The Mourning Queen
The skies over Aetheria wept for seven days.
Rain poured from the clouds that once shimmered with sunlight, and the people wore silver—the color of royal mourning.
In the heart of the palace, Elara sat wrapped in silence, her hands resting on the curve of her swollen belly.
Auren was gone.
His voice, his touch, the warmth of his laughter—all now memories, etched behind her closed eyelids like flickering candlelight.
She hadn't spoken since the night he died.
Not until her hand moved to her stomach and she felt a tiny flutter. A heartbeat.
> "You have to live. You have to breathe. For him. For his son."
And so she did.
She rose each morning, drank water, let the palace physician check her pulse. But her eyes remained empty.
Until one morning, Kael entered without knocking.
His shoulder was bandaged. His sword still at his side.
He didn't speak.
He just sat on the opposite side of the room.
Minutes passed.
Then an hour.
Then she finally whispered, "He was supposed to name him. We never got to that part."
Kael's throat tightened. "Then you will name him. And I will protect him."
---
A Kingdom in Crisis
Auren's death sent the kingdom spiraling.
Lords whispered of instability. Enemies circled like vultures.
And worse, Elara's child—still in her womb—was now the last living heir to the line of Light.
Without a king, the throne was vulnerable.
And Elara… alone, pregnant, and grieving… was a target.
The Council pressed for her to be hidden away.
Kael refused.
---
The Midnight Marriage
On the seventh night after Auren's burial, Kael stood before Elara's chamber.
His voice was quiet.
> "They will come for the child again. You know this."
She nodded.
> "If I take the throne without marrying you, they'll call it a coup."
Another nod.
> "But if you stand beside me—pregnant with the heir—they will have no choice but to kneel."
She looked up at him—tears in her eyes, hand on her belly.
> "I still love him."
Kael swallowed. "So do I."
There was no crown, no silk, no celebration.
Only the quiet murmur of vows in the moonlit garden chapel.
Kael stood beside Elara in black and silver.
She, in a simple white gown that clung to her swollen form, her hair unadorned.
They did not kiss.
They only exchanged rings—and a promise.
To protect what remained of the kingdom.
To protect Auren's child.
To survive.
---
The New King of Shadows
The next morning, Kael was crowned High King.
He wore no smile.
The crown of obsidian and silver rested heavy on his head.
Beside him, Queen Elara stood tall—her eyes dry, her grief woven into her strength.
And within her…
The last light of Auren still lived.
---