The morning sun barely broke through the mist, casting long silver beams over the palace gardens. Seraphina sat alone on the marble bench where her mother used to read to her. The journal rested in her lap, pages fluttering in the breeze like restless memories.
Each line she read unraveled more truth, but none gave her peace.
Behind her, footsteps approached. She didn't need to look to know it was Cassian.
"You vanished from the dining hall," he said, sitting beside her.
"I wasn't hungry," she replied.
He glanced at the journal. "Your mother's?"
She nodded, her voice low. "She knew about the ruins… the song. She called it binding music. She said the Mist is a prison, holding something—someone—back."
Cassian tensed. "The Fallen King."
Seraphina looked up at him. "But who was he before he fell? The stories call him a monster, but… monsters are made, not born."
Cassian was quiet for a long time. "His name was Malrec. A prince of the old realm. He once ruled beside the first Queen of Light. They were meant to bring balance. But when she died… something in him shattered."
Her breath caught. "He loved her?"
"Yes. So deeply that when she was taken from him, he tried to bring her back. He searched forbidden paths. Touched ancient powers. And in doing so, became something else."
"A shadow," Seraphina whispered.
"A shadow that remembers what it meant to be whole," Cassian added. "That's what makes him dangerous."
---
Later that day, Seraphina wandered into the old music hall. Dust danced in the light spilling through the high windows. Her fingers traced the edge of a harp her mother once played. She hadn't planned to sing—but a melody stirred within her, soft as a sigh.
She closed her eyes, and the music came.
---
Song: "Before the Dark"
Before the dark, before the fall,
Before the shadows touched the wall,
There was a name, there was a face—
A time, a dream, a warm embrace.
Before the fire claimed the sky,
Before the light forgot to try,
There was a boy who loved too much…
And lost the world with just one touch.
If pain can build a tower tall,
Can love not break its mighty wall?
I do not fear what came before…
I fear what love may still restore.
---
When her voice faded, she opened her eyes—and froze.
Cassian stood in the doorway. His eyes hadn't left her once during the song.
"You shouldn't keep doing that," he said, but his voice held no anger. Just concern.
"I can't stop it," she said. "It's like the songs want to be sung. Like they're not mine at all."
He walked closer, slowly. "That's what frightens me."
Seraphina lowered her gaze. "Are you afraid of me, Cassian?"
He didn't answer right away. Then, gently: "No. But I am afraid for you."
The silence that followed was heavy with all the things left unsaid.
---
That night, as the moon rose high, the Mist at the kingdom's edge began to thin. A single crow circled above the old woods, then flew fast toward the capital. The guards at the watchtower noticed too late.
In the distance, something crossed the threshold.
He had no face—only a hollow helm and a shadow-cloaked form. But he carried Malrec's mark across his chest.
The first of the Fallen King's servants had arrived.
---