The palace was quiet long after midnight.
Prince Kael walked through the silent corridor, the torches along the stone walls burning low. Training had ended hours ago, yet sleep refused to come.
Something restless stirred inside him.
His steps slowed as he passed the heavy doors of the king's private chamber.
The door was slightly open.
That was unusual.
Kael hesitated before stepping inside.
The chamber was empty.
But the desk near the window was not.
A single candle burned beside a leather-bound journal.
Kael's eyes fell on it.
For a long moment he simply stared.
Then curiosity pulled him closer.
He opened it.
---
Year of the Crimson Moon
I met her today.
The most arrogant woman I have ever seen.
Kael frowned slightly and continued reading.
---
She stood in the training yard like she owned the world. Sword resting on her shoulder. Looking down at the warriors as if none of them were worth her time.
When I asked her name, she did not bow.
She simply said:
"If you want to know my name, defeat me."
---
Kael's eyes widened slightly.
His father had never spoken about his mother like this.
He read on.
---
I thought she was just another noble trying to prove something.
I was wrong.
She attacked first.
Fast. Ruthless. Laughing as if the fight was a game.
Her blade cut across my arm before I could even raise my guard.
Blood hit the sand.
The soldiers gasped.
And she only smiled.
"Too slow, prince."
---
Kael could almost see it.
The young king standing in the training yard.
The queen facing him with fearless confidence.
Two warriors refusing to step back.
---
We fought for nearly an hour.
Steel clashed.
Blood stained the sand.
Neither of us surrendered.
She fought like a storm.
Wild.
Beautiful.
Dangerous.
---
Kael turned the page slowly.
The writing on the next page looked different.
Heavier.
---
Later I learned her name.
Lysara.
Daughter of the southern war clan.
She had come to challenge every warrior in the kingdom.
Including me.
---
The next line was written more softly.
---
She beat me three times before I finally defeated her.
And when I did…
She laughed.
"About time, eagle prince."
---
Kael felt something strange in his chest.
This was not the cold king he knew.
This was someone else entirely.
Someone alive.
---
He turned another page.
The ink here looked darker.
More hurried.
---
Today the old king died.
My father is gone.
The crown is now mine.
And the kingdom already trembles with rumors.
---
Kael's fingers tightened slightly on the page.
---
The first report arrived this morning.
Serpent clans gathering near the eastern forests.
The council believes they are preparing something.
Perhaps rebellion.
Perhaps worse.
---
The writing grew harsher.
---
The priests speak of prophecy.
They whisper of a serpent child.
Of destruction.
Of kingdoms burning.
---
Kael's breathing slowed as he read the next line.
---
I will not allow that future.
Tomorrow I ride east.
If the serpents plan war…
I will end it before it begins.
---
Kael's eyes lifted from the page slowly.
The room suddenly felt colder.
He looked back at the journal again.
The next pages were stained slightly.
As if the ink had been written with shaking hands.
But before he could turn them—
Footsteps echoed in the corridor.
Kael quickly closed the journal.
The door opened.
King Aedric stepped inside.
For a moment father and son simply stared at each other.
The king's gaze dropped briefly to the journal on the desk.
Then back to Kael.
Neither of them spoke.
But something heavy filled the silence between them.
Something that had been buried for years.
And outside the palace walls, far away in the dark forests—
The past that the king had tried to erase was still alive.