Prologue

Miles from the castle, houses were being raided, set ablaze. People; both witch and faerie, regardless of age, and social status, were slaughtered. Death was as potent as the fumes of dark smoke that tainted the skies, rendering the air unfit for breathing. 

The capital city of Kaulder was in flames.

The roads leading to inhabited houses and the nature that enveloped the area, belched thick smoke and embers. Flames devoured densely clustered thatched houses, fire crawling up walls. From the east, distance from the castle's high gates, the cacophony of screams of those being barraged grew to a deafening uproar while those of who were already murdered, still echoed, the sound carried by the wind. The clamor of vicious battle and the dull impact of a battering ram crashing against walls became louder than ever.

The conflict was a circle, rapidly closing in on itself. Their goal was the queen and the castle walls that surrounded her. If the castle falls, Silverose does the same. Soldiers were being deployed by the hundreds into the crux of battle and the palace grounds were fraught with warriors, its fortresses lined with skilled archers, their well-crafted arrows resting deftly on bow strings, ready to defend the crown. 

Yet the enemies surrounded them, tightening that circle to a suffocating choke hold. They were in their midst. 

Death glided through the air like a contagious ailment and the barricade of soldiers began dropping like flies. The streets were littered with corpses, soldiers and civilians alike, those of children gutted open. The putrid stench of fresh blood wafting around was just as repugnant as the smoke. 

Inside the castle, everyone was in a frenzy, their anxiety and trepidation oozing from them in waves. Blood would be shed, blood was already being shed and death was the thought on everyone's mind now. 

Tonight might be their last in this world.

Though they all fought to ebb it away, Nadia could still see the look of fear clouding their eyes as their gazes bobbed in her direction. The agita unleashed just from knowing that both the life you have lived and the one you wished to have would be over in mere moments, felt like looming over the fringes of madness. Regardless of whoever came out the victor of this battle, those unfortunate enough to lose their lives in the heat of conflict would be termed as nothing more than mere casualties. A tragic loss for the nation but one that would be celebrated whichever way. The dead, along with a throng of corpses would be properly laid to rest in a mass burial in the underground catacombs that ran underneath the city. Death doesn't discriminate between those who came from money and those who came from nothing, many high-status citizens have lost their lives at that point but undoubtedly only few were prestigious enough to afford a private resting place.

This might be her last day as well, Nadia thought. The palace might have been massive but she wasn't oblivious to that which took place outside the walls. She was being escorted out of one of the prayer chambers where she spent most of her time communing with their gods to whom they all paid homage. 

With the book of holy scriptures clutched to her chest, Nadia was chaperoned by her handmaiden, and accompanying both of them, were six expertly trained soldiers willing to protect her with their very lives. 

Anxiety was a dense shadow weighing down on her, suffocating her and adrenaline pumped vigorously through her body as they strode out of the west wing. Everyone they passed was visibly distressed, muttering silent prayers to Laheir, god of hell and lost souls, to grant them all passage to the afterlife.

Most of them had already accepted their fate.

Nadia could hear her pulse throbbing in her ears and a tremor of fear deep within her chest but just like everyone else at the castle, she fought hard to subdue the nauseating sense of dread. She was Nadia Astero, the spitting image of her mother, Ravera— ruler of Silverose. And in her mother's famous words: fear is a sign of weakness, a show of frailty, and being weak was the death of a man. 

Fear, alongside all other emotions, was one of the things that differentiated them from the gods they served. It was what made them all people. There stood a popular understanding that viewed the royal family and political figures as normal people with the tendency to err from time to time and tend not to perceive them as these infallible beings which eventually always led to them being placed atop a pedestal. But contrary to that strong belief, in the time of crisis, it is to the royal family that the people turn to— it is in them that the helpless put their trust, and at only twelve years old, she knew that fear and unease weren't flattering looks on a ruler.

No one wanted to be governed by the embodiment of uncertainty.

Smuggle Nadia out of the city, possibly the region; that was the plan. Protect the heiress, protect whatever future the nation had. Several hidden tunnels ran underneath the castle, most of them purposefully kept secret from virtually everyone that resided in the land including Nadia. Though there were rumors of its existence. Only the Queen was granted entrance. But this situation was different and everyone knew why.

The thought of her mother made Nadia pause. She hadn't seen the Queen since the battle cries bellowed. Anxiety turned Nadia's pulse into a battle drum in her ears, numbing her fingertips. Was her mother alright?

Nadia turned to the soldier closest to her right. " I want to see my mother one more time before we leave." She said, angry that her voice shook as she spoke.

The soldier looked at his comrades as if contemplating the best way to refuse her.

He gave a courteous bow. " My apologies, your Highness. But we have strict orders that we have to abide by." 

Goaded by the distress crooning through her, irritation rose to her throat, burning like a fiery liquid.

" I am her majesty's daughter, you will grant my request." 

His head still hung low, his gaze to the floor. " I answer only to the queen." 

It infuriated Nadia how that one sentence could be so disrespectful yet sound so patriotic all at once.

