The great hall of the castle was thick with tension. Voices clashed in low, anxious tones, echoing off the stone walls. The rumors of what had happened in my chambers had spread like wildfire through dry grass. No one could ignore the cracks in the walls, the unnatural chill haunting the corridors, or the black smoke that had escaped into the capital's night.
I sat at the center of the hall, feeling like a prisoner awaiting judgment. Selene stood beside me, her hand gripping mine as though her touch alone could shield me from the storm. Kaelis, in contrast, stood tall and rigid, every inch of her radiating contained fury.
My mother, Lirae Veyra, rose from the lesser throne upon the dais. Her tall, elegant frame commanded respect, but her eyes were shadowed with anguish.
"Tell me it isn't true, Nyx," she said softly, her voice trembling with disbelief and fear. "Tell me you weren't the one who freed that shadow."
My heart sank like a stone. I couldn't lie—not to her.
"It was an accident," I whispered. "I… I tried to destroy it."
A murmur rippled through the chamber. Some nobles stared in horror, others in disgust. Hybrid, their eyes seemed to scream. The curse always follows her.
Kaelis stepped forward, her voice ringing like sharpened steel.
"Accident or not, I warned you all. That doll was dangerous. And now, because of her, a Khorvash walks free through the capital."
Panic surged through the council.
"A Khorvash?" gasped an elder, nearly tripping over his robes.
"Impossible! We believed them extinct!"
"If this is true, the entire kingdom is at risk!"
Selene squeezed my hand tighter before stepping ahead. Her voice was steady, though it trembled at the edges.
"Do not treat Nyx as if this were some willful act. None of us could have known what that vessel truly contained. And if she hadn't fought it as long as she did, the creature would have broken free far sooner."
A few nobles lowered their gazes, unable to deny her words. Others scoffed under their breath, unwilling to yield.
My mother's gaze lingered on me, filled with both sorrow and fierce love.
"Daughter… did that creature leave something inside you?"
The question hit like a blade. I swallowed hard, my hands trembling. The truth burned in my chest like a brand. I could feel it—the shadow still whispering deep within my bones.
"Yes," I murmured. "A part of it… is still inside me."
The hall erupted into shouts of alarm. Several nobles recoiled as if I were already tainted, their eyes filled with holy dread.
Kaelis's fists clenched.
"Then we have no time to waste. Either we find a way to purge that shadow from Nyx… or what we released will be only the beginning."
Selene spun toward her, fury blazing in her eyes.
"Don't you dare speak of her as if she's a monster to be cleansed! She's our fiancée, not a threat!"
Kaelis didn't answer. Her silence was colder than steel, her gaze sharp enough to cut.
And I, caught between Selene's devotion, Kaelis's merciless resolve, and the whispering chains of the Khorvash within me, finally understood—
The trial had only just begun.