The Solis palace was already shining under the morning sun.

  From a distance, it looked untouchable. Its white towers rose into the sky, its golden domes threw light across all of Aurelis, and its walls looked too perfect to belong to the same world as ordinary people.

  But I had grown up inside those walls.

  And I already knew that just because a place was beautiful did not mean it was safe.

  My wooden sword cut through the air.

  Then a second time.

  Then a third.

  I started the sequence again without stopping. My feet slid slightly over the stone still damp with dew. Dawn had barely risen, and the small courtyard of the palace was almost empty.

  Almost.

  In the palace, the children of the great houses learned two things very early.

  The first was the body. Balance. Breath. Footwork. Strikes. Repetition.

  The second was the core. Staying still. Breathing the right way. Feeling the power in your chest. Learning how to guide it.

  Kian was already training in both.

  I was not.

  No one had ever clearly forbidden it. Officially, I was still young. In truth, everyone seemed more at ease as long as I kept a wooden sword in my hands instead of learning the core like the others.

  I understood the difference well enough.

  The body was simple. Muscles obeyed. A bad strike split your hand open, and that was all.

  The core was different. Not for me.

  "You're still here?"

  I did not stop.

  My next strike came out faster.

  Slow footsteps came down the stairs behind me.

  Kian stepped into the courtyard with the calm confidence of someone who had never doubted his place. Even at this hour, his clothes were perfect. Not a single hair out of place. Not a sign of sleep on his face.

  Everything about him said the same thing:

  heir.

  Kian was my older brother.

  And he had never needed to fight to be seen.

  Unlike me, my palms were already red from repeating the same movements since dawn.

  Kian stopped a few steps away.

  I felt his gaze move over my wooden sword, then my hands, then my face.

  "You wake up before everyone else for this?"

  I kept moving.

  "You speak too early."

  He let out a small laugh.

  "And you don't speak enough."

  Silence settled between us again.

  In the distance, the palace was slowly waking. Servants moved beneath the galleries. A bell rang somewhere deeper in the palace. The sky above the white walls was growing brighter.

  I took my stance again.

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  Kian crossed his arms.

  "You can do this every morning if it amuses you. It won't change anything."

  I said nothing.

  "Do you think Father will ever look at you the way he looks at the others?"

  My sword stopped.

  Not for long.

  Just long enough.

  I turned my head slightly.

  "I don't need him to look at me."

  The lie came out too quickly.

  Kian noticed at once.

  "Of course."

  He took a step closer.

  "You can live here. You can carry our name. You can eat at our table."

  His voice dropped.

  "But deep down, everyone knows what you are."

  I looked at him properly at last.

  He held my gaze without any trouble.

  "A mistake."

  No one had ever said it to me that directly. No one had needed to.

  The sound of lighter footsteps crossed the courtyard.

  Kian turned slightly toward the entrance.

  "Vael!"

  Eira came running between the columns.

  My little sister still had her hair half-tied. One sleeve of her dress had nearly slipped off her shoulder. She was holding a wrinkled strip of white cloth in both hands, as if she had grabbed it on the way here.

  She stopped in front of me and frowned at once.

  "Your hands again."

  I looked down.

  My right palm was split in two places. Nothing deep. Just enough to sting.

  "It's nothing," I said.

  Eira ignored me completely.

  She took my hand and started wrapping the cloth around my palm in the most awkward way possible.

  Kian watched the whole thing in silence.

  "You spoil him too much."

  Eira lifted her head immediately.

  "And you talk too much."

  For one second, nobody said anything.

  Then I felt something like a smile trying to appear.

  Almost.

  Kian saw it.

  "You should be more careful with the things that matter to you," he said. "The world doesn't leave them alone for long."

  Then he turned away and went back up the steps without hurrying.

  I waited until he was far enough away before looking at the badly wrapped bandage around my hand.

  "I don't like him," Eira muttered.

  "Neither do I."

  She lifted her head, satisfied.

  "See? I was right."

  I let out a soft breath through my nose. It wasn't really a laugh, but it was close.

  Then Eira took a step back to admire the bandage she had just made.

  It was crooked. Wrapped too tight in one place and too loose in another. Honestly terrible.

  "Perfect," she declared.

  I looked down at my hand.

  "It's ugly."

  Eira shrugged.

  "Maybe. But at least you're not bleeding anymore."

  Before I could answer, another presence entered the courtyard.

  No sound was needed. No announcement either.

  Mother was already walking toward us.

  Her pale robe brushed the stone. Her face was calm, too calm to show anything. But her eyes missed nothing.

  They passed over me.

  Then my bandaged hand.

  Then Eira.

  "You're awake too early," she said.

  Eira straightened at once.

  "I wanted to help."

  "And did you?"

  Eira thought for a second.

  "A little."

  Mother held out her hand.

  Eira understood at once and moved to stand beside her, almost against her robe.

  Then Mother looked at me.

  "Show me."

  I held out my hand without arguing.

  She gently removed the cloth, looked at the small cuts, then took a small vial from her sleeve. White warmth moved over my skin.

  The pain faded almost at once. The cuts were already starting to close.

  I stayed quiet.

  She put the vial away.

  "You train too early."

  "It's the only quiet hour."

  "That isn't an answer."

  I lowered my eyes a little.

  Every time I stood in front of her, I had that same strange feeling: she saw more clearly into me than anyone else.

  She studied me for a few seconds.

  "You want to become stronger."

  It was not a question.

  I answered anyway.

  "Yes."

  "Why?"

  This time, I took longer.

  Morning light kept sliding along the white columns. It spread over the stone still damp from the night.

  I looked at my hand.

  Then I said, more quietly,

  "So that one day, he'll look at me."

  Eira raised her head at once.

  Mother did not move.

  As if she had always known that answer would come out eventually.

  "Your father looks more than he shows," she said.

  I did not answer.

  Because I half believed it.

  And because the other half hurt even more.

  Then Mother placed her hand on my head.

  The gesture was brief.

  But real.

  "Never let the absence of someone's gaze decide your worth."

  I slowly raised my eyes to hers.

  For one second, something tightened in my chest.

  Not the Black Heart.

  Something else.

  Something simple.

  Something human.

  Then a bell rang in the distance.

  It was time for lessons.

  Eira jumped.

  "I forgot."

  "Of course you did," Mother said.

  Eira grabbed my free hand at once.

  "Come with me."

  "You'll only slow me down."

  "Then slow down with elegance."

  This time, I really did let a small smile show.

  Very slight.

  Almost invisible.

  We crossed the courtyard together, Eira already tugging at my sleeve as if the whole palace belonged to her.

  When we passed beneath the southern arch, I looked up.

  A figure stood motionless on a gallery filled with morning light.

  Aurek.

  The king had one hand resting on the white railing. His gaze was turned toward the courtyard.

  Toward us.

  Toward me.

  I stopped.

  Eira kept pulling at my sleeve without understanding.

  Aurek's gaze lasted only a second. Maybe two.

  Then he turned away.

  Without a word.

  Without a gesture.

  Without leaving anything behind except the emptiness I had already gotten used to.

  Eira blinked.

  "He saw you."

  I kept my eyes on the now-empty gallery for another moment.

  Then I started walking again.

  "Yes," I said at last.

  My voice was calm.

  Too calm.

  And without knowing why, I felt that something had already changed. Not completely yet. Not clearly yet. But enough to make this day feel different from the others.