Chapter 48 Echoes Of The Mirror

• The moon hung pale and thin over the Northern palace, its light spilling across the stone floors like a silver veil. In the royal chambers, Lucia sat at the edge of the bed, the crown she had worn earlier resting on the table nearby. Her fingers brushed absently over the pendant of Altheon, feeling the faint hum of power deep in her chest.
• Her reflection in the window stared back—part sovereign, part warrior, and yet still the young woman who once ran wild in the woods, hunted by enemies who barely knew her name. Now she carried not only her own life, but the weight of an entire kingdom’s hopes.
• The door creaked softly. Kelvin stepped in, his cloak draped carelessly over one arm, his hair damp from the evening’s rain. “You’re awake,” he said quietly. His tone wasn’t a question—it was recognition. He knew her rhythms as well as his own heartbeat.