Prologue
100 years ago...
The Kingdom of Kythros, Elyndor
The Queen
There was so much blood.
So much death.
Every step we took was a silent plea for our survival amidst the screams and the clash of steel. The forest was a savage beast, its once gentle beauty twisted into a grotesque reflection of the chaos that now defined our lives. My daughter’s small hand, desperately clutching on to my own.
“Stay close, my love,” I whispered, my voice strained and barely audible over the cacophony of battle that raged behind us. Lyriana, with her hair now matted and disheveled, gripped my hand with a desperation that mirrored my own. She looked to me with wide, terrified eyes, trusting that I would lead us to safety. It was a trust I could barely hope to justify, given the peril that surrounded us. Valendra–my handmaiden and friend– forged ahead, her face set in a grim expression that betrayed her own fear.
“We’re almost there, your Majesty,” she called back. “I can see Aedric just up ahead,” her voice steady but taut with urgency. Her loyalty was a balm against the fear that threatened to overwhelm me, and I took strength from her friendship over the years.
“Where are we going, Mama?” Lyriana’s voice was small, trembling, as I dragged her through the tangled undergrowth, my other hand placed protectively over my swollen belly. The wind howled through the trees, whispering secrets I dared not listen to.
“Somewhere safe,” I said, though the words felt like a lie.
The forest was alive with shadows, shifting and twisting as the distant glow of fire painted everything in a sickly orange hue. The castle—our home—was burning. I could still hear the echoes of steel against steel, the screams of those who were killed.
My husband sacrificed himself to allow us time to flee. I swallowed deeply, pushing those thoughts aside. I couldn’t think of him right now, I had to get us out of here first.
That damn book. The Umbra Codex.
I had suspected. I had seen the way my brother’s obsession with the book grew over the years, how he spent hours locked away with its tattered pages, whispering to himself as if the ink itself spoke back. I had ignored the signs, dismissed them as paranoia.
But I should’ve known something was wrong. And now, we were all paying the price.
“Is Father not coming with us?” Lyriana asked. Her voice hopeful, but as I turned to her, the innocence in her eyes was a dagger to my heart.
I swallowed the sob threatening to escape. “I’m afraid not, sweetheart.” My voice wavered.
Her grip on my hand tightened. She knew. Perhaps she had always known, even before I let myself see it.
Branches snapped behind us. My heart stilled.
Aedric stepped into view, sword slick with blood. “I managed to distract the spirits that were following you with my magic,” he warned. “But it won’t last long.”
Valendra was already at the clearing, her hands lifted, power crackling in the air as she began to weave the spell that would open the portal.
Turning to my daughter, I knelt and pulled her close, wrapping her in my arms. “You know what to do once you cross over?” I asked, my voice trembling despite my efforts to stay strong. She nodded, her wide eyes betraying the fear she couldn’t hide. I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“I love you.” I whispered. “Never be afraid, Lyriana.” I whispered to her, tears streaming down her beautiful face. Then I looked down to my already swollen belly. Lyriana placed her hands on my round belly, and the little one inside of me kicked as if sensing her older sister there. A small smile made its way onto my lips. “You will need each other.” I said to both my girls. “You should always look out for each other.” Lyriana held on to me and I hugged her tight.
“I promise to always protect her, Mama.” She whispered and my heart squeezed at her words.
I cast one last, lingering glance at the castle, a place that had once been our sanctuary but had now become a battlefield. Then, with a deep, shuddering breath, I looked to Valendra. The air vibrated as she finally tore open the portal. The scent of rain and earth from the Mortal realm drifted through, a stark contrast to the blood and smoke that tainted our own. Aedric stepped through, waiting on the other side of the realm.
Lyriana hesitated, her eyes wide with fear.
“It’s going to be okay my love, do not be afraid.” I said to her. “Be brave, no matter the cost.” Her eyes hardened in determination and nodded. With a small smile, I gently pushed her towards Valendra and together they stepped through the portal. The magic howled around me, unstable, flickering as something crashed through the trees—shadows.
