The day of departure dawned cold and misty. From the window of the royal bedchamber, Lilith watched as her honor guard assembled in the courtyard below. She had hardly slept, her mind troubled by Luca's dreams and the strange disappearance of stars that the royal astronomer had reported at dawn.

  "Your mind is troubled," Luca said from the bed, where he sat running his fingers along the embossed leather of his favorite book—a text on natural philosophy that Lilith had commissioned specially with raised lettering.

  "As is yours," she replied, turning from the window. "I can't forget what you said about your dreams. Beings of light and darkness discussing our family as pieces on a game board... it's disturbing."

  Luca set the book aside and reached for his cane. "Perhaps I should not have shared it. The st thing you need before a diplomatic mission is to be distracted by an old blind man's nightmares."

  "Never speak of yourself that way," Lilith said sharply. "Your perceptions have saved this kingdom more than once." She crossed to him and took his free hand. "What does your perception tell you now?"

  He was silent for a long moment, his sightless blue-grey eyes focused on nothing yet somehow seeing beyond ordinary vision. "That something watches us. Something ancient and powerful that disapproves of what we've built together."

  "The gods have been silent for centuries," Lilith said, but her voice cked conviction.

  "Perhaps that silence was disinterest, not absence," he suggested. "And now, for reasons we don't yet understand, their attention has turned to us."

  A knock at the door interrupted them. Master Orlen, captain of Luca's personal guard, entered and bowed deeply despite Luca's inability to see the gesture.

  "Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesties. The royal caravan is assembled and awaiting the Queen's arrival."

  "Thank you, Orlen," Luca said, turning his head in the direction of the guard's voice. "I have a request. I want you to accompany the Queen's party to the Northern Territories."

  Orlen hesitated, his loyalty visibly torn. "My duty is to protect you, my lord."

  "And right now, the greatest service you can render me is ensuring my wife's safety," Luca replied firmly. "I sense... danger in this journey."

  "Luca," Lilith began to protest, but he raised a hand.

  "Please, Lilith. If my concerns are baseless, then I've merely been overprotective. But if they aren't..."

  Lilith's resistance softened. "If it would ease your mind, I'll accept Orlen's protection. But who will guard you and the children?"

  "The castle guard is more than sufficient," Luca assured her. "And I rarely leave these walls."

  Orlen bowed again. "I shall prepare immediately, Your Majesty."

  After he departed, Luca moved to an ornate chest by the bedside. From it, he withdrew a small leather pouch and pressed it into Lilith's hands.

  "Take this with you."

  She opened the pouch to find a polished stone, deep blue with veins of silver running through it.

  "From the highest peak I ever climbed," he expined, his voice soft with memory. "Before... before everything changed. I've kept it as a reminder that limitations can be overcome." His fingers closed over hers. "The monastery healers say it has protective properties."

  "In all our years, you've never mentioned this," Lilith said, turning the stone in her palm. It was warm, as if it had absorbed Luca's body heat.

  "I never felt I needed to share it until now." His smile was faint. "Perhaps I'm being foolish, but humor a worried husband."

  As they made their way to the courtyard, Lilith noticed servants and guards giving them respectful distance. Word of the Queen's departure had spread quickly, and many lined the corridors, bowing as they passed.

  In the main courtyard, the full royal procession awaited. Lord Taren, his weathered face solemn, stood at the head of twenty hand-selected royal guards. Lady Merina supervised the loading of the final diplomatic documents. The arrival of Master Orlen caused a brief murmur of surprise among the guards.

  Lilith found herself suddenly reluctant to leave, despite knowing her duty. She knelt to embrace her children one final time. Alden clung to her with surprising strength for a five-year-old, while Elena's eyes remained troubled.

  "Remember what we discussed," Lilith told them seriously. "Listen to your father, practice your lessons, and no exploring the old tower without supervision."

  "We promise," they answered in unison, their small faces solemn.

  Rising, she turned to Luca. The courtyard fell silent as the royal couple shared what everyone knew might be their st moments together for weeks.

  "I will send a raven each day," she promised, taking his hands in hers.

  "And I shall count the hours until your return," he replied. His fingers traced her face with gentle precision, as if memorizing every contour. "Be wary of King Darrhen's counselors, especially Lord Varian. His ambitions have always outweighed his loyalty."

  "I can handle ambitious lords," she assured him with a smile that he couldn't see but could certainly hear in her voice.

  "I know." His expression grew serious. "But Lilith... if anything feels wrong—anything at all—do not hesitate to return. The border dispute can wait."

  "I'll be cautious," she promised, leaning forward to kiss him, heedless of the watching courtiers. "Take care of our children."

  "With my life," he vowed.

  As Lilith mounted her horse, a flock of ravens suddenly took flight from the castle towers, their bck wings stark against the morning sky. They circled once, twice, then settled again—all except one bird that flew directly over the caravan before disappearing toward the north.

  Luca tilted his head at the sound. "An ill omen," he murmured.

  "Merely a bird seeking breakfast," Lord Taren said dismissively, though his hand moved instinctively to the hilt of his sword.

  The procession began to move forward, passing beneath the great stone archway of the castle gates. Lilith turned in her saddle for one final look. The morning sun illuminated her family in golden light—Luca standing tall despite his cane, Elena pressed against his side, Alden clinging to his other hand. The image burned itself into her memory: three figures framed by the massive archway, diminishing with distance but never from her heart.

  As the castle disappeared behind the hills, Lilith felt the weight of the blue stone against her chest where she had tucked it inside her riding clothes. A strange heaviness settled in her stomach that had nothing to do with the early hour or the journey ahead.

  Two weeks, she told herself firmly. I'll be back in two weeks.

  But as the road stretched before her and forest shadows deepened around the procession, she could not shake the feeling that the distance growing between her and her family was more than mere miles.

  High in the celestial realm of Aetheria, Aurelian watched with cold satisfaction as the queen's caravan moved away from the castle. "The first piece moves as anticipated," he observed.

  Maeris glided to his side, her split form of light and shadow rippling with contradictory energies. "The queen suspects nothing of our influence in this border dispute?"

  "She senses something amiss, but attributes it to mortal politics," Aurelian replied. "By the time she realizes the truth, it will be too te."

  "And when do we begin the real work?" Maeris asked, her dark half smiling while her light half remained solemn.

  "Tonight," Aurelian decided. "When darkness falls and their defenses are at their weakest."

  "The blind one has unusual perception," Maeris noted. "He may sense our approach."

  Aurelian's perfect features hardened into immovable marble. "He is merely a broken mortal. His senses, however acute, cannot detect what we do not wish him to perceive."

  Maeris said nothing, but doubt flickered across her ever-changing face. She had observed Luca more carefully than her brother and sensed something in him that defied easy dismissal.

  "Prepare our instruments," Aurelian commanded. "By the time the queen reaches the northern border, her precious family will be broken beyond repair."

  The Eternal of Order turned away, his cosmic gaze focusing on the castle where a blind man held two children close, unaware that immortal eyes watched his every move with cold calcution.

  Behind them, unseen by either, Morrin observed the threads of fate continuing to twist in unexpected patterns. Around Luca, the threads glowed with an intensity that seemed almost... defiant.

  The game had begun.