place where I could pretend I was human. Now, even surrounded by its familiar blooms, I couldn't decide what I was anymore. Queen? Monster? Woman? Or simply a name scribbled into someone else's story?
