CHAPTER 4: THE ROAD TO THE EASTERN FOREST
2168 Words
Seraphina reached the stables before the morning sun had fully risen.
The palace was quieter at this hour. Servants hurried through the corridors with baskets of fresh linen, and a few guards stood near the courtyard gates, their armor catching the pale light. Somewhere beyond the walls, a horse whinnied.
She had barely stepped inside the stable when a guard moved in front of her.
“Princess, I’m afraid you cannot leave the palace.”
Seraphina stopped. “Who gave that order?”
“King Aldric. No member of the royal family is permitted to leave until the council has reviewed the disappearance of the eastern soldiers.”
She looked past him at the saddled horses.
“I am not asking to take an army with me. I only need to inspect the eastern road.”
“I’m sorry, Princess. I cannot let you pass.”
Her fingers tightened around the riding gloves in her hand.
In her first life, she would have lowered her head, returned to her room, and waited for someone else to decide what she was allowed to do. She had spent years mistaking obedience for goodness, believing that if she caused no trouble, people might eventually treat her with kindness.
That belief had cost her everything.
“Then send word to my father,” she said. “Tell him I intend to ask why twelve soldiers can disappear while everyone in this palace waits for permission to care.”
The guard’s expression changed, but he did not move.
Before Seraphina could say more, another voice came from behind her.
“You might want to save that argument for the king himself.”
She turned.
Kael stood near the stable entrance, dressed in dark riding clothes. A leather map case hung from his shoulder, and his hair was still slightly damp, as though he had only just finished washing.
“You followed me?” she asked.
“I noticed you leaving the council chamber yesterday with the expression of someone planning to ignore every sensible warning she had received.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“Of course not.”
His mouth almost curved into a smile, but the expression disappeared when he glanced at the guard.
“Her father has ordered the gates closed,” the guard explained.
Kael nodded. “Then arguing with you will not change anything.”
Seraphina folded her arms. “Are you suggesting I return to my room?”
“No.” He removed the map case from his shoulder. “I’m suggesting we find out what we can before you attempt to ride into an unfamiliar forest.”
He opened the case on a nearby wooden table. Inside lay a map of the eastern border, marked with narrow roads, rivers, abandoned watchtowers, and thick stretches of forest.
Kael placed one finger on the road leading east.
“The missing soldiers were last seen near this route. The search party followed it until the trees became too dense to continue safely. They found the horses, signs of a struggle, and a piece of black cloth caught on a thorn bush.”
“Did they find blood?”
“A small amount.”
Seraphina stared at the marked road.
In her first life, she had seen that symbol carved into stone inside a hidden chamber. She remembered the cold air, the strange silver light, and the feeling that something ancient had opened its eyes beneath the palace.
But the mark discovered in the forest had been slightly different.
Someone had changed it.
Or someone had been using a symbol she had never fully understood.
“I need to see the place myself,” she said.
“And you may get that chance.” Kael rolled the map slightly, leaving the eastern road visible. “But if you go without knowing the terrain, you could become another missing name in a report.”
She looked at him sharply.
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can be stubborn. That isn’t the same as being prepared.”
The words irritated her because they were reasonable.
Kael did not reach for her arm or order her to stop. Instead, he showed her the narrow paths that avoided the deepest parts of the forest and pointed out an old watchtower that could serve as a meeting place.
“I would rather you know where you are going,” he said quietly, “than watch you disappear because no one thought to show you the way.”
For a moment, Seraphina could not answer.
Draven had always treated her choices as insults. If she questioned him, she was disobedient. If she tried to prove herself, she was desperate for attention. Even her silence had been used against her.
Kael was offering help without demanding that she surrender control.
She was not ready to trust him completely. Kindness could be genuine, but it could also be used to draw someone closer before the trap closed.
Still, she accepted the map.
“Thank you,” she said.
Kael studied her face, as though surprised she had said it.
“You’re welcome.”
Footsteps sounded in the courtyard.
A palace servant hurried into the stable and bowed.
“Princess Seraphina, His Majesty requests your presence in his private study. Immediately.”
Seraphina closed her eyes for a brief moment.
Of course.
Her father had discovered her plan.
---
Aldric stood behind his desk when Seraphina entered the study. Her mother, Isolde, sat beside the window, while Elara leaned against a bookshelf with her hands folded neatly in front of her.
The sight of them together brought back memories Seraphina would rather have forgotten.
In her first life, she had entered countless rooms where decisions about her future had already been made. She had learned to recognize the moment when everyone expected her to agree before anyone had explained what was happening.
This time, she remained standing.
“You were going to leave,” Aldric said.
“I wanted to investigate the eastern road.”
“After I ordered you to remain inside the palace?”
“The soldiers are missing, Father. We have a symbol no one can explain, and now we have reports of blood. How long should I wait before asking questions?”
“Until the council determines what we are dealing with.”
“And if the council takes three days? A week?”
Aldric’s jaw tightened.
“You are a princess. Your actions affect more than yourself.”
