CHAPTER– FOUR
1224 Words
Morning light crept slowly across the marble floors of Arador’s grand palace. The sun was gentle, but the atmosphere inside the walls was far from calm. Tension rippled like unseen waves through every corridor, every chamber, every guarded post. Soldiers marched in hurried lines. Servants whispered as they passed. Advisors paced with trembling hands. Something felt wrong in the air, and everyone sensed it.
Queen Seraphina felt it more than anyone.
She stood in the courtyard surrounded by guards, her cloak fluttering behind her as she watched the gates. She had barely slept after hearing the messenger’s warning the night before. A hooded figure near the king’s tent? Why had Eric dismissed it? Why had the messenger been brave enough to speak, yet afraid enough to do it privately?
Her mind was restless. Her heart beat too quickly. Every noise made her turn.
Sir Aldric approached her with measured steps, his armor polished, his expression steady, yet his eyes filled with concern. “Your Majesty,” he said quietly. “You have been awake all night again.”
Seraphina nodded. “Do we have news? Anything at all?”
“Not yet. The scouts are returning soon,” Aldric replied. “But you must try to rest, even for a moment.”
She shook her head. “I cannot sleep. Not when Eric is out there, facing danger we do not fully understand. Something is wrong. I feel it.”
Aldric lowered his voice. “I feel it too.”
Before Seraphina could respond, the main gates swung open. A dust-covered horse burst into the courtyard, its rider leaning forward as if he had traveled relentlessly for hours. Seraphina and Aldric stepped forward instantly, tension tightening the space around them.
The messenger dismounted with shaky legs. “Your Majesty,” he gasped, bowing quickly. “A message from the king.”
Seraphina’s pulse quickened. “Speak.”
The messenger pulled a sealed letter from his pouch. Aldric took it and handed it to the queen with careful respect. Seraphina broke the seal with trembling fingers, her eyes scanning Eric’s handwriting.
Victory at the northern ridge.
Small confrontations.
Strategic advances.
He would push deeper into enemy territory by evening.
But then her eyes narrowed. Toward the end of the letter Eric wrote: “Send reinforcements if Aldric is available. The enemy grows unpredictable.”
Unpredictable.
Seraphina read that word twice.
Aldric stepped closer. “Your Majesty, what does it say?”
She held out the letter, her voice soft. “He asks for you.”
Aldric straightened. His jaw tightened with silent understanding. “Then I must prepare.”
Seraphina’s heart clenched. She had already lost one man she loved to the war. Now her closest protector would leave too? “Aldric, are you certain?”
He met her eyes. “I vowed to protect this kingdom. If the king needs reinforcements, I cannot stay behind.”
The decision was made. Soldiers began assembling. Horses were brought to the courtyard. Armor clattered as warriors prepared for the long journey.
Seraphina watched everything with growing anxiety. The palace had never felt so fragile and empty. What if this was the last time she saw Aldric as well? The thought made her chest tighten painfully.
Aldric turned to her gently. “Your Majesty, I will return. I promise.”
“Everyone who leaves makes the same promise,” she whispered. “Only a few come back.”
Aldric looked at her with a softness he rarely showed. “I will come back because you need me here. And I will not abandon you.”
Seraphina inhaled slowly, steadying her voice. “Then go. Protect the king. Do not let anything happen to him.”
“I will protect him with my life,” Aldric swore.
The moment the reinforcements were ready, Aldric mounted his horse. He looked down at Seraphina one last time, and she felt a strange twist in her chest as if fate was pulling every string she had left.
“Be safe,” she said.
He nodded. “As long as I breathe, I will guard your kingdom.”
With that, he turned his horse and led the soldiers out of the gates. Hooves thundered across the stone pathway. Dust rose behind them. Seraphina watched until Aldric disappeared into the horizon.
When the noise finally faded, the courtyard became painfully silent.
Seraphina returned to the palace slowly, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She entered the council chamber, where the royal advisors were already arguing.
“We should prepare an escape route for the queen,” one man said.
“No,” another snapped. “We must protect the palace. The enemy may attack from multiple fronts.”
The voices grew louder and louder until Seraphina raised her hand. “Enough.”
The room fell silent.
“We will not abandon our home,” she said firmly. “We will strengthen the gates, secure the armory, and keep the people calm. No one must know the king sent for reinforcements. We will not let the kingdom appear weak.”
Her voice carried authority that silenced every doubt.
That afternoon, the queen stood on her balcony overlooking Arandor. Villagers filled the streets, selling goods, tending children, repairing the damage from the early attacks. They laughed, unaware of the danger creeping closer. Seraphina watched them with a heavy heart. She envied their innocence.
Night approached slowly. Shadows stretched across the courtyard. Guards lit torches along the palace walls. The sky darkened into deep blue.
Seraphina could not bring herself to return to her chambers, not when her thoughts were restless. She remained on the balcony, her hands resting on the cold stone rail.
But then, something changed.
A sudden wind swept across the courtyard, colder than anything she had felt before. The torches flickered. One torch near the far gate sputtered twice and went out completely.
Seraphina frowned. “Strange,” she murmured.
The wind grew stronger for a moment, lifting her hair.
Then she heard it.
A whisper.
Soft.
Faint.
Breathless.
“Seraphina…”
Her heart froze.
She turned sharply. “Who is there?”
Nothing.
The air was still. The torches burned quietly. The doors behind her remained closed.
But she had heard it clearly.
The voice sounded familiar.
Too familiar.
It sounded like Eric.
Seraphina stepped backward, fear capturing her breath. Was she imagining things? Was her exhaustion playing tricks on her? Or was this something new entirely, something connected to the strange feeling she could not shake?
She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. “Eric…?”
The silence was so heavy it felt alive.
Another whisper drifted through the air, softer and colder. She could barely tell if it came from behind her or inside her mind.
“Beware…”
Seraphina’s eyes widened. “Beware what?” she whispered.
But the voice did not answer.
The night returned to stillness as quickly as it had shifted. The wind died. Every torch burned steadily. Everything looked normal.
Yet nothing felt normal.
Seraphina stepped away from the balcony, her breath shaking. She did not know what the whisper meant, but she knew without a doubt that it was a warning.
Something was coming.
Something dark.
Something dangerous.
And whatever it was, it had already begun.
- Writer
