Alisha stirred, the heavy silk of the sheets feeling like a restrictive shroud against her skin. She forced her eyelids open, expecting the familiar gold-leafed ceiling of the imperial chambers to greet her.
Nothing.
A thick, oily void had swallowed the world. She blinked once, twice, her breath hitching as she turned her head frantically from side to side. There was no flicker of candlelight, no shadow of the towering wardrobe—only a hollow, absolute darkness that felt like a physical weight pressing against her pupils.
"Your Majesty! Oh, praise the heavens... you've finally awakened!"
The voice of her lady-in-waiting cut through the silence, wet with suppressed sobs. The maid scrambled to her side, her hands trembling as she clutched Alisha's limp fingers. "I couldn't believe it... we were so worried... after the kidnapping, the palace has been in mourning..."
The word kidnapping struck Alisha like a physical blow.