A roar of fury split the night. “You can not hide from me, sister.”
Valendra screamed in warning. And then, he was there. Wreathed in shadows. Cloaked in something colder than hatred. His eyes were voids—dark, soulless things that once knew love.
“Lucian, please.” I said, my voice breaking, the tears blurring my sight as I met his gaze. “Just let us go.”
“Mama!” Lyriana cried through the portal behind me, grabbing Lucian’s attention.
He looked at her then—my child—his stare like ice. And then his mouth twisted into a cruel smirk.
“Running away, sister?” He turned to me. “I thought you were better than that.”
“You can fight this evil, Lucian,” I pleaded with him, taking a small step back.
“Why would I fight the very thing that’s finally given me everything I ever wanted, Elenara?”
“It’s taking everything from you,” I said, my voice rising. “Can’t you see that?”
He chuckled, low and hollow, and I felt the wrongness of it in my bones. Shadows licked at his feet, curling like snakes.
“What’s a small sacrifice for the greater good.” His smirk widened. I stepped back once more.
“Let us go,” I whispered. “Please, Lucian.”
He tilted his head, eyes narrowing. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, sister.” His hand rose, and he pointed towards the portal—straight at Lyriana. “She cannot live.”
“She’s my daughter,” I said, heart pounding. “Your niece. Your blood.”
“She’s nothing but an inconvenience.” The words hit like a blade. I couldn’t breathe. “She’s the only thing standing in the way of what’s rightfully mine.”
His gaze locked onto Lyriana again, sharp and hungry.
“The Kingdom of Kythros is not your birthright, Lucian,” I said, louder now, firmer, forcing his attention back to me. His eyes snapped to mine, and something in them darkened further—if that was even possible.
Good. Let him focus on me. If I could keep him distracted long enough, maybe—just maybe—I could save them.
“I may have been born a bastard,” he snarled, “but I am still the firstborn. And by Fae Law... that makes me the true heir.”
I held Lucian’s gaze, ignoring the chill crawling up my spine, the shadows that thickened around him like a second skin. Every part of me screamed to run, to jump through the portal and flee—but I couldn’t. I would risk Lyriana and the others. I knew what I had to do.
“You’re wrong, Lucian,” I said, stepping forward. “Power isn’t the same as worth. You want the crown so badly you’d sacrifice your family to get it?”
He laughed—a hollow, bitter sound. “Don’t talk to me about sacrifice, sister. You never knew what it was to be cast aside. To be nothing.”
I clenched my fists, keeping my voice calm despite the panic pounding in my chest. “And you think doing all of this will make you something?”
As he began to answer, I reached out—not with my voice, but with my mind.
“Valendra.”
She didn’t respond at first, the link was slightly weakened due to the fact that she had crossed into another realm.
“Valendra, you must close the portal.” I ordered.
Her voice echoed back, strained and raw.
“No. Not without you. You must come too. You have to think of your child. The one you carry.”
My hand instinctively moved to my stomach again. I swallowed the rising lump in my throat and thought of what I was going to do—and then back at Lucian, who still ranted, too absorbed in his rage to notice the silent exchange.
“I am thinking of my children, Valendra. There is no time. This is the only way.”
“Don’t do this,” she whispered, her mind cracking with sorrow. “Please, I can hold onto it long enough for you to get across.” As she said that, the light of the portal began to wane, which proved that her magic was taking a toll on her.
“I can’t. We’ve run out of time.”
There was a moment of silence—resistance—and then, finally, resignation.
“I’ll come back for you,” she said.
“No, you cannot. It won’t be safe. Protect her with everything you have.” The pain in my words was evident. “She is my greatest treasure.”
“I promise.” Her voice soft in my head. “It’s been my honor My Queen.”
I cut the link.
“Do you know what it’s like to be forgotten?” Lucian snarled. “To live in the shadows while you got everything—our father’s love, a crown, a name?”
