Chapter 3: The Spark of the Forbidden
By the time the sun had fully risen, the palace is already buzzing with whispers.
Rumors, like ivy, needed no light to grow. One sharp-eyed maid had caught a glimpse of Kael in the hallway just a flicker of silver in the corner of her vision and that was enough. The rest of the story bloomed in every corner like wildfire.
"I heard she brought a wild man into her bedchamber."
"They say he has no shadow at all. Isn't that a sign of a cursed being?"
"No, no, he drinks moonlight and his eyes glow like metal. Some say he's not even human."
"Maybe he enchanted her. That girl was always odd."
I heard every word. Servants are never as quiet as they think they are.
But I didn't respond.
Let them talk. Let them fear. Their fear was a shield, one I didn't mind wearing.
Kael didn't speak much that morning. He stood by the window, back straight, arms folded, watching the gardens as if he didn't really believe they were real. The sunlight touched his hair, making it shine like threads of liquid light, but his expression was distant like he wasn't standing in my room but somewhere far away, stuck between memory and silence.
His presence was heavy, yet quiet. Every movement I made, every breath I took I could feel his attention on me, sharp and constant, like I was something fragile in a world full of storms.
A sharp knock broke the silence.
A messenger stood outside with a scroll, sealed in thick red wax.
It was a summons.
From the emperor.
Kael watched me as I broke the seal. "That's bad news," he said, voice flat.
"It is."
"You're going to him?"
"I don't have a choice."
"I'll go with you."
"No."
I turned to face him fully.
"If you walk into that throne room, they'll turn on you in an instant. They won't need swords. Their words will be sharper than any blade. Let me deal with them."
His jaw tensed. He didn't like it. But after a long moment, he nodded.
"They won't kill you," he said.
It wasn't a question.
It wasn't even comfort.
It was a promise.
The throne room was colder than I remembered.
White marble floors stretched out in all directions, clean and polished like ice. High ceilings made every sound echo like a ghost. Blue banners hung from the tall pillars, the royal crest stitched in silver thread.
Nobles filled the room, standing in neat rows like pieces on a game board. Every gaze turned to me as I entered, sharp with curiosity, suspicion, and amusement.
My half-siblings stood in a cluster near the front—some dressed like soldiers, others like dolls. The older ones tried to look bored, but their eyes followed me. The younger ones watched with open interest, peeking from behind their mothers' skirts.
And at the far end of the hall, seated on a black stone throne, was Emperor Corvin Kaelvaria.
My father.
He looked just as he did in the memories I didn't ask for—tall, cold, and carved like the side of a mountain. His crown was silver, thin like a circlet, but somehow it looked heavier than any jewel-encrusted one I had ever seen.
I walked forward, slow and steady, and bowed.
"Daughter," he said, his voice cold and deep, echoing through the room. "You've returned to life, and with you… a complication."
There was a ripple of quiet laughter from the nobles. Polite. Mocking.
I lifted my head. "If you're referring to the boy, he is under my protection."
"Protection implies worth," said a familiar voice.
Prince Oryn. Ninth in line. One of my older half-brothers. He lounged against a marble pillar, lips curled in a lazy smile.
"What use does a creature like him have, dear sister?"
I looked at him and smiled sweetly.
"Do you often lock up things you believe are worthless?"
A few gasps rang out.
Even Oryn looked surprised for a moment.
The emperor raised a hand. The room fell silent once more.
"Speak clearly," he said.
"I found him in a sealed prison beneath the palace," I said. "If he was truly dangerous, he should have been executed long ago. But instead, someone left him to rot in the dark. That doesn't sound like justice. That sounds like fear."
Murmurs spread through the room like ripples on water.
The emperor's eyes didn't move. "Are you questioning my decisions?"
"I'm questioning fear that leads to weakness."
The silence that followed was deep and sharp, like a blade held just above my neck.
Then the emperor leaned back in his throne, eyes narrowing slightly.
"You didn't talk like this before."
"No," I said quietly. "I didn't."
Something flickered in his expression. A small shift. Surprise? Curiosity?
"Very well," he said finally. "Keep your stray. But if he harms even one soul within these walls, you will suffer his punishment alongside him."
"I accept that."
"Then we're finished."
He dismissed me with a wave.
I bowed once again and turned to leave.
But just as I reached the towering doors, he spoke again. His voice was lower, softer—but heavy with meaning.
"Your mother was strange too."
I stopped.
My heart skipped.
No one ever spoke of her. Not once. Not even her name.
I turned back, but the emperor had already shifted his attention to a minister at his side, as if the words had never left his mouth.
I said nothing.
But something had changed.
When I returned to my room, Kael was still by the window, the half-eaten apple from earlier in his hand.
"You made it back," he said without turning.
"Did you expect me not to?"
"I was ready either way."
I tossed him a small cloth-wrapped bundle. "Bread, cheese. A gift from royal hospitality."
He caught it midair. "Did they ask about me?"
"No. They did worse. They gave permission."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "That's dangerous."
"I know. But it means something. It's a small crack."
I walked to the bookshelf. Most of the volumes were untouched, more for decoration than use. I began pulling them out one by one.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Finding out how much they've forgotten."
He didn't speak for a while. Then, softly, "Why are you really helping me?"
I paused, a dusty book in my hand.
"Because I know what it feels like to be treated like something unnatural. Something unwanted."
"That's only part of it."
"Yes," I said. "But it's the part that matters right now."
Something inside me had begun to stir. A spark. A shift. A memory that wasn't mine but felt like it belonged in my blood.
Kael wasn't just someone I saved.
He was a piece of something bigger. A mystery wrapped in silence. A key to questions I hadn't dared to ask until now.
Together, we were more than just survivors.We were the beginning of something new.
And if this kingdom feared us?
Good.Let them tremble.For we were not born of silence We were forged in it.
Not the end of a story,but the strike of flint on stone.
A spark.A promise.A reckoning.
And I would set the world ablaze, not to watch it burn but to teach it how to rise from ash.