POV: Alex
The palace had finally settled into silence after hours of celebration, but Alex’s mind refused to rest. She stepped onto her balcony, letting the cool night breeze brush against her skin. Below her, the gardens glimmered beneath the pale glow of the moon—rows of lilies and rose bushes shimmering like scattered stardust.
It should have brought her peace.
But instead, something inside her tightened. A whisper of unease. A weight she couldn’t ignore.
She turned to go back inside—and the world tilted.
A wave of dizziness struck so sharply that she grabbed the railing, breath catching in her throat. Her vision blurred, then flickered—colors bending, twisting—until the palace vanished altogether.
Alex blinked.
She stood in a vast battlefield, the sky above her a bruised twiligh