“I know what it’s like to make a choice,” I replied. “Even when it costs everything.”
Then I moved.
I summoned frostfire—my magic flaring to life with a hiss that turned the air brittle. The flames curled in my hands, pale blue and laced with streaks of silver, cold enough to burn, hot enough to freeze. The trees around us groaned as the temperature dropped in an instant, leaves shriveling and bark cracking from the sudden frost.
I hurled the frostfire at the ground beside Lucian. It struck with a deafening crack, exploding into a geyser of frozen flame that sent shards of ice and burning frost tearing through the underbrush. Steam hissed from the scorched earth as fire met moss and root, cloaking the clearing in a blinding storm of light and freezing mist.
Lucian recoiled, shadows writhing and scattering away from the unnatural fusion of elements. For the briefest breath, he turned.
That was all the time I needed to say my goodbye.
I turned and my daughter’s gaze locked with mine. Her eyes were wide with fear, her lips forming the shape of my name.
“Forgive me.” I cried.
And then they were gone. Swallowed by the blinding light of the portal, vanishing in an instant. The silence that followed was absolute. Like the death of a star.
And in the very next heartbeat—
A shadow slammed into my chest like a blade made of night and rage. I staggered, the breath punched from my lungs as icy pain tore through me.
I gasped, collapsing to the forest floor, the earth cold and unyielding beneath me. My fingers clawed into the frostbitten soil as I tried to breathe—tried to think—but the world swam, a blur of darkness and fire.
My magic flickered weakly inside me, barely a whisper after the frostfire I’d unleashed. But even as the shadow’s poison crept through my veins, even as my vision blurred at the edges, I felt it—
A flutter.
Small. Faint.
But alive.
My child.
No. No, no, no. I couldn’t lose her. Not her. My unborn child. My second heartbeat.
With the last shreds of my strength, I reached inward. Past the agony. Past the fury and fear. Down to the core of my being, where my magic still smoldered like an ember buried in ash.
I pressed both hands to my stomach, whispering ancient words—words I hadn’t used since I was a child. Words meant to protect. To shield. To preserve.
The magic responded—faint at first, then brighter, stronger, pulsing around the tiny life within me like a cocoon. A ward of frostfire, woven of love and desperation. A final gift. My last defense.
The pain didn’t stop, but something in me stilled. The magic settled deep, protecting the fragile spark inside even as my body failed.
A soft crunch of leaves behind me snapped my head up.
Footsteps.
Slow. Measured. Familiar.
I turned my head, blood cold in my veins.
Lucian stood at the edge of the clearing, watching me with hateful fury in his gaze.
“What did you do?” He spat.
“The only thing I could,” I sneered, though pain seared everywhere. “You will never find her.”
The shadows curled around him like smoke, alive and listening. “Perhaps you’re right,” he said, a wicked smile tugging at his lips. “But you forget—our blood is the same.”
My heart thundered.
“And blood magic,” he added softly, “is very powerful.”
I coughed, tasting copper as blood filled my mouth. “She’s stronger than you think,” I rasped. “She’s a Naiad—the heir to the Kythrosan throne.”
His grin only widened. “And I have the Umbra Codex, sister. Do you truly doubt its power?”
My breath caught. Fear, cold and sharp, began to claw its way up my ribs.
“Lucian, please,” I whispered. “You’re my brother.”
“Half brother,” he corrected. But the shadows only deepened. And in his hand, a blade formed—drawn from the darkness itself.
Not of steel.
But bone.
And carved into its hilt—runes I had only seen once before. In the tomb of our mother.
His eyes locked on mine.
“I may not be the one to find her,” he said softly, stepping closer. “But the one growing inside of you will.”
I tried to rise, but my limbs wouldn’t obey.
The ward around my belly pulsed once more. Faint. Holding.
Lucian knelt before me. Lifted the blade.
And smiled.
Then everything went dark.
