The sun had barely cleared the horizon when the gardeners found the scar in the courtyard grass. A perfect ring of withered flowers. Frost still clung to the edges even as daylight touched it.
By midmorning the palace was alive with rumor. Some said a spirit had passed through the night; others whispered that the princess had been seen wandering barefoot again.
Aveline said nothing.
She sat in her chamber, hands wrapped around a cup of cooling tea, staring at the scorch mark on her window frame. Leora had already scrubbed it twice. It would not come off.
When the knock came, she almost dropped the cup.
"His Majesty requests your presence," the guard said through the door.
"Now."
Her stomach twisted. Her father never called for her at this hour unless something had gone wrong.
The throne room felt colder than usual. King Roderic sat high above the dais, a heavy cloak across his shoulders, eyes unpredictable. Behind him, the royal adviser, High Priest Seran stood with folded hands, the faintest trace of ash clinging to his sleeves.
"Aveline," the king said, his voice smooth but sharp underneath. "You were in the gardens last night."
She bowed her head. "Yes, Father. I couldn't sleep."
"Did you see anything?"
Her heartbeat quickened. The wrong answer could cost lives. She shook her head. "Only the mist."
Seran's gaze lingered on her. "That's strange.The wards at the southern wall were disturbed. That has not happened in decades."
"Perhaps the weather," the king said, too quickly.
Aveline's eyes flicked to his hand. A faint dark thread curled beneath his signet ring like thick smoke trapped under skin then vanished. She wasn't sure if she had imagined it.
"I will strengthen the guards," Roderic continued. "You will remain inside the inner halls until I say otherwise."
She wanted to ask why, but the look in his eyes froze the words.
Far across the veil, Maeric stood at the edge of the same breach, now sealed with a shimmer of light.
"The shadow reached her," he said quietly.
His guard bowed. "It failed, but others may come. The priests in Lunareth felt the surge. They know you crossed."
"Then they'll come for me too," Maeric muttered. "Let them."
The Bind pulsed in his chest, a sharp reminder of time slipping away. He turned toward the black spires of his citadel. "Send word to the old seers. I need the Silverbane found before the next moon."
The guard hesitated. "And the human girl?"
Maeric looked back at the fading shimmer of the breach. "She's marked now. The curse won't forget her."
That night, Aveline dreamed of the same ring of frost, but this time, something moved inside its eyes . The color of molten gold watching her from the other side. When she woke, the frost had returned to her window.