The night air was heavier than usual.
Jayden sat by the fire again, eyes flicking to the tree line. The woods were quieter, yet somehow... watching. She didn't say anything to Azrael, but the ghosts had started doing strange things.
They no longer whispered nonsense or wept. Now, they bowed. Murmured things like "your highness," or "forgive us."
At first, she thought she was dreaming—but then the fifth ghost in two days did the same thing.
She stirred the embers in silence.
"You're restless," Azrael said without looking at her.
She blinked. "You always know?"
"I can feel it."
She opened her mouth, about to say more—but something flickered beyond the trees. Not danger. Something... else. Familiar. Almost like it was calling her.
She stood. "I think... I need to walk."
Azrael stood without a word and followed.
They walked for a long time without speaking, and the trees around them began to shift. Darkened bark, curling roots, silver mist rising from the ground like breath.
Jayden stopped. Her gaze lifted to a cracked stone arch overrun with vines and old symbols she didn't recognize—but her chest ached looking at them. Beyond it, broken statues of gods and shattered stone surrounded a forgotten temple swallowed by time.
"What is this place?" she whispered.
Azrael's jaw tensed. "A cursed ground. Forgotten even by the dead."
She stepped through the arch. A pulse went through her like blood calling to blood. She knelt near a crumbling fountain and touched the water—and the reflection shimmered.
A figure appeared behind her. She turned quickly—but only Azrael stood at the entrance, arms folded, eyes narrowed.
"I saw someone."
"Ghost?" he asked.
"I—maybe. But it felt... different."
Then she heard the voice.
"Princess."
Jayden spun again. A ghost stood before her. Male. Tall. In tattered robes that looked almost ceremonial.
Azrael moved forward, but the ghost raised a hand—and Azrael stopped mid-step, eyes narrowing.
"He won't speak to me," Azrael said, low. "Only you."
Jayden swallowed. "Who are you?"
"I am the guardian of truth," the ghost said softly. "I watched over you in life. I watch still in death."
"I don't understand."
He didn't answer directly. Instead, he whispered, "The blood of betrayal runs deep. A crown taken from the gods will curse even the unborn. But within the cursed child lies the key. A heart wrapped in death... and the voice of the forgotten."
Jayden's breath caught. "What does that mean?"
The ghost's body flickered. "When the past wakes, so too will the temple... And the kingdom will remember what it tried to erase."
Then he vanished.
Jayden staggered back into Azrael's chest, her whole body trembling.
Azrael caught her, steadying her. "Who was he?"
"I don't know... but he said I was cursed because of a crown. And something about an unborn child."
His golden eyes narrowed. "You said others have been calling you princess."
Jayden nodded slowly.
Azrael's gaze darkened. "There's more to you than even you know."
Jayden looked up at him, her voice barely a whisper. "You think I'm from Lumeria."
Azrael didn't answer. He just pulled her closer, his voice quiet but fierce. "Whoever you were... whoever they made you be... none of that changes one thing."
"What?"
"You belong to me now."
And in that moment, even the ghosts dared not speak.