She sneered. " If anything happens to the crown, I will be your queen." That was if there was any Silverose left to rule when the time came.

Those were thoughts she wished wouldn't plague her mind, especially now that she had no means of tackling them.

Nadia let out a defeated sigh. " I just want to see my mother." Her bold veneer cracked, her unease shown as bright as her amber irises because no matter how brave she tried to seem, she was still just a child. The soldiers knew that— every one of them saw her as nothing but a child and she couldn't even blame them.

The man she had ordered straightened but was clapped on the back by another soldier. The two men communicated silently with their eyes for a fleeting second before regarding her once more.

" We only have a short moment to spare." The other man said. He was tall, clad with heavy metallic armor. His ears were pointy. He was Faerie.

He was giving her permission.

Without a second thought, Nadia scampered off to the royal court. She ran as fast as her feet would let her. She could hear the thundering footsteps of the soldiers as they trailed after her but she didn't care. As she bridged the distance, Nadia began hearing voices. One sounded frantic, while the other brimmed with power and vendetta. Dangerous.

One of the voices belonged to her mother, the other belonged to—

Nadia pushed open the doors but the sight inside halted her. 

Queen Ravera was on her knees, her face a bruised mess, blood trickling down the corner of her face. Her hands and ankles were entrammelled in shackles so tight, they broke the skin. She was bleeding from her neck as well.

Nadia wanted to scream but the shock of it all made her mute. The guards had caught up with her. They stood behind Nadia, gaping at the bloody queen and she was certain that they were just as shocked as she was. 

How did all this happen under everyone's noses? 

Nadia's mind began racing. They were here. The invaders. The invaders were inside the castle. Fear shot down her spine. 

The men drew their swords, their bodies tensed in full alert.

Before any of them could tug her aside, Nadia pushed forward, caressing her prayer beads while taking tentative steps toward her mother. Despite the approaching steps, Ravera didn't turn once, completely motionless. The closer she came, the more visible the jagged wounds on her mother's body became. Ravera was in pain, probably dying slowly. Her blood continued to pour.

Tears whirled in Nadia's eyes but stopped mere paces away from her mother when she caught a figure lurking in her peripheral vision. She turned to see it slowly coming out of the shadows. The first thing she saw was the metallic armor the person wore and the next thing Nadia noticed was the insignia engraved on the breastplate. It was Silverose's national symbol, the side profile of a white-bellied eagle. Silver hair came into view, then the rest of her. 

The soldiers went still at the sight of their prime minister, once their general a few years ago. She was Alvara, sister to the queen— the Queen whose blood slowly sopped the floor.

Alvara was unfazed by the current state of her sister, not a single ounce of worry or even sympathy. Just frigid stoicism. And as Alvara stepped out into the open, Nadia felt her heart drop and a sickening feeling swirled in her gut.

" It was you, wasn't it?" Nadia gritted her teeth in anger, tears spilling from her eyes. " You did this to my mother." 

Alvara took steps forward and Nadia stepped back.

" I would rather die than watch your kind ascend the throne of Heran. I'm simply doing the feats your dear mother was too weak to do." Alvara's tone stayed so perfectly calm that it was haunting, her expression indifferent.

" This is high treason. She is the queen." 

" She is no queen." 

Nadia scowled. " You betrayed your people." 

" My sister betrayed her people by allowing those maggots to live amongst us." Alvara's silver eyes stared at Nadia appraisingly. " She betrayed us by conceiving a child with one of them and now I will set things right." 

Panic consumed Nadia completely. She glanced at the soldiers. " Arrest her." 

With the hilt firmly clenched in a tight fist, they advanced but were swiftly met with arrows to their throats. One by one, they fell.

An expression crossed Alvara's face and it was amusement.

" How adorable,"  Alvara said. Slowly, figures began emerging from the shadows, over a dozen of them, fierce and ready to attack.

Out of the six soldiers that accompanied Nadia, only two were left alive.

Alvara was now close enough to physically grab Nadia but before she could, Ravera rose despite the pain and shoved her sister back.

Though still in excruciating agony, Ravera's eyes were burning with fury. " You will not lay hands on my daughter." 

A jolt of power crossed the room, immediately followed by sounds so haunting, they belonged in hell. The room shook. Screams of anguish, screams of lost souls. Ravera might have been powerful, but in her condition, she certainly wasn't strong enough to command the souls that she was summoning. It might end up sucking up her magic, killing her.

Alvara knew this. She wanted this.

Nadia wouldn't let it happen. She instinctively clutched the prayer beads around her neck, calling upon the gods.

It happened all too fast. A crackle of blinding light shone in their midst, a power greater than any she had ever known. Far too much for her to handle. The unstable energy set her off-kilter, making her stumble back a few steps before regaining the helm and channeling the lightning in Alvara's direction. Getting struck by lightning that powerful would kill her instantly.

But Alvara was a step ahead. Her armor and everything metal, melted instantly from her body, channeling current through that metal, and with a slight tilt to her lips, she redirected it to the queen.