THE SHADOW KING’S GAME
The air inside the Shadow Keep feels alive.
It breathes.
Not with wind or magic… but with attention.
Nara feels eyes on her even when no one is in sight. The walls whisper. The floor hums like a heartbeat. Every step she takes echoes back as if the castle itself is memorizing her.
She follows Erevan down a spiraling staircase made of dark marble veined with gold. Her pulse races. Her skin prickles with instinct.
Everything inside her wants to flee.
Everything except the strange thread pulling her toward him.
She hates that thread.
“What is this place?” she whispers.
“The throne that belonged to you before you were ever born,” Erevan replies without looking back.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It wasn’t a question.”
His voice is calm and deep, coated in some
