The throne room of Lunareth had not known silence in days.
Servants scurried across the marbled floors, draping blue and silver banners over every pillar. Harpists rehearsed in the balconies. Scribes rushed through scrolls of vows and treaties. The scent of rare blooms from the southern isles filled the air, masking the ever-present tension.
A royal wedding was approaching.
But not for Seraphira.
She watched it all from the shadows behind a column, a cloak drawn over her form. Unseen. Unwelcome.
The celebration was for her younger brother, Prince Kaelen, who stood now before their father's throne, dressed in ceremonial armor far too polished for war.
Across from him knelt a man in a red velvet doublet, Lord Vane of Velmaria, emissary of the human kingdom.
The betrothal is sealed, Lord Vane said, rising with a smile too smooth. Your son shall wed our princess, Elaria, at the rise of the harvest moon. A bond between Lunareth and Velmaria shall forge a new age of peace.
King Thareon nodded gravely. His once proud eyes were dulled now by age and fear of prophecy.
Peace, the king repeated, and strength.
Seraphira's lip curled. Strength? By marrying off the boy who had once begged to learn swordplay by her side?
She turned to leave but paused as her brother's voice rose.
Father, a word... in private.
Minutes later, in the war room behind the throne, the doors closed. Seraphira, still unseen, pressed herself to the stone wall and listened.
I've agreed to the match, Kaelen said, voice low. But I want something in return.
What? their father asked, weary.
The girl.
A cold weight settled in Seraphira's stomach.
Your sister? the king scoffed. You've never spoken of her in years.
Because I know how dangerous she is, Kaelen hissed. And I know what the other kingdoms whisper, that the cursed daughter of Lunareth still lives. That she might claim the throne by blood alone. If war comes, that rumor will cost us dearly.
Thareon was silent.
I want her exiled, Kaelen continued. Officially erased. Let the court know she's been cast out. Let Velmaria see me as the true heir. As king-in-waiting.
You want to remove your own sister to claim your place?
I want to protect what's mine. What you've given me.
Seraphira stepped back from the wall, the breath gone from her lungs.
Her brother, the boy she once protected from wolves in the woods, now sought to throw her into the wild himself.
And worse, her father might let him.
Back in the chamber, the king finally replied.
"It shall be done. Before the wedding."
That night, as torches flickered along the palace walls, a royal decree was quietly written and sealed with silver wax.
And far beyond the forest, in the darkest corners of the underworld, the wind shifted again.