The fracture didn't announce itself with thunder or fire.
It arrived quietly.
Alisha felt it during morning drills, when her Radiance flickered at the edge of her control. The light obeyed—but reluctantly, as if weighed down by something unseen. When she shifted her stance and drew from the Eclipse Path, the balance corrected itself almost instantly.
Too easily.
Rowan noticed.
"You're compensating without thinking," he said, circling her slowly. "That's not mastery. That's instinct."
Alisha lowered her hands. "Isn't that what you taught me with Glimmer?"
"Yes," Rowan replied. "But Glimmer didn't answer questions back."
She frowned. "What questions?"
Rowan hesitated. "The ones you haven't realized you're asking."
Before she could press him, a sharp vibration rippled through the courtyard. The runes etched into the stone walls flared erratically, silver light colliding with dark strands that hadn't been there moments before.
Alisha stiffened. "That wasn't me."
"I know," Rowan said grimly. "That was a response."
To her imbalance.
Across the palace, scholars scrambled as instruments shattered and wards flickered. The city itself seemed to hold its breath, as if something deep beneath Valoria had stirred.
That evening, the council convened in haste.
"The wards are destabilizing," the High Scholar reported. "Not breaking—adapting."
The Emperor's gaze settled on Alisha. "Because of you."
She didn't deny it. "Because of what I represent."
Murmurs filled the chamber.
"She's walking forbidden paths."
"She's undoing the Queen's sacrifice."
Alisha stepped forward, her voice steady. "My mother sealed the past. She didn't solve it."
Silence followed.
The Emperor studied her for a long moment. "Then understand this, Alisha of the Moon. If the balance breaks, history will not remember your intentions—only the ruin."
Later that night, Alisha stood alone on the eastern battlements.
"You're carrying it all by yourself," Caelan said quietly, joining her.
She didn't look at him. "Someone has to."
He hesitated. "You don't have to trust him to walk this path."
She finally met his eyes. "That's the problem. I don't know if I trust myself anymore."
Caelan reached out—then stopped short, hand falling back to his side."Just promise me one thing," he said. "If you start to fall… don't disappear without letting someone try to pull you back."
She nodded.
But even as she agreed—
she felt the fracture widen.