The grand hall of the Eastern Court was overflowing with nobles, merchants, and curious onlookers. The air hummed with the sound of harp strings and the clink of goblets, but Kaelen heard none of it. His gaze was fixed on the towering doors as the herald's voice boomed.
"Presenting… Lady Nernia of the Starborne Isles."
A hush swept over the hall.
She stepped inside.
The world seemed to still, as though even time feared to intrude. Draped in a flowing gown of moonlight silver, her dark hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall at midnight. Every step was graceful, purposeful, the gentle sway of her skirts matching the rhythm of her heartbeat—one Kaelen knew better than his own.
He felt the air leave his lungs.
It didn't matter that her memories were locked away; in that moment, she was herself again.
Nernia's eyes, though polite and warm, flickered faintly when they found him. A shadow of recognition. A pulse of something deeper—like the ghost of a dream.
The court was watching, but Kaelen barely cared. He stepped forward, each movement deliberate, refusing to break eye contact.
"Lady Nernia," he greeted, bowing slightly, though his voice carried the weight of a thousand unsaid words.
"Lord Kaelen," she replied, her tone perfectly formal… but a single breath caught in her throat before she said his name.
He noticed. Oh, he noticed.
As the night went on, whispers spread like wildfire through the crowd. Rumors of alliances, of secret ties between the Starborne Isles and the Eastern Court, of why exactly Kaelen—who rarely attended such gatherings—was watching the lady as if she was a star he'd been chasing all his life.
But beneath the glitter of the celebration, Kaelen felt it—
A wrongness.
The faint ripple of dark magic curling at the edges of the room, unseen by most.
He caught a figure in the far balcony—hooded, still, and watching only Nernia.
Kaelen's jaw tightened. He moved closer to her, keeping his voice low.
"We have company," he murmured, not daring to glance at the balcony again.
Nernia blinked, confusion touching her expression. "Company?"
"Don't react," he whispered, offering his arm. "Smile for the crowd."
She did, though her hand on his arm trembled.
Somewhere in the shadows, the hooded figure slipped away. But Kaelen knew this was no coincidence.
Her arrival had not gone unnoticed.
And whatever was coming… would not wait long.