“Everyone keeps telling me what isn’t my responsibility,” Seraphina replied. “But when something goes wrong, I’m expected to stand quietly while everyone else decides what matters.”
Isolde rose from her chair.
“This is not the time to challenge your father.”
“When will it be the time?” Seraphina asked. “After the soldiers are found dead? After another patrol disappears? Or after the council decides the problem is too dangerous to discuss?”
Her mother’s lips pressed into a thin line.
Elara stepped away from the bookshelf.
“Seraphina, no one wants the soldiers harmed. But rushing into danger will not help them.”
Her voice was gentle. Her expression was full of concern.
Seraphina remembered how that same expression had looked beside her deathbed.
She forced herself not to react.
“Then we should investigate carefully,” Seraphina said. “That is what I’m asking to do.”
Aldric turned toward the window. For several seconds, he said nothing.
“When I was young, your grandfather sent men to investigate strange lights near the eastern border,” he finally said. “They returned with stories of an abandoned settlement and a fire burning where no village stood. Your grandfather dismissed their report. He believed they had frightened themselves in the dark.”
“Was that the last time anyone saw the lights?”
“No. Traders reported similar lights three nights ago. One of their supply wagons had been damaged, but nothing was stolen. We had no proof that the incident was connected to the missing soldiers, so the report was not raised before the council.”
Seraphina felt a chill move down her spine.
Three nights ago.
The timing was too close to ignore.
“Then there are already reports that might help us,” she said. “Let me examine them. Let me speak with the captain who led the search. If the evidence points somewhere dangerous, we can plan accordingly.”
Aldric turned back to her.
“You will not ride into the forest today.”
She held his gaze. “I did not ask to go without a plan.”
“You will examine the archived reports and speak with the captain. After that, we will decide whether a journey to the outpost is justified. You will not take a horse beyond the palace gates without my permission.”
It was not the freedom she wanted, but it was more than she had expected to receive.
“Agreed,” she said.
“Do not mistake this permission for approval of your conduct.”
“I won’t.”
Aldric dismissed her with a tired wave of his hand.
As Seraphina passed Elara, her sister leaned close enough that no one else could hear.
“Not every secret is worth uncovering.”
Seraphina stopped.
Elara’s smile remained delicate, almost affectionate.
“Some secrets destroy the people who find them,” she whispered.
Seraphina met her eyes.
“Then you won’t mind if I find out what this one is.”
For the first time, Elara’s smile faltered.
It lasted only a heartbeat.
Then she stepped aside.
---
By late morning, Seraphina was back in the small study beside the royal archive. Dusty reports covered the desk, and sunlight fell across the eastern border map Kael had given her.
She had found references to damaged wagons, unexplained lights, and two earlier patrols that had reported strange sounds in the trees. None of the reports mentioned the symbol directly.
That did not mean the symbol was new.
It meant someone might have been careful about where it was recorded.
Kael entered carrying a folded sheet of paper.
“The captain has sent an update,” he said.
Seraphina pushed the older reports aside. “What did he find?”
Kael placed the paper before her.
“The black cloth caught on the thorn bush belonged to no uniform our guards could identify. The blood was fresh enough to suggest the soldiers had not been gone long when the search party reached the area.”
“Anything else?”
He hesitated.
“There was a second mark near the first. Smaller. The captain thought it might have been scratched into the ground during the struggle.”
Seraphina leaned forward. “What did it look like?”
Kael unfolded the paper. The captain had drawn a rough copy of the mark beside his written description.
Seraphina’s breath caught.
The main symbol was the same circle crossed by three lines.
But beside it was a small curved stroke, almost hidden beneath the lower line.
She had never seen that detail in the chamber from her first life.
Her fingers hovered over the drawing without touching it.
“Do you recognize it?” Kael asked.
Seraphina looked up at him.
She could tell him the truth—or as much of it as she dared. But how could she explain that she remembered a secret chamber from a life no one else remembered? How could she admit that her sister’s smile had once accompanied the destruction of something neither of them had understood?
Not yet.
“I need to compare it with the oldest royal records,” she said.
Kael watched her for a moment but did not press her.
“Then we start there.”
Seraphina gathered the drawing and the relevant reports. Her original plan had been to uncover a warning before it became a threat.
Now she feared the warning had already been delivered.
As she turned toward the archive door, a palace messenger appeared in the corridor.
“Princess Seraphina?”
She stopped.
The messenger held out a sealed envelope. The royal crest pressed into the wax belonged to the eastern border command.
“This was delivered by a rider who returned from the outpost,” he said. “The captain requested that it be placed directly in your hands.”
Seraphina broke the seal.
Inside was a single sentence, written in hurried ink:
One of the missing soldiers has returned—but he refuses to say who brought him back.
Below the words, someone had drawn the strange symbol.
This time, the small curved mark was not beside it.
It was inside the circle.
Seraphina felt the blood drain from her face.
Whatever had taken those soldiers was changing the mark.
And now, whatever had returned one of them might already know she was looking for it.
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