First message
The princess had arrived yesterday.
My future wife.
Our marriage had been arranged before either of us could walk, and after years of letters and carefully supervised visits, she was finally staying in the palace.
I wanted to be excited.
Instead, I found myself staring at the shadow crawling across the corridor.
When I was a child, I was sick enough that my parents believed I would die. Mages were brought in to save me. They succeeded, but their magic separated something from me.
My anger. My fear. My jealousy. Everything ugly.
It became the thing beneath my feet.
I’ve spent my life being told it is dangerous.
And it had escaped again.
I stopped immediately.
“Return to the basement.”
It continued moving.
My jaw tightened.
“Now.”
The shadow stretched toward the guest wing.
My stomach turned with a strange sensation I couldn’t quite name. The mages had taken fear from me along with everything else dark inside me, yet some instinct remained.
It should not be near her.
“Go back.”
The shadow reluctantly recoiled.
I watched until it disappeared around the corner before continuing toward the guest wing.
I stopped outside her door.
For a moment, I simply stood there.
Then I raised my hand and knocked.
“Princess?”