The Ghost of a Crown

The vision shattered.

Kael staggered back into the dimly lit chamber, his breath sharp, his fingers clenched tight around the sword. The world spun, reality settling like dust after a storm. But the memory remained.

He had seen himself—not as he was now, but as a king. A ruler betrayed. A man who had lost everything.

The Herald loomed before him, its presence unchanged, waiting.

"You remember now, don't you?"

Kael exhaled slowly. "I don't know what I remember." His voice was even, but inside, something in him burned. A hunger for answers.

The Herald inclined its head. "Then let me show you the rest."

Kael's grip on his sword tightened, but Fenir's voice cut through the silence.

"Enough."

She stepped between them, silver eyes fierce. "Kael is not the man you think he is. He has his own path to walk."

Kael turned to her, something unreadable in her gaze. She was afraid—not of the Herald, but of what Kael might become.

And then—

The mate bond flared.

Kael felt it like a brand beneath his skin, a pulse of heat and connection that sent his thoughts scattering.

Fenir stiffened, feeling it too.

For the first time, Kael saw something in her fracture—not her strength, but her control.

She was trying not to feel this.

And so was he.

"You are more than a wandering swordsman," the Herald murmured. "You are the rightful king. The shadows know your name. The throne remembers."

Kael's pulse thrummed.

And somewhere in the depths of his mind, a whisper curled through the silence.

"Mate."

It was not his voice. It was something older. Something deeper.

His gaze flickered to Fenir.

And she heard it too.

Her breath hitched, her fingers curling into fists. She took a step back—not in fear, but in defiance.

Kael clenched his jaw. No. He would not let this shake him.

The kingdom. The throne. The past.

It all had to wait.

"If I am to rebuild this kingdom," Kael said at last, his voice steady, "then I will do it my way."

The Herald stilled. Then, after a long pause, it bowed.

"Then rise, Kael of Vaelthane. And take back what was stolen."

—