Chapter 49: Peace or Illusion
Velandria’s streets, once blackened by fire and lined with rubble, had begun to bloom again.
Spring softened the city's edges. Where battle-scorched walls once loomed, flowering vines now crept, curling around stone like nature was reclaiming its throne. The people—Velandrians, Northern islanders, even those from the outer provinces—were rebuilding together, mortar by mortar, laughter by laughter.
Eira stood on the eastern balcony of the Queen’s Wing, fingers curled around the warm stone balustrade. Below, children danced in the courtyard where the final magical trial had nearly torn the earth apart. Now the stones were patched, the fountain sang again, and sunlight turned the square golden.
She felt like an imposter still, sometimes. But the land, the peo
