Chapter 94: The crimson sigil
The kingdom had known peace for barely a fortnight.
Cain sat beside the fire in the royal courtyard, his back against the old stone fountain he used to splash in as a child. Selene rested beside him, her head on his shoulder, eyes half-lidded in comfort she hadn't known in years. Leo and Eren were somewhere up in the towers, racing wind currents like they used to. Even Eira had found a moment of peace, her nightmares ebbing as she trained with the palace guards under Neriah's cautious eye.
Their parents ruled again—King Aldren and Queen Neriah—the rightful bloodline restored.
It felt like an ending.
But the wind that blew through the courtyard that evening carried something else. Something ancient.
Cain felt it first.
A sharp twist in the base of his spine. A deep itch behind his eyes. A humming silence that shouldn't have been there.
He straightened, and Selene lifted her head, sensing it too.
The torches lining the courtyard flickered.
One by one, they died.
Selene stood slowly. "Cain..."