Volume 1 — Chapter 2: Shadows Beneath the Throne
The hall fell silent after Lyriana's cry, as though the very moon above paused in its orbit.
Queen Seraphielle's sharp gaze cut through the tension. "Lyriana," she said, her voice a warning wrapped in velvet, "this matter is not yours to interfere in."
But Lyriana's feet moved before her mind could stop them. She stood between the guards and the wounded stranger, her heartbeat echoing louder than the council's whispers.
"He's injured," she said. "At least allow the healers to examine him."
Grand Advisor Marovain stepped forward, his expression carved from stone. "Compassion clouds judgment, Princess. The Shadowlands are enemies of Arvandor. Their people carry rebellion in their blood."
The stranger's breathing was ragged, but his eyes remained locked on Lyriana's—dark, steady, searching. "I didn't come here to start a war," he murmured, voice strained yet firm. "I came… because I had no choice."
His words sent a ripple of unease through the council.
Queen Seraphielle lifted a hand. "Enough. Take him to the lower cells. We will question him when he is stable."
The guards tightened their grip on him.
Before they could drag him away, Lyriana noticed a faint glow on his wrist—a sigil that pulsed beneath his torn sleeve. A circle of silver light, encasing a crescent moon.
Her breath caught.
The same symbol from Arvandor's lost prophecy.
Marovain's eyes widened; he had seen it too. "Your Majesty, that mark—"
"I know," the Queen said sharply. "Which is why he must be contained."
As the guards hauled the stranger toward the exit, he spoke again—this time only loud enough for Lyriana to hear.
"My name… is Aryn Vale. And if they learn why I came, we will all be in danger."
The words coiled in her chest like a serpent of fate.
Aryn.
The Shadowmarked.
The name from the forbidden texts she had secretly read.
When the doors slammed shut behind him, Lyriana felt the Hall of Mirrors tremble with the weight of truths no one dared speak.
And somewhere deep within the palace—beneath stone, secrets, and chains—Aryn's mark continued to glow, as if calling out to her.