Chapter 5: The Hidden Chamber
The royal archives beneath the palace were older than the kingdom itself. Carved into volcanic stone and protected by ancient glyphs, they held the kind of truths that could break dynasties.
Liora walked in silence, guided only by the blue glow of her palm and a whisper that had come to her in a dream. Her mother's voice. Elaya. The sorceress cast out for seeing too much, for refusing to bend.
"Find the room that has no name. Speak the word I gave you in the cradle."
She found it at the end of a corridor choked with dust and forgotten time—a blank wall, smooth and cold. She pressed her palm against it.
"Seralei."
The wall rippled like water and dissolved.
Inside was a chamber cloaked in starlight, as if the ceiling opened into another sky. Crystals floated above a stone dais. In the center lay a book—bound in silver and flame—marked with her mother's sigil.
She reached for it.
Visions flooded her mind. Her mother standing before the council, warning them of a future torn by betrayal. Kaelen as a boy, hidden behind temple curtains. The wives. The choosing. Her.
And a final image—Maevia kneeling before a masked figure with shadow for a face, pledging more than loyalty.
Liora staggered back.
There was more at play than politics. A darkness was moving beneath the palace. A puppetmaster. And Maevia was no longer just jealous—she was working against the crown.
She snapped the book shut and turned.
She had to warn Kaelen.
But the moment she stepped into the corridor, a knife grazed her cheek.
A figure in royal colors.
A servant.
A spy.
And suddenly, Liora realized the war had already begun.