The fire spread faster than the screams.
Kaelira stood frozen inside the memory as flames devoured the halls of the Blood Palace. Smoke curled through the shattered windows, turning the once-beautiful corridors into a maze of heat and ash.
Soldiers rushed past her with bloodied swords.
Servants carried frightened children toward hidden tunnels.
Outside, the sound of wolves howling shook the earth.
The kingdom was falling.
“No…” Kaelira whispered.
She already knew how this night ended.
But knowing the ending didn’t make it any easier to watch.
She saw her younger self clinging to Queen Selene’s hand, crying as the palace trembled around them.
“Mother, I’m scared.”
Selene knelt, cupping her daughter’s tear-stained face with trembling hands.
“I know, my little star.”
Her voice wa
