Chapter 1
The memory of his gaze had once melted her heart, yet to repay his favor, she condemned him to death.
It was the 3rd of September—a day that wore the chill of an early autumn. The trees stood bare, stripped of their leaves, under a sky devoid of sunlight, neither the budding warmth of spring nor the sharp cold of winter. Only darkness had claimed dominion over the land.
Mary Jackson took a left turn, guiding the carriage towards the town. Stories had long whispered of the dark lake that lay within the city, where mermaids were said to ensnare the hearts of the bravest men, pulling them into the depths of eternal darkness.
She had always been drawn to such tales. The sense of mystery had only deepened since the death of her father, a shadowy intrigue she could neither quell nor resist. As she gazed out of the window, the glowing line of the lake shimmered against the horizon, its reflection a beacon in the encroaching gloom. With a sharp snap of her fingers, the carriage halted. She stepped out quickly, her pace slowing as she neared the water’s edge. There, she stopped and whispered, “My dear Henry, at last, I come to you.”
Once, before memories blurred with time, the girl had been declared a woman. They celebrated her coming of age, yet she could only feel the weight of a future teetering on the edge of collapse.
She yearned for something more, though she couldn’t name it. Determined not to be a fool like the others, she believed she could carve out a different destiny. But what she didn’t realize was that it was all just another childhood dream.
Under the cover of night, she slipped through the imposing black walls of the castle—an ancient fortress that had for centuries imprisoned the most precious young girls, shaping them into the castle’s ladies. It was a suffocating existence, especially for young Mary, who longed to see beyond those walls instead of being confined to a life of bearing children.
Once outside, she ran. She ran with eyes closed, without a glance back, driven by a fierce need to escape. She didn’t stop until she was far enough that no one could find her, at least for a while. Finally, she stood at the edge of the dark lake, her breath ragged and her heart pounding.
There, beside the water, she began to sing—a gentle melody that had once captivated all who heard it. She sang and sang, each note pulling buried memories to the surface. Her father’s face came to mind, and with it, a deep, inner ache. As her voice filled the night, she stepped into the lake, the cold water rising with each memory that consumed her.
Bubbles began to rise and pop on the surface as she waded deeper, lost in her grief. She counted down, step by step, waiting for the moment when consciousness would fade. But just as darkness began to close in, a shadow reached out and pulled her from the depths. She was alive—drawn back from the brink by an unseen hand.
