It was rare for the Queen to summon her husband.
She ruled.He... watched.
But something had shifted during the Sector Battle screenings. One of the Seers brought a report — not of power, not of threat — but of an aura that did not align with the known spectrum of life.
"Gray-white mist," the Seer said. "Neither violent nor pure. It held… memory."
The Queen furrowed her brow.
"Memory?"
"Yes, Your Grace. The boy's aura shimmered like… like someone out of place. Not dangerous. But dislocated."
That word made her pause. She whispered two words only the High Guard understood:
"Summon him."
He lived in the Skyvault — the highest spire in Mithralin, above politics, trade, and rumor. The people called him a myth, a quiet man with no throne yet infinite reach.
He was known as Vaerion, Keeper of the Soul Mirror. Not because he held it. But because he was it. Vaerion was not physically imposing. He wore simple robes of dust-colored silk. His eyes were blind — white as ash — but when he turned toward you, you felt as if the air remembered your entire life.
Kael was brought in quietly, under the guise of random selection. He didn't struggle. Didn't speak much. Just… watched. He was made to stand inside a circular ring of silver chalk. Above him floated the Soul Mirror — a suspended glass sphere that reflected not appearance, but essence. Vaerion stood across from him, hands clasped behind his back.
"What do you see?" the Queen asked.
Vaerion didn't answer immediately. He walked slowly toward Kael, head tilted. Kael stared back, calm.Then the King smiled. "He's not extraordinary," Vaerion said softly."Not by measure of power, lineage, or potential." "He should be invisible."
The Queen frowned. "Then why summon me?"
"Because he isn't."
The Soul Mirror reflected nothing.
No colors. No patterns. Just mist. Not darkness. Not light. A blank between.
"His soul doesn't register," Vaerion whispered.
"It isn't hidden. It's unwritten." The Queen stiffened. "A forged identity?"
Vaerion shook his head.
"No. He is becoming. Something we haven't defined yet."
She turned toward the Seers.
"Mark him," she ordered. "Subtle trace. No capture. No alert.""Put him in the Sector Battle.""Let him think he chose it."
"And if he's dangerous?" one asked.
"Then we'll let the others remove him for us."
She turned once more to the Soul Mirror.
"But if he survives the sector... I want to know why."