Chapter 4: Shadows in the Courtyard

Seraphina Von Schwarzenwald stood in the grand hallway, her icy blue eyes gazing down at the lower courtyard. From her vantage point, she could see the dim glow of torches flickering in the evening air. The estate was quiet at this hour—too quiet for what she had just witnessed.

Her fingers tapped lightly against the cold marble railing, her expression as impassive as ever. But beneath the surface, something stirred—a mix of curiosity and unease that she rarely allowed herself to feel.

"Dark magic," she whispered to herself, her voice barely audible over the wind that rustled through the trees. The words felt strange on her tongue, almost unreal. Yet, she had seen it with her own eyes.

Footsteps echoed behind her, heavy and purposeful. Marcus was approaching.

"You're out here again," he remarked, his voice carrying that usual edge of impatience. He stepped beside her, crossing his arms as he looked out over the courtyard. "What's going on with you, Seraphina? You've been acting strange."

Seraphina didn't immediately respond. She kept her gaze on the courtyard, her expression cold and unreadable. But her thoughts were racing. The image of Elias—her brother—with dark tendrils of magic swirling around him, flickered in her mind like a haunting memory.

"Marcus," she began, her voice as cool as ever, "I saw Elias today."

Marcus let out a low groan. "Why are you still wasting time on him? He's nothing, Seraphina. The sooner you accept that, the better."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "He was in the courtyard," she continued, ignoring her brother's dismissive tone. "Performing magic."

That caught Marcus' attention, though the frown that appeared on his face was one of confusion rather than concern. "Magic? Elias can barely cast a simple spell. What are you talking about?"

Seraphina turned her head, just enough to look at Marcus. "It wasn't ordinary magic," she said, her voice growing quieter. "It was... something else. Dark magic."

Marcus blinked, clearly taken aback, but his expression quickly shifted to one of disbelief. "Dark magic? Are you serious?" He let out a short, humorless laugh. "Elias couldn't handle dark magic. He's too weak for that kind of power."

Seraphina's gaze returned to the courtyard, her fingers curling slightly against the railing. "I saw it," she said firmly. "Tendrils of black mist... weaving through the air, wrapping around him like a shroud. It wasn't just a mistake or an accident. He knew exactly what he was doing."

For the first time in the conversation, Marcus fell silent. His brows knitted together in thought, though his lips curled in distaste.

"So what?" he said finally, his voice colder than before. "Dark magic or not, Elias is still the weakest of us. Even if he's dabbling in forbidden spells, it doesn't make him worth our time. He's trash, Seraphina. You're wasting your energy on him."

Seraphina felt the familiar chill of her brother's words settle over her, but she remained unmoved. She wasn't defending Elias, not exactly. She didn't care enough to defend him. But what she had seen... it was undeniable.

"I'm not defending him," she said sharply. "But something about it was different. It was controlled, deliberate. He wasn't fumbling through it like a fool. There was intent."

Marcus scowled, clearly unimpressed. "Intent? Please. Elias can barely hold his own in a sparring match. If he's playing with dark magic, it'll consume him before he ever becomes a threat."

Seraphina's expression didn't change, though her mind was still racing. Marcus was probably right—Elias was weak, and their father had all but cast him aside. Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted. The darkness she had seen around Elias wasn't chaotic. It had been precise, powerful even.

"Maybe," she said, her voice softer now. "But I've never seen him like that before."

Marcus let out another dismissive grunt, clearly bored of the conversation. "Enough about Elias. We have more important matters to attend to. Stop wasting your time on him, Seraphina. Father wouldn't approve of this nonsense."

He turned to leave, his heavy footsteps echoing through the empty hall. But Seraphina stayed where she was, her gaze still fixed on the courtyard below. The shadows seemed to stretch longer, darker than usual.

Elias had always been the weak one, the forgotten one. But if what she had seen today was real, then maybe—just maybe—there was more to him than any of them had realized.

She felt a shiver run down her spine, not from the cold but from something deeper. She had never cared much for Elias, never spared him more than a passing thought. Yet now, as the memory of dark magic danced in her mind, she found herself wondering.

What was Elias really capable of?

---

Marcus stormed down the hall, his jaw clenched tight with annoyance. The conversation with Seraphina gnawed at him, her words circling in his mind like vultures around a carcass.

'Elias performing dark magic? It's absurd. He can't even conjure a simple flame without botching the spell. Weak, pathetic, useless...'

His footsteps echoed through the empty corridors as he made his way to his chambers. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the unease Seraphina's words had left behind.

'Dark magic,' he thought bitterly. 'If Elias is messing around with that, it's only a matter of time before it destroys him. Father should have cast him out years ago.'

He pushed open the door to his room, letting it slam behind him. The room was dimly lit by a single lantern, casting long shadows against the walls. Marcus paused by the window, staring out at the courtyard where Seraphina had claimed to see Elias.

'Seraphina wouldn't lie,' he mused, his frown deepening. 'But why would Elias be dabbling in something like that? He's never had the strength for it. Or the will.'

The thought made his blood boil. Elias had always been the outcast, the one their father barely acknowledged. And rightfully so, in Marcus' opinion. The boy was a disappointment—a stain on the Von Schwarzenwald name.

'But if Seraphina's right... if he's really using dark magic...'

A cold knot formed in his chest, tightening with each passing moment. Dark magic was dangerous—deadly, even. But it was also powerful. Power that Marcus knew all too well could shift the balance in the family.

'No,' Marcus scolded himself, shaking his head. 'Elias is still a fool. Whatever he's trying won't end well for him.'

But even as he reassured himself, doubt crept in. Seraphina had seen something in Elias. Something controlled. Deliberate. That wasn't the Elias they knew—the weakling they had spent years mocking, ignoring, discarding.

A nagging thought whispered at the back of his mind.

'What if he's not as weak as we think? What if...'

Marcus clenched his fists, his teeth grinding together. No. It wasn't possible. Elias was a failure, always had been. No amount of dark magic could change that.

'Father would never let him rise,' Marcus thought fiercely, his expression hardening. 'And neither will I.'

Yet, despite his convictions, a sliver of doubt remained—small, but persistent. What if Elias had found something? Some hidden well of power that none of them had expected? What if Seraphina's curiosity wasn't misplaced?

Marcus shook his head, forcing the thoughts away. He wouldn't allow himself to believe that Elias could be a threat. He was the heir of the Von Schwarzenwald family, the strongest, the most capable. Elias... Elias was nothing.

'If he's foolish enough to play with dark magic, it'll only hasten his downfall,' Marcus told himself. 'There's no need to worry.'

But as he stared out into the courtyard, watching the shadows lengthen under the moonlight, Marcus couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted. That something was coming.

Something none of them were prepared for.