The castle was alive in the morning.
Sunlight filtered through the high glass walls like honey. Staff moved quietly through the halls, voices hushed, footsteps practiced. The air buzzed with something calm but constant — order, discipline, elegance.
And yet… I still didn't feel like I belonged.
Not quite.
Not until I walked into the kitchen.
It had taken exactly one wide-eyed Elion and one sleepy-voiced request — "Can we go see Ilyra?" — to lead me into the glowing heart of the west wing.
The castle kitchen wasn't just functional. It was warm. Real.
Stone floors and high wooden shelves. Counters full of herbs, jars, and worn metal tools that looked older than most cities. There was a huge central oven glowing with soft heat, and the scent of cinnamon, honey, and something buttery drifted through the air.
Ilyra turned from the counter as soon as she heard us.
"Well," she said, hands on her hips, flour dusted up to her elbows. "If it isn't the Moon Prince and his Star Girl."
Elion beamed. "You said you'd make the moon cookies today."
"Did I?" she said, narrowing one eye. "I suppose I did promise the most charming boy in the kingdom."
"And me?" I asked softly.
"You," she said, smiling wide, "get coffee. And something sweet. Because I like your eyes. They've seen too much."
I didn't ask how she knew.
She handed me a cup — strong, dark, smooth — and pushed a plate of warm cookies across the counter. Then she sat beside me, shooed Elion toward a coloring corner, and said, "So."
"So?" I echoed.
"You staying?"
I hesitated. "As long as I'm allowed."
"Mm. Good answer." Her voice softened. "That boy needs you. I've known every soul that's passed through this kitchen, Sera. They come and go. But you? He clung to you like you were air."
I swallowed hard.
"I'm not sure what I am to him."
"You don't have to be sure. You just have to stay."
I nodded.
And for the first time since arriving, I felt the walls inside me lower — just a little.
Later that afternoon, while Elion napped and Leira took a council call, I wandered.
Not aimlessly — though I told myself I was.
I ended up in the library.
It was unlike anything I'd ever seen: a massive domed room with moving ladders, floating catalog screens, and old, actual books stacked in tall glass cabinets that shimmered with spell-locks and biometric wards.
I let my fingers trail along the spines.
Old languages. Histories. War logs. Magical theory — most of it outdated and banned. I passed them quickly.
And then something tugged at me.
Not physically.
Not even magically.
Emotionally.
I followed it — down a narrow aisle toward a low alcove where the sunlight hit the stone floor just right.
One book sat open on a table.
Not displayed.
Just… forgotten.
The cover was leather. Worn. Soft.
Etched with a crescent moon flanked by twin stars.
I froze.
The exact same symbol on my pendant.
I looked around.
No one.
With trembling fingers, I opened it fully.
Handwritten. Notes in the margins. Doodles. Spell fragments. A lullaby in ancient tongue. The name on the inside cover was faded, but I could just make out the scrawl:
"For S.V."
My chest burned.
My full name — the real one — was Serenya Veyr.
This book…
This was hers.
My mother's.
My hands shook, magic humming faintly beneath my skin, begging to rise.
Don't.
If Kael had seen the way the pendant glowed at my touch… if anyone had—
I shoved the magic down hard. My temples throbbed. My pulse raced.
Then I heard footsteps.
I shut the book, gently, and slid it back onto the table, covering the symbol with another volume.
I turned away just before he entered the room.
Kael.
He didn't speak to me.
Just crossed to the far window, silent and unreadable as ever.
But he looked at me.
And I felt it again.
That strange pull — not magical, not logical — but primal. Deep.
Like I was something he wasn't ready to name.
I nodded to him.
He didn't nod back.
But he didn't look away, either.
That night, as I lay in bed, my hand found its way to the pendant again.
I gripped it tightly beneath the sheets.
They died for me.
My parents.
And yet something of them was here — still alive. Still calling.
I had to be careful.
I had to be invisible.
But not forever.
------
Across the castle, Kaleb sat at his desk, a faint light glowing over the data pad in front of him.
The background check results had come in.
Name: Serenya Maerin
Origin: Unknown — adopted at age 1
Guardianship: Maerys Tallen (unlicensed)
Education: Vareth High Hall — top of class
Bloodline: Undetermined
He frowned.
He pulled up the biometric scan from her ID chip.
There was a file missing.
A medical log from infancy — gone.
Unusual.
Very unusual.
He opened a secure message and began typing:
"Kael — We may have a discrepancy."