The city of Carfein glittered that night as if the stars had descended upon its rooftops. Threads of silver light streamed from the floating lanterns that hung like captured moons over the marble streets. Music drifted from the plazas — laughter, bells, the steady rhythm of drums echoing through the heart of the kingdom.
From the balcony of her chamber, Aria could see it all.The glow of the Tree of Life spread over the capital like breath — bluish, calm, alive — but beneath its beauty there was something else. Something that trembled. Every few seconds, a soft pulse of light crawled up its trunk, disappearing into the veins of the city like veins of blood under skin.
"Carfein never sleeps on a royal night," said Sira, appearing behind her in a dress spun from glass and nightshade petals. Her hair was pinned with pearls that shimmered faintly each time she moved. "It's almost terrifyingly beautiful, isn't it?"
Aria smiled weakly. "Terrifying fits it better than beautiful."
Sira laughed softly. "You'll get used to it. After all, tonight is for peace. Kael's return means the kingdom will finally rest."
"Peace," Aria repeated, tasting the word like something foreign.She wasn't sure what peace felt like anymore.
By the time they entered the Hall of Roots, the feast had already begun. The hall itself was vast, ceiling carved into spiraling roots that glowed faintly with embedded crystals. Dancers twirled along the marble floors while strings played notes that shimmered through the air like droplets of silver rain.
The royal table stretched like a river of gold — nobles on either side whispering, laughing, pretending to forget centuries of quiet hatred. At the head of it sat Kael, newly returned, crown light upon his head, eyes gleaming with calm authority.
Beside him sat Jessica — the rumored future queen of Carfein.She was nothing like Aria had imagined.Her beauty wasn't fragile or timid; it carried a strange kind of stillness. Her hair, silver as snow, was braided with vines that pulsed faintly with the Tree's glow. Her skin held a pale amber sheen, and her eyes were not quite blue — they shifted color, like sunlight reflected off water.
"She's… different," Aria murmured.
"She's not from any kingdom I know," Sira replied. "They say Kael found her during his journey — somewhere beyond the Frost Isles."
"And Lirien?" Aria asked quietly.
Sira's smile faltered. "He's here. But he'll come late. He always does."
The evening unfolded in colors and sound.Servants moved like wind, carrying plates of honeyed bread, crystalline fruits, and bowls of glistening blue berries that burst with cool sweetness.
Aria found herself seated among courtiers — most of them half-drunk, their laughter loud, their eyes curious about the "human girl" Lirien had taken under his wing.
"So you're the one from the outer lands," said one noble with silver eyes. "They say humans can't hold light magic. Is it true?"
Aria smiled politely. "I don't know. I've never tried."
"Well," another added with a smirk, "if Lirien brought you here, perhaps he's found a way."
Their laughter rang unpleasantly in her ears. Sira elbowed one of them sharply, earning a muttered apology, but Aria's attention had drifted already.
Across the hall, she saw Xyren — standing among the guards, his expression calm but his eyes distant, watching everything and nothing at once. He looked different tonight. Not in armor, but in dark ceremonial robes, the kind only Shadows wore. His gaze found hers for an instant — unreadable, steady — and then turned away as though it meant nothing.
Aria exhaled. "He's pretending not to see me again."
"That's what he does best," Sira said, sipping her drink. "Pretend he doesn't care."
Then the Tree pulsed.
It started as a tremor — so soft that only the glasses on the table shivered. Then light spilled through the floor veins, a faint ripple that brushed everyone's skin like cold breath.
Jessica stiffened in her seat.Her hand went to her temple.
Kael leaned toward her instantly. "Jessica? Are you all right?"
But her eyes were unfocused — her breath shallow. Then, before anyone could stop her, she rose from her chair, the hem of her gown whispering across the marble, and began walking toward the hall's center.
"Jessica!" Kael's voice echoed through the music, halting everything. The musicians stopped mid-note.
