Night had already begun to descend over the Kingdom of Ivanova by the time Princess Ariana returned to her chambers.
The Royal Library faded behind her like a distant memory, its towering shelves and dust-laden scrolls dissolving into the quiet corridors of the palace.
Torches flickered along the marble walls, their flames dancing softly as servants moved through the halls preparing for the evening meal.
Ariana walked beside her maid Serena, though her thoughts remained far away.
The scroll.
The prophecy.
It lingered in her mind like an echo she could not silence.
She had not understood all the words.
The ink had been faded, the language older than many of the books in the library, but one line had settled deep inside her thoughts.
A royal child with hair like fire and eyes like the sea will determine the rise and the fall of kingdoms.
Ariana touched the back of her neck where the Dragon's Mark of Fire unconsciously.
Serena noticed.
