The dining hall was quiet, the kind of silence that carried weight.Candlelight flickered across polished silver and glass, glinting against the mirrored walls that stretched the warmth of the flames across the long table.
The maids moved carefully, setting down dishes with soft clinks that barely broke the air.At the head of the table sat Levan, silent, composed. To his right, Elara, her hands folded neatly over her lap. Across from her, Lady Agaria, the old matriarch — blind eyes half-closed, the faintest smile on her lips as if she could see every shimmer of Ether in the room.
On her lap lay the serpent, Sarah, scaled and still, its body coiled in perfect stillness. The creature's faint breathing was the only movement on that side of the room.
Agaria tilted her head slightly toward Elara.
"What brilliant flames…" she murmured."I haven't seen such pure Azen's Flame in decades. Not since the first tower of Sardonia stood proud."
Her tone was calm, reflective — tinged with something like nostalgia.
"In my youth, there was only one with a flame so blue," she continued softly."But she didn't live long enough to master it."
Elara lowered her eyes, replying with measured grace.
"That's an honor, Lady Agaria. To be compared to one such as that."
A faint smile crossed the old woman's face.
"Honor, yes… but burden too."
Before Elara could respond, the doors creaked open.
The Boy Enters
The young master stepped into the hall, small feet echoing against the polished floor.He hesitated at the doorway, then made his way toward his mother's side, gaze fixed forward as always — calm, but watchful.
Levan glanced up briefly from his seat, nodding once in acknowledgment.
Then — everything changed.
The serpent that had been sleeping on Agaria's lap suddenly stirred. Its head lifted sharply, eyes glowing faint gold. Its body swelled, stretching across the table in one smooth, fluid motion, growing until it nearly filled the entire room.
The maids gasped — one nearly dropped her plate.Chairs screeched as knights stationed at the entrance stepped forward, hands on hilts.
Elara rose from her seat, voice low but sharp.
"Sarah!"
But before the serpent could strike —
"Be still."
Agaria's voice was soft but absolute.
The serpent froze mid-lunge, coiling back around her chair like smoke folding into itself. Its size shrank instantly until it was no larger than a scarf, slithering back into its place on her lap.
Yet its golden eyes never left the boy.
The young master stood frozen where he was, Ether flickering faintly around his body, responding instinctively to the threat. His heart pounded, but he didn't step back.
Elara's tone softened, motherly again.
"It's alright. Come closer."
He walked forward slowly, still cautious.
"To your father," she said gently.
Levan nodded at him from the head of the table, his gaze steady but unreadable.
"Go on."
The boy turned toward Agaria.
The old woman smiled faintly.
"Come here, child."
He stepped forward — one, two, three slow steps — until he stood beside her chair.Her hand rose, weathered but steady, and rested atop his head.
For a heartbeat, the whole room felt suspended in stillness.Even the flames on the candles flickered but didn't move.
Agaria's milky eyes turned slightly upward, toward Levan.
"All is well…" she whispered.
Then her voice dipped lower, almost as if speaking to herself.
"But however—"
And then silence.The sentence died before it was finished.
The serpent's eyes dimmed.The air thickened once more.
And just like that, the feast of reunion turned into a storm of unspoken omens.Whatever the old matriarch had seen in that brief moment between her hand and the boy's Ether—she had chosen not to say it aloud.
[End of Chapter 12]