The keeper of the Ash

The sunlight, fractured by the ripples of the royal pond, once felt like pure, unburdened gold. I remember the laughter. The sound of water splashing as Emperor Cassian and his Tutor, Asher—my two dearest friends—forgot their crowns and their lessons for a single, perfect afternoon. They were everything bright, everything worth defending, while I, Soren, lost in a book on the pond's edge, simply watched and smiled, believing the world could be just as simple as their joy. Then, the gold turned to ash. A shadow falls across that memory, sharp and sudden as a heads man axe. The laughter is replaced by the sickening caw of a thousand crows. Above me, hanging from a thick branch, is Asher. His body is a ruin, a feast for carrion, his blood pooling silently on the scorched earth. Below him, the once-great Emperor Cassian lies dead on his own blade, his grip still firm on the weapon that destroyed him and, in turn, destroyed everything we built. Fire consumes the Citadel; corpses pave the streets. I, Soren, was the only one left to scream. To mourn. To gather the ash. But the world demands rebuilding, even when the heart remains shattered. I turn from the ghost of that ruin, and there you are: the foreign Prince, Shin, vibrant and alive, running toward me through a bustling, rebuilt market. He is here on a mission—to investigate the new Emperor, Soren—but when I look into his kind, inquiring eyes, I see a future. For a moment, the world rights itself. The colours become vivid. The air is clear. Cassian and Asher, whole and laughing, play again in my mind. A cruel trick of memory, or a promise? I rebuilt the Empire for them. Now, I will tell the story of how Cassian and Asher's love broke the world, and how this new friend, Shin, might just help me save what's left of it.