Jessica reached the open circle at the hall's heart — the place directly above the root of the Tree that fed the palace — and then collapsed.
A scream cut through the silence.Light exploded upward from the marble — wild, uncontrolled — spiraling into a dome of blinding blue. The nobles stumbled back, shields of magic flickering in panic. The ground trembled as runes long buried in the floor came alive.
"Back!" Kael shouted. "Get everyone away from the circle!"
But Aria didn't move. Something pulled her forward, instinct more than thought. The air was thick with humming energy, wild and beautiful and wrong all at once. The light twisted like living veins, reaching out, searching.
And Jessica — she was floating now, hair billowing, her eyes glowing white.
"Kael!" she gasped, though her voice wasn't her own. It echoed twice, once human, once… other. "The roots— they're—"
Her words broke into a cry.
Without thinking, Aria ran forward.
Sira yelled her name, but it was too late — the light engulfed her.It should've burned. It didn't.
Instead, the magic recoiled.Like a living creature recognizing its own reflection, the light bent around her, swirling harmlessly, circling her wrists, her throat, her chest — pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat.
The hall gasped. Kael froze. Even the guards stood in shock.
Then, from the shadows above the balcony, someone moved — fast, silent — a blur of black and silver. Xyren.
He landed between her and the glowing circle, one hand raised, muttering a word that sounded like smoke. The light dimmed, curling inward, and Jessica collapsed into Kael's arms, unconscious.
The room shuddered once more… then fell still.
Aria stood trembling, her heart hammering.Her palms were still faintly glowing.
She looked at Xyren. "What— what just happened?"
"Later," he said sharply, his tone colder than she'd ever heard. He turned to Kael, who was cradling Jessica. "The Tree reacted. Something must've—"
Lirien's voice cut through the hall."Enough."
He stood at the far end of the corridor, robes flowing behind him like a river of ink. His eyes glowed faintly silver under the torchlight.
"Contain the magic," he ordered. "Seal the roots beneath this floor. I want no trace of that energy left."
Kael rose slowly. "You can't seal what comes from the Tree, Lirien."
"Watch me," Lirien replied.
For a heartbeat, the air between them tightened — years of brotherhood and bitterness collapsing into silence. Then Kael turned away, carrying Jessica gently toward the exit.
Sira exhaled shakily beside Aria. "That… was not peace."
Aria could barely speak. "What— why didn't it hurt me?"
Sira gave her a long, unreadable look. "Maybe because it didn't want to."
Hours later, when the feast had dissolved into whispers and fear, Aria stood alone by the balcony again. The Tree outside glowed faintly, its light steady once more, but she could still feel the echo of that pulse in her veins.
"You touched the light," a quiet voice said.
She turned. Xyren stood in the doorway, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
"I didn't mean to," she said. "It just— it called me."
"Magic doesn't call," he muttered. "It responds."
She frowned. "Then why—"
"You're not ready for that answer," he interrupted. "And neither are they."His gaze flicked toward the hall below, where Lirien was speaking to a cluster of robed guards.
"You should rest," Xyren continued softly. "Tomorrow, everything will change."
"Will she be all right?" Aria asked. "Jessica?"
"She will," he said, though his tone didn't sound sure. "For now."
He started to walk away, but Aria's voice stopped him."Xyren."
He paused without turning.
"I don't understand what's happening," she said. "Every time I think I've found a place here, it shifts. People lie. Light turns dark. And that Tree—" she looked up at it, her voice trembling, "—it feels alive. Watching me."
Xyren looked over his shoulder. His eyes were softer now. "Then stop pretending it's not."
And with that, he vanished into the shadows.
Below her, the Tree pulsed once — a deep, slow rhythm, like a heartbeat.In the silence that followed, the wind carried a faint whisper through the leaves.Not words, not sound — but something that felt like recognition.
The Feast of Shadows had ended.And Aria finally understood:That night wasn't a celebration.
It was a warning.