EPISODE 5- "A Caged Bloom"
The morning sun rose brighter than any Lucaris had seen before. Golden light spread over the fields of Corvallis as though the skies themselves were celebrating. Villages were alive with joy. Songs drifted from every corner, children ran through the paths with flowers clutched in their hands, and laughter echoed between the houses.
The elders sat outside, their voices low as they sang the old blessings that had been passed down for generations. Every face carried happiness, because this day was not just about a prince's birthday. It was about the young man who had become the heart of Corvallis Prince Lucaris, the son of King Averon and Queen Amarielle.
Inside the castle, the air was no less alive. The celebration moved like a wave through every corridor. Servants hurried past carrying trays of sweets made with honey, rolls of rich fabric, and baskets filled with fruits gathered from across the land. The halls felt alive, their walls almost ringing with the sound of excitement. Yet beneath all this joy, something else lingered a quiet heaviness. For the king and queen knew this day was more than just candles and cheer.
Lucaris was called to the throne room, where King Averon waited. The king placed his hand firmly on his son's shoulder. His voice was warm, but there was a weight behind it.
"On this day, my son, I give you my blessing. May wisdom guide your steps, and may the love of your people never fade."
Lucaris bowed his head, though his heart swelled at the words. "Father, your blessing is more than enough for me. I could not ask for more."
But the king's gaze lingered, his eyes carrying thoughts unspoken. "There is something more, Lucaris. Today we will leave the castle together. The entire family must come."
Lucaris had questions, but he said nothing. Later, dressed in robes woven with gold, he rode beside his parents, Cedric, and Morganna. Crowds lined the road, throwing petals and raising their voices in celebration. To the people, it was a festival of joy. To Lucaris, the journey felt heavy, like each step of his horse carried him closer to something unseen.
At last, they arrived at a sacred grove. At its center stood an ancient tree, taller than any tower and older than memory itself. Its branches reached toward the sky like arms in prayer, and its roots dug deep into the ground as though they held the secrets of the earth. Beneath the tree sat sages and their students, their voices a low hum of prayer that seemed to echo with the land itself.
Lucaris stared at the sight. "Father… why have we come here?"
It was not his father but Queen Amarielle who answered. Her voice was calm, but her words carried the weight of truth.
"Because today you are no longer only a prince. Today you are twenty-six, and from this day forward, you are king. Your father sets down the crown, and it becomes yours."
Lucaris froze. The words struck him like thunder. He looked to his parents, searching for some mistake, some denial. But their eyes were steady. There had been no public announcement, no warning, only this truth given to him beneath the tree.
"This is our gift to you, Lucaris," his mother said softly, though her eyes shone with certainty. "On the day you were born, we now give you your destiny."
The people who had gathered erupted in joy. Their voices rose high, flowers filled the air, and blessings poured over him. But before the cheers could settle, the grove fell silent once more.
From the opposite path came another group. King Alistair of Ellora walked with his queen and their children, followed by their people. Their arrival was so sudden, so unexpected, that even the sages stopped their chants.
The crowd whispered in disbelief. Two kings, two families, standing beneath one sacred tree after years apart. Some whispered of hope, others feared what might come of it.
King Averon's eyes met Alistair's, and silence grew heavy between them. They did not speak, yet their faces carried years of unspoken history. Once, they had shared friendship, perhaps even brotherhood, but time had turned those ties into something fragile and distant.
Alistair himself stood calm, his presence steady as a man who had endured much. At his side, his children carried their own quiet strength. Prince Kaelen stood like a warrior in waiting, Veyra shone with a grace that drew every eye though her thoughts seemed elsewhere, and young Elira's eyes danced with curiosity as she looked at everything around her.
The people of Corvallis could hardly believe what they saw. Two royal families, once separated by history, now side by side. Would this mark the beginning of peace? Or would it bring old wounds to life again?
For Lucaris, the moment sank deep into his heart. His birthday was no longer his own. It had become something larger, something heavier than he had ever imagined. He could not see the shape of what was coming, but he knew one thing: his life would never belong to only himself again.
Lucaris was still trying to take in what had just unfolded. The weight of his parents' words, the cheers of the people, the sudden arrival of King Alistair all pressed against his mind. Yet his eyes could not leave the family standing across from him. Their presence was calm, but it carried an air of distance, as though they belonged to another time.
Whispers grew louder among the crowd, each voice carrying curiosity and awe. In the middle of it all, an elderly woman stepped closer to Lucaris. Her hair was silver, her back slightly bent, but her eyes still shone with the fire of many years. She raised her hand to bless him, her touch gentle on his forehead.
