The faint roll of thunder echoed beyond the stained-glass windows, as though the heavens themselves waited to hear what would be said within those walls.
Valerian sat upon the Storm Throne, his gaze distant, the seer's words still haunting the edges of his thoughts.
"You will not return as you left, my king. You will return a different man...and your son shall stand at the center of it."
He exhaled slowly and ran a hand through his hair. "Different," he murmured under his breath. "And for what cause, I wonder?"
He straightened in his seat and turned toward the guards stationed by the doors.
"Send for the High Seer, Serath Veyne," he ordered. "I would speak with him at once."
The guards bowed and strode out swiftly.
Moments after they departed, the doors burst open again—this time without announcement.
The Dowager Queen swept into the throne room, her presence sharp as lightning itself. Her silver hair gleamed beneath the torches, her eyes fierce with indignation.
Lady Levina followed, her face taut with unease, while her husband, Ser Corven Asterholt, walked a measured pace behind them....stoic, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his ceremonial sword.
"Why?" Queen Aelira demanded before the doors even closed. Her voice cracked through the chamber like a whip.
Valerian's eyes lifted, calm but shadowed. "Why… what, Mother?" He leaned back on his throne, gaze unreadable. "And a good evening to you as well."
"Don't mock me!" Aelira hissed. "You return from the south with scandal and ruin at your side. You.....my son, heir of Vireon's blood....wed a cursed woman?"
She took several steps forward, her gown whispering over marble. "Why would you disappoint me so deeply? Why would you taint our bloodline with that...." her voice trembled with fury....."that creature?"
Valerian's expression hardened. "She has a name, Mother. You will use it. Aurelia Stormborne.....your queen."
Aelira's eyes widened, disbelief and anger twisting her features. "Queen?" she spat, the word like venom.
"The gods forbid it! By Vireon himself, may the heavens strike before such blasphemy is sealed! You would defile the Storm Throne with a cursed woman?
You dare to crown one marked by the gods....the very girl they turned their faces from? Do you think the storm will obey a blasphemer? Even the winds will turn from Valkoron if she sits beside you!"
"The storm obeys me," Valerian said quietly. "And I say she is queen."
Aelira laughed bitterly. "You think yourself a god now? You forget I stood beside your father when the Seers warned of cursed blood.
The girl's Flameborne line was tainted by witchcraft and betrayal....by Ishara's wrath! And now you bring that poison into our house?"
Thunder rumbled across the keep, deep and unrelenting.
"Careful, Mother," Valerian said coldly. "You tread on words that could split this court in two."
Aelira lifted her chin, defiant. "Then let it split! Better a divided court than a cursed one.
Have you forgotten the siege of Ashmere? The curse Ishara spat upon the Flameborne line? That girl was marked, Valerian....marked and shunned by her own kin!"
Valerian rose from his throne, each step deliberate, his voice low but cutting. "She was shamed by those who feared what they could not understand.
You sound just like Mowenna Winterbourne of Aiseryn...do you recall her, Mother? The dowager who dragged her son's name through the mire to keep him from marrying her? You would have done the same."
Aelira's nostrils flared. "I never liked that woman, but for once I agree with her. Had I been in Caelmont, I'd never have allowed you to shackle yourself to such a...."
"Enough," Valerian snapped, descending the dais with measured steps. His voice was thunder restrained.
"What you call poison, I call courage. Aurelia fought through the ashes of her own curse and still stood when others fled. If that offends the gods, then perhaps they are not as wise as they claim."
"Blasphemy!" Aelira gasped. "You would curse your throne for her sake?"
"I would save it," he said sharply, "from the small-mindedness that's strangled this court for decades."
But Aelira pressed on, voice rising with passion and scorn. "She's cursed, Valerian! Don't deny it. The whole realm knows it. Deformed, disfigured....a pitiful shadow of a woman! Do you mean to parade her through Valkoron and call her queen while the gods themselves recoil?"
At that, thunder cracked above the keep. The torches shuddered, and for an instant, the chamber dimmed...as if the storm itself had drawn breath.
Valerian's hand curled into a fist. "Mind your tongue, Mother."
"She is not worthy!" Aelira cried. "You may command armies, but you cannot command the gods. You will bring their wrath upon us all!"
"I am king," Valerian roared, his voice rolling with the thunder. "Not you. Not the gods. I command here....and when I decree that Aurelia is queen, then she is queen!"
Lightning flared across the stained glass, painting his face in silver fire.
For a heartbeat, no one spoke. Then Levina stepped forward.
"Enough!" Her voice trembled, but it carried. "Please, both of you. We are not enemies."
Aelira turned on her daughter. "You would defend him too?"
"I defend peace," Levina said softly. "Mother, brother....listen to yourselves. The court watches while our bloodline tears itself apart."
Her words trembled but carried weight. She turned first to her mother. "Mother, please. I beg you...spare us this fury. My brother has returned after months away, and yet we greet him not with joy, but with war."
Then she faced Valerian. "Brother… I know you. You are not a man who acts without reason. You must have one. So tell us...why her? Of all women, Why the Lady Aurelia?"
Silence thickened, heavy as stormclouds.
Valerian's lips parted to answer...but the heavy double doors creaked open once more.
A young, clear voice broke through the hush.
"That," it said, "would be because of me."
Every head turned.
There, framed by torchlight, stood Prince Vaelric. Determination burned in his youthful eyes.
Beside him walked High Seer Serath Veyne, his long beige robes whispering against the marble floor. His eyes....clouded yet keen...seemed to pierce through time itself.
Aelira froze. Levina's lips parted in shock. Corven Asterholt's gaze hardened, assessing.
Valerian exhaled slowly. "Vaelric," he said, voice softening. "You should be in your chambers."
"I should," the boy replied. "But this concerns me, doesn't it?" His gaze shifted to his grandmother.
"If blame must be cast, then let it fall on me. I was the one who asked Father to marry her."
The Dowager Queen's eyes widened in disbelief. "You… asked him?"