Chapter 16 – What Remains Unseen
Chapter 16 – What Remains Unseen
It had been three months since Luceris fell. Three months since the capital of House Vaelmont, Valaris, lost two hundred elite soldiers — and its heir.
And still... no word had come from the border.
Beneath the towers of Valaris, life marched on. Nobles dined behind gold-veined curtains. Merchants haggled under jeweled lanterns. In the lower quarters, children chased dreams that would never rise beyond stone walls.Priests preached of stability. Courtiers whispered of succession. But no one spoke of Luceris. His absence had become a shadow draped over the city unseen, but always felt. And in that silence, a question lingered like perfume clinging to rotting silk: was the heir dead... or forgotten?
Lady Morveth stood beneath the high arch of the eastern spire, her crimson cloak fluttering against the walls. The city stretched before her — a mosaic of domes and towers bathed in moonlight, the noble district glowing like a silver crown.
Behind her, whispers danced through the air like smoke. Advisors. Spymasters. Priestesses from the temple of Tharos.
But none dared interrupt.
Morveth didn't move. Her gaze was locked on a raven circling the palace dome — dark wings slicing the stars.
> "Three figures," she murmured, more to herself than to anyone listening. "One in flame. One in shadow. And the third... unknown."
The door behind her creaked open.
A man entered — robed in gold and ink, one of her agents from the Greynor ring. He knelt without ceremony.