"My prince, may your reign be strong, and your heart never lose its kindness."
Lucaris bowed lightly, a smile brushing his lips. Then, lowering his voice, he asked almost like a child would, "Grandmother… who are they? That king… I have never seen him before. And why do they stand there, silent, as if words themselves are forbidden?"
The old woman's gaze turned toward the Elloran royals. A sigh escaped her lips, heavy with memory. "That, my son, is King Alistair, ruler of Ellora. Beside him stands his family. Look well, for they are not ordinary souls. That young man at his side is Prince Kaelen, a warrior of strength and mind, much like you. And near him is his wife, Princess Arwen, a woman of grace. The little one who laughs and stares at the world as though she has discovered it anew is Princess Elira, the king's youngest, the jewel of his house."
Lucaris listened carefully, but his eyes were not on Kaelen, nor Arwen, nor Elira. His gaze had already found another.
He hesitated, but curiosity pressed him forward. "And… the other princess? The one by the queen's side. Who is she?"
The old woman smiled, a knowing smile, as if she had been waiting for that question. Her voice softened. "Ah, she is Princess Veyra. The dearest child of Ellora. To her father she is light itself, and to her people she is a treasure. They say her smile carries a fragrance of its own, like a whisper that lingers in the heart long after it is gone. And her eyes, child, her eyes are like the tides of the sea, beautiful, restless, impossible to look away from."
Lucaris barely heard the rest of her words. He was lost already. His gaze followed Veyra without shame, tracing the way her dimples surfaced when she smiled at something her little sister whispered. For a moment, the world around him blurred, as if every sound and every face had melted away. All that remained was her.
Inside, he whispered to himself, a thought he dared not speak aloud. Who is she… this girl whose smile feels like sunlight, whose presence holds me still?
Before he could wonder more, Queen Amarielle's voice called him back to duty. The ceremonies went on, blessings were exchanged, the sacred rites were performed. Lucaris did what was expected of him, but his heart was no longer where his hands moved. His heart was fixed across the grove, where Veyra stood, unaware of the spell she had cast.
For Veyra, the day was one of rare freedom. It had been long since she had walked beyond her palace walls, long since she had stood among her people beneath open skies. She felt the air against her skin, she watched the petals drifting with the wind, and she smiled simply because the world felt alive. She had no thought that someone's eyes had never left her, that her smallest gesture had become another's undoing.
But fate has its own ways. When her father led her and her siblings to the sages for blessings, Veyra walked the sacred circle of the tree. And it was then, for the first time, she felt the weight of someone's gaze.
Veyra's steps slowed as she walked along the sacred tree, her gown brushing against the earth that had known centuries of prayers. She had not expected the day to bring her more than rituals and blessings, yet her gaze wandered and found him.
Across the gathering, beneath the weight of the moment, Lucaris stood still. His eyes were fixed on her, unflinching, as though the crowd between them did not exist. For a breath she forgot the chanting of the sages, the murmurs of the people, even the rustle of the wind in the branches above. All she could feel was the strike of that gaze, sharp and steady, pulling at something inside her she could not name.
Who is he…?
The thought rose before she could stop it.
His bearing was unmistakable, too sure for a common noble, too commanding for a mere guest. A prince… or perhaps even a king? The idea unsettled her, though she could not turn away.
Their eyes held. A silence bloomed between them, louder than the drums, more binding than the ceremony itself.
Veyra felt her heart stumble, an unfamiliar quickness in her breath. She had never believed in the old tales that spoke of glances carrying fates within them, yet now she wondered if the bards had not been lying after all.
Lucaris did not look away, and neither did she.
It was as if the world itself waited for one of them to yield. But the world was also watching. The grove was full of eyes and whispers, and to linger too long was to invite notice neither of them could afford.
At last, she tore her gaze from his.Her lashes lowered, her lips parted on a breath she did not realize she was holding.
Lucaris too turned, though the stiffness in his shoulders betrayed how unwillingly he did so.
And yet, even as the moment slipped away, it did not end. Something lingered in the space between them, fragile but unshakable, a thread that had bound itself before either of them could resist.
There are glances one forgets before the day has ended. And then there are glances that carve themselves into the soul, refusing to fade. This was the latter.
Though no word had passed, though duty had forced them apart, both Lucaris and Veyra carried the same quiet truth…their eyes had found each other, and nothing would ever be quite the same.
"...Somewhere beneath the silence, a shadow of recognition stirred like a secret neither of them knew they carried."