The silence in the circle was heavy enough to crush bone.
Kaelreth stood before her, shadow and flame in equal measure, his jaw locked tight. The witch's spirit hovered at her side like a whisper made flesh, her storm-gray eyes brimming with promises too dangerous to name.
Seraphira's hand trembled around the dagger. One drop. That was all the spirit had asked for, yet the weight of it pressed against her like a mountain.
Her curse had defined her life.
Her exile had stolen her future.
And the man before her, as much as he terrified and protected her, could not undo either.
She took a breath. And drew the blade across her palm.
Kaelreth's roar cracked the air, the shadows around him lashing like living serpents. Seraphira!
The drop of blood hit the obsidian slab. The stone drank it greedily, the red vanishing into its black surface as though it had been swallowed whole.
The air exploded in a rush of cold, the kind that bit deep into her bones. The spirit's form solidified, her hair whipping in a wind that only she seemed to feel.
Yes, she hissed. Now see, child of flame.
The circle flared with pale fire, and Seraphira's vision tore away.
She stood in a grand hall of gold and glass, its high windows spilling sunlight across the polished floor. At the far end, on a throne wrought from white stone, sat a man draped in regal silks, a crown of silver upon his brow. His eyes cold, unfeeling, burned the color of molten amber.
"I curse thee", his voice rang out, rich and cruel, "that thy blood shall turn against thee, and thy power rot from within. Let no soul trust thy word, no hearth welcome thy name."
The vision snapped like brittle glass. She staggered, the weight of the truth slamming into her chest.
Kaelreth was there instantly, catching her by the shoulders. What did you see?
Her voice was raw, trembling. A king. Not from our lands. Not demon… not shifter. She swallowed. Human.
Kaelreth's eyes narrowed. Then your enemy wears a crown. And if a mortal king dared curse a shifter princess… the game we're playing is far older than I thought.
Behind them, the spirit smiled. You have your truth, little flame. Now let us see what you will burn for it.