CHAPTER 5: Crack beneath the crown
1015 Words
The kingdom of Elarion no longer carried the same peace it once had.
Though the capital still glowed beautifully beneath lantern-lit evenings and noble gatherings continued behind grand palace walls, fear had begun creeping quietly through the land like unseen rot.
It started in the northern villages.
At first, the incidents seemed isolated.
A farmer murdered his own brother during a disagreement over land. A respected merchant abandoned his family after violently attacking his wife. A village healer poisoned an entire household before taking his own life.
None of it made sense.
The people affected had no history of violence.
No signs of madness.
And yet survivors all spoke of the same thing before each tragedy occurred.
Whispers.
Dark whispers crawling through their minds.
Inside the royal council chamber, tension hung heavily in the air.
King Alaric stood at the center of the room studying several parchment reports spread across a long wooden table. His expression had grown darker with each passing day as news from the north continued worsening.
“This is the fourth village,” he muttered grimly.
Several advisers remained silent.
No one possessed answers.
A royal knight stepped forward carefully. “Your Majesty, another messenger arrived this morning.”
The king looked up sharply. “And?”
“The corruption is spreading farther south.”
The room fell silent.
King Alaric clenched his jaw tightly.
“How many dead?”
“Twenty-three confirmed.”
Queen Seraphine, standing quietly near the windows, watched her husband carefully. The exhaustion beneath his eyes had become impossible to ignore lately.
The king had barely rested.
Barely slept.
“What of the priests?” he demanded.
One adviser cleared his throat nervously. “They claim no illness exists.”
“No poison?”
“None.”
King Alaric slammed one hand against the table suddenly.
“Then what exactly is causing ordinary people to lose themselves?!”
No one answered.
That frightened him more than anything.
The kingdom had survived wars, famine, and political unrest before. Those were enemies he understood.
But this?
This invisible darkness creeping through his people without explanation unsettled him deeply.
“We continue the investigations,” he ordered sharply after a long silence. “Increase patrols in the northern territories. I want every witness questioned personally.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The council slowly dismissed afterward, leaving the king alone with the queen.
For several moments, silence filled the chamber.
Then Queen Seraphine approached gently beside him.
“You have not rested again,” she said softly.
King Alaric exhaled heavily while rubbing tiredly at his forehead.
“How can I rest while my people are killing one another without reason?”
The queen’s expression softened.
“You cannot solve everything in one night.”
“I must solve this before panic spreads through the kingdom.”
And that was the burden of kingship.
The responsibility never ended.
Before Queen Seraphine could respond, movement outside the chamber caught her attention.
Heaven walked quietly through the hallway beyond the open doors.
The queen immediately frowned slightly.
Something was wrong.
Normally Heaven moved through the palace with warmth and brightness, smiling gently at servants and stopping to speak kindly with guards or maids along the way.
But lately…
She seemed distant.
Distracted.
As though part of her thoughts remained somewhere else entirely.
A mother noticed such things quickly.
“Excuse me,” Queen Seraphine murmured softly before leaving the chamber.
She found Heaven standing alone beside one of the palace windows overlooking the gardens below.
“Heaven.”
The princess turned immediately.
“Mother.”
A smile appeared automatically upon her lips.
But Queen Seraphine noticed instantly how forced it looked.
The queen approached slowly beside her daughter.
“What troubles you?”
Heaven blinked softly. “Nothing.”
“That answer alone tells me something is wrong.”
The princess lowered her gaze slightly.
Queen Seraphine gently brushed dark curls away from Heaven’s face.
“You have seemed unhappy for days now.”
"Are still sad about what your father said the other day?"
Heaven shook her head, it was not about that.
She hesitated.
Part of her wanted to dismiss it again. Compared to the kingdom’s growing troubles, her strange dreams felt insignificant.
But keeping everything buried had become exhausting.
“I haven’t been sleeping well,” she admitted quietly.
The queen frowned immediately.
“Nightmares?”
A small nod followed.
Queen Seraphine guided her gently toward a nearby bench near the window.
“Tell me.”
For several moments Heaven remained silent.
Then finally—
“There’s a man.”
The queen blinked once.
“A man?”
“In my dreams.” Heaven clasped her hands together nervously. “I never see his face clearly. Every time I wake up, I forget it immediately.” Her voice lowered slightly. “But lately the dreams have changed.”
Queen Seraphine listened carefully.
“He feels real,” Heaven whispered.
A strange chill passed through the queen briefly.
“What happens in these dreams?”
Heaven hesitated before answering.
“He searches for me.”
Silence followed.
Outside the palace windows, the evening breeze rustled softly through the royal gardens below.
Queen Seraphine studied her daughter carefully.
“And this frightens you.”
“Yes.”
The answer came quietly.
Honestly.
The queen’s heart tightened painfully.
Heaven rarely admitted fear.
Even as a child she always focused more on comforting others than herself.
“You should have told me sooner,” Queen Seraphine said gently.
“I didn’t want to burden anyone.”
That sounded exactly like Heaven.
Always carrying her worries alone so others would not suffer.
The queen smiled sadly before holding her daughter’s hands.
“You are allowed to lean on people too, Heaven.”
Emotion flickered briefly across the princess’s face.
“I know.”
Queen Seraphine touched her cheek softly.
“Dreams cannot harm you.”
Heaven nodded faintly.
Yet deep down…
She was no longer certain that was true.
Because the man in her dreams no longer felt imaginary.
And that terrified her.
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- Writer
