The map was burned into the scroll's backside — visible only when moonlight touched it.
Aelira stared as the ink shimmered, revealing a path that twisted through what the old texts called The Lamenting Hollow — a forest so ancient even the stars gave it distance.
"They say it feeds on memory," Riven muttered. "Steals pieces of you the longer you stay inside."
"And it only opens to blood of the Starborn line," Ashar added grimly. "Which means…"
Kaelen looked at Aelira. "Only you can lead us in."
She nodded, lips tight. "Then let's hope I'm not the one it wants most."
The Hollow greeted them like a breath held too long — silent, damp, and wrapped in layers of mist that slithered around their ankles like curious ghosts.
The moment Aelira stepped past the first tree, the forest pulsed.
Alive.
Watching.
The fog thickened behind them, sealing the way back.
"There is no turning around now," she whispered.
They moved carefully.
Every tree whispered. Every shadow seemed to shift.
As they walked, Aelira began to see things — flickers of moments that didn't belong to the present.
A girl sobbing over a dead phoenix.A crown melting in fire.A kiss given in the dark, stolen before a war.
"It's pulling from your mind," Kaelen said softly, reaching for her hand. "Trying to unravel who you are."
"Or reminding me who I was," she whispered.
Then the forest spoke.
Not aloud.
But into her.
"You left him behind, my queen.""He still waits.""Would you remember his name if he whispered it now?"
She gasped, eyes glowing with a flicker of gold.
Kaelen held her tighter. "What do you see?"
Her voice cracked.
"The man I loved before I loved you."
They reached a clearing — silent, circular, and impossibly still. In its center sat a monolith of obsidian stone carved with the mark of Seraiya's forgotten consort:
The Mirror King.
Riven hissed under his breath. "I thought he was a myth."
"No," Aelira said, stepping forward. "He was real."
Her palm touched the stone.
Pain slammed into her like lightning.
Flash.
A palace of glass.A man with storm-gray eyes.A vow whispered under a blood eclipse.
"If you fall, I'll fall with you.""If you forget me, I'll become your reminder."
Aelira dropped to her knees, trembling.
Kaelen caught her before she hit the ground. "What did it show you?"
She looked up at him, breathless.
"A marriage I never remembered making."
Far above the Hollow, lightning streaked the sky in violet arcs.
The Mirror King opened his eyes, a low rumble in his chest.
"She's coming," he whispered. "And she doesn't even know what she's bringing with her."