The Boy in the Black Room
The Queen
Deep beneath the Hollow Throne, in a chamber sealed with iron and prayer, a boy slept in chains made of living bone. The room had no door—only blood keys, wielded by the Queen alone.
She entered with no guards.
She did not need them.
The boy lay curled on the floor, skin pale as snow, veins inked with runes older than names. His eyes fluttered open—not with fear, but recognition.
"Mother," he said.
The Queen knelt beside him. Her fingers grazed the collar around his throat.
"No, child," she whispered. "Not your mother. Not anymore."
He blinked. "Then… what am I?"
She smiled.
"You are Selene's undoing."
---
Selene – After the Reunion
The fire between her and Liora still burned—soft, quiet, no longer a blaze of grief but a warmth Selene feared to name. They exited the chapel as Kael approached, sword sheathed but eyes wary.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
Selene nodded. "She remembers."
Liora added, "And I forgive."
Kael turned, just as the earth beneath them shook.
A pulse of blood magic rippled outward.
Selene spun toward the throne's core.
"That's her," she whispered. "That's the Queen."
Kael cursed. "Then we're running out of time."
"No," Selene said, stepping forward.
"We're right on time."
---
The Boy
He walked barefoot across stone, unbothered by ash or blood. The collar glowed now, feeding him whispers. Visions.
He saw Selene laughing.
He saw Selene screaming.
He saw himself, a child cradled in her arms in a memory she no longer knew.
"Who am I?" he asked the Queen one last time.
"You," she said, "are the child she would have died to protect. The one I carved from her future and buried in her past."
His breath hitched.
"You are hers. But you belong to me."
---
Kael – Near the Throne Core
Their scouts found the tunnel beneath the citadel. A hidden descent carved in secret—unknown to even the Queen's loyal dogs.
Kael moved first.
What he found stopped him cold.
A wall of mirrors—each one replaying a moment from Selene's life.
But none more horrifying than the last.
In the center: Selene, younger, smiling with someone in her arms.
A boy.
Eyes like hers. Marked.
He turned.
"Selene…" he called, voice trembling. "You need to see this."
---
Selene
She stepped into the room of mirrors—and her knees buckled.
She remembered nothing.
And yet… she felt everything.
"My son," she whispered, the word tasting foreign.
Beside her, Liora gasped.
"Valeria… you were pregnant before the fall."
The air snapped with frost.
The Queen's voice echoed across the room.
"Yes. And I took him from you."
---
Final Scene – The Boy Emerges
He stepped through the final gate.
The court froze.
His power was ancient, pure, and twisted into the shape of grief.
Selene looked up.
And he looked back at her—no hatred.
Just confusion.
"Are you… my mother?"
And Selene broke.
Because she didn't know if she was allowed to say yes.