CHAPTER 24
The Garden of What Was Lost
The palace garden of Valtherion was always quiet in the late afternoon.
Not because there were no guards. Not because there were no servants.
But because this place… was too full of memories.
The evening sky reflected a soft golden light over the still stone pond. A gentle breeze swayed the rows of white flowers growing along the garden paths.
Keira hadn't actually intended to come here.
She had simply been walking aimlessly after leaving the palace library. The corridors of the palace were too vast, filled with too many doors and too much history she did not know.
Daniel was speaking with Lucien in the council chamber.
Cassian was still in Evermont.
For the first time, Keira walked alone, and her steps brought her to the garden doors.
The moment the wooden doors opened, the evening breeze brushed against her face.
And something in her chest felt… strange.
Keira stepped outside.
The garden was far larger than she had imagined. White stone paths divided fields of neatly arranged flowers. Old trees shaded parts of the walkway.
She walked slowly.
Then stopped.
Someone was already there.
In the center of the garden, near the stone pond, stood a man.
King Alaric Valtherion.
He had not noticed Keira's presence.
Alaric stood quietly with one hand behind his back. His gaze was not directed toward the palace, nor the sky. Instead, he was looking at the flowers growing along the pond.
Small white flowers with delicate petals.
Keira recognized them somehow.
She did not even know their name, yet her chest felt tight just looking at them.
Alaric slowly crouched down in front of the flowers.
His movements were careful, as if touching something fragile. He brushed one of the petals with the tip of his finger.
His gaze changed.
Not the gaze of a king.
But the gaze of someone looking at the past.
The evening wind moved gently.
Several petals broke loose and drifted onto the surface of the pond.
And for the first time since Keira had known him…
Alaric looked truly… tired.
Not tired from ruling a kingdom.
Not tired from war.
But tired from losing something he could never bring back.
He spoke softly.
Not to anyone.
"The day you forced the gardeners to plant these all over the garden."
Alaric's voice was almost a whisper.
Keira did not move.
She didn't know why… but she didn't want to interrupt the moment.
Alaric plucked one small flower.
He held it in his palm.
"You said these flowers looked like little stars."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
But the smile never reached his eyes.
"I said they were too simple for a royal garden."
The wind stirred again.
Alaric looked at the flower for a long time.
"And you were angry for two days."
There was something in his voice now.
Not humor.
Not nostalgia.
Regret.
He slowly closed his hand around the flower.
"Now the entire garden is filled with them."
Silence fell again.
Alaric slowly stood.
His gaze remained on the garden.
"I never liked them."
He paused.
His voice grew softer.
"But you always did."
Keira felt something stir in her chest.
Strange.
As if memories that did not belong to her were trying to surface.
Little stars.
White flowers.
The laughter of a girl.
She shook her head lightly.
No.
That wasn't her.
Those memories belonged to Aelirra.
The wind moved again.
And finally—
Alaric realized he was not alone.
He turned.
Their eyes met.
Keira stood at the end of the garden path.
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
Alaric's eyes widened slightly.
As if he had just been caught doing something no one else was supposed to see.
Keira looked at the flowers around them.
Then back at him.
"The flowers are beautiful."
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Alaric did not answer immediately.
He simply watched her.
For a long moment.
Then he finally said quietly,
"You used to like them."
Keira did not smile.
"Aelirra liked them."
She emphasized the name clearly.
"I only see flowers."
Silence fell again.
But this time it was different.
Alaric did not look hurt.
He only lowered his head slightly.
"Right."
One word.
No defense.
No explanation.
Just acceptance.
Keira stepped a little closer.
She stopped beside the flowers.
Their petals were small.
White.
Simple.
She touched one of them.
And for a fraction of a second a flash appeared in her mind.
A nineteen-year-old girl,laughing in this garden, her hands full of flowers.
Her voice bright. "Look, Alaric! Don't they look like little stars?"
Keira pulled her hand back quickly.
The flash disappeared. She looked at the flower again.
Then said softly, "If Aelirra liked them… maybe she had a reason."
Alaric did not answer.
But his gaze never left her.
Keira stood.
The evening breeze moved her hair slightly.
"Flowers that look like stars," she said lightly.
She shrugged.
"Not a bad concept."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
But that smile did not belong to Aelirra.
It belonged to Keira.
"I might end up liking them too."
Silence fell once more.
But this time for the first time since Keira came to this world something appeared in Alaric's eyes that had never been there before.
Not nostalgia.
Not regret.
Hope.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But it was there.