The whisper followed Kaelira long after she left the hidden archive.
“Welcome back… I’ve been waiting for you.”
She hadn’t told anyone what the portrait had said.
Not Ronan.
Not Darian.
Not even Lucien.
How could she?
She barely believed it herself.
That night, sleep refused to come.
The palace was unusually quiet.
Then…
A low voice drifted through the silence.
Not from outside.
Not from the hallway.
From beneath the floor.
At first, it sounded like the wind.
Then another voice joined it.
Then another.
Dozens of voices.
Whispering all at once.
Kaelira climbed out of bed and pressed her ear against the cold marble floor.
She couldn’t make out the words.
Only one phrase repeated over and over.
“She’s here…”
“The Queen has returned…”
A chill ran down her spine.
The v
