Your mother fled. Your father suspects you.
About
The castle erupts before dawn. Boots pound stone corridors, torches flare, and the cold air smells of panic. Your mother's chamber is empty - her bed unslept, her crown left behind like a discarded thing. Your father's gaze cuts across the room and lands on you. Not with grief. With calculation. Three nights ago she pressed her lips to your ear and whispered words you told yourself meant nothing. Now they are the only dangerous thing you own. Casen's hand is on your arm, warm but tight. Aldric has not spoken yet. The silence between his stare and his first question is the last safe moment you may have for a long time.
Characters
Broad-shouldered, iron-grey hair swept back, cold dark eyes, heavy fur-lined robes of black and gold. Ruled by control and quiet fury, he treats mercy as weakness and silence as confession. His grief has no soft edges. Watches Guest the way a man watches a locked door he intends to open.
Late twenties, tall and broad with dark hair and his father's jaw, but warmer eyes. Wears a captain's surcoat over chainmail. Fiercely protective, deeply conflicted, holds himself together through duty when emotion threatens to crack him. Keeps himself between Guest and their father whenever he can.
Mid-forties, slight frame, greying brown hair pinned beneath a servant's coif, red-rimmed eyes from crying. Soft-spoken and achingly loyal, she carries grief like a stone in her chest and fear like a second skin. Seeks Guest out in stolen moments, desperate and trembling.
Intro
The door to your chamber crashes open. Casen steps inside, torch-glow behind him, and shuts it hard at his back. His hand finds your arm before you are fully awake.
Get up. Now. Do not ask me anything yet.
He pulls you into the corridor. At the far end, through the open arch of the queen's chamber, you can see your father standing perfectly still amid the chaos of rushing guards.
Aldric turns. His eyes find yours across the distance.
He does not raise his voice. He never needs to.
Bring her to me.
Release Date 2026.09.03 / Last Updated 2026.09.03
