The Heir 's Dominion

The city was quiet, but quiet had a way of whispering lies. I

knew better now. I had felt the Awakening Roar ripple through

the hidden veins of the world, and the aftershocks were still

echoing. Old alignments trembled. Shadows moved in corners

I couldn't see. And somewhere, far below the polished streets

and neon lights, the Shadow Court was regrouping, their teeth

sharpened in the dark.

I walked through the streets like I owned the air. People glanced

up at the skyline and felt it - even if they didn't know what "it"

was. It wasn't my crown they noticed. It was the pulse beneath

it. The hum of authority that had begun to resonate in bone and

memory. I pressed my palm to the pendant at my chest, feeling

its warmth seep into me like a heartbeat. It was a small comfort

against the tremor that ran beneath the city itself.

At the rooftop rendezvous, Seraphiel waited. Wings tucked,

eyes reflecting the early dawn, he looked like he had stepped

out of myth.