جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Chapter 1The bells of Veyra Village had never rung twelve times.Not in living memory.There were eleven bells in the old chapel tower, each one made from dark iron and marked with the crest of the kingdom. The villagers knew their sounds as well as they knew the seasons.One bell for morning.Two for prayer.Three for a funeral.Five for danger.And eleven for the beginning of winter.But on the morning of Lyra Veyne's eighteenth birthday, the bells rang twelve times.The first bell sounded before sunrise.Dong.Lyra opened her eyes.For several seconds, she lay completely still beneath her thin blanket, staring at the wooden ceiling of her small bedroom.Dong.The second bell echoed through the village.Lyra frowned.Outside her window, the sky was still dark blue, the first light of dawn barely visible beyond the mountains.Dong.Third.She sat up.Something felt wrong.The room was cold.Not the ordinary morning cold she was accustomed to, but a strange chill that seemed to come

CHAPTER 3The road to Veyrith was colder than Lyra remembered.She had never traveled beyond the mountains surrounding Veyra Village. To her, the world had always been a collection of familiar things: her father's small house, the chapel bell, the market square, the forest beyond the fields.Now everything looked different.The trees seemed taller.The mountains seemed darker.Even the moon appeared strangely close.Lyra rode in the middle of four horses, surrounded by the four men who had shattered everything she thought she knew about herself.Caelan rode ahead.Riven stayed behind.Lucien traveled on her left.Darian was nowhere to be seen.At least, not visibly.Lyra knew better now.He was somewhere nearby.Watching.Waiting.She pulled her cloak tighter around herself.“Where are we going?”Caelan didn't turn around.“Veyrith.”“You said that already.”“Then you already know.”Lyra frowned.“I don't like you.”“I know.”“I don't trust you.”“I know.”“And you're still taking me

Chapter 5The voice disappeared.But Lyra could still feel it inside her.Come home, little queen.She stood frozen on the balcony, staring at the broken-heart symbol floating above Veyrith Castle.The mark pulsed once.Then vanished.Caelan immediately stepped in front of her.“Stay behind me.”Lyra almost laughed.“That's becoming your favorite sentence.”“Because you never listen.”“Maybe because you keep ordering me around.”Before Caelan could respond, Darian appeared beside them.His expression was colder than usual.“Everyone inside.”Riven frowned.“Why?”“Because the castle isn't safe anymore.”Lucien looked toward the darkened sky.“Did you feel it?”Darian nodded.“The Hollow Realm.”The name made Caelan's face tighten.Lyra noticed.“What is the Hollow Realm?”Darian looked at her.“A place where magic goes when it has nowhere else to exist.”“That makes no sense.”“It doesn't have to.”He stepped closer.“The Hollow Realm exists between life and death.”Lyra stared at him

Chapter 7 The next morning, Veyrith Castle was strangely quiet.Lyra woke before dawn with the memory of Lucien’s words still haunting her.I have lived for centuries, Lyra. Somehow, you remain the only thing I cannot forget.She sat beside the tall window, watching the first gray light crawl across the mountains.Four men.Four heartstones.Four lives connected to hers.And somewhere beneath the castle, an ancient king was waiting for her.Lyra touched the silver crescent above her heart.It pulsed beneath her fingertips.She hated feeling like someone else's prophecy.She hated knowing that everyone around her seemed to understand her destiny except her.Most of all, she hated the way the four men looked at her.As if she were something precious.Something dangerous.Something they had already lost once.A knock interrupted her thoughts.Before she could answer, the door opened.Riven stood outside.He wore black armor over a dark red tunic, his long sword secured at his side. His

Chapter 9Caelan did not wake.For three days, he remained in the Heart Chamber beneath Veyrith Castle.The healers had tried everything.Potions.Ancient spells.Sacred herbs.Even forbidden magic.Nothing worked.The black veins continued spreading across his chest, slowly crawling toward his heartstone.Lyra refused to leave his side.She sat beside his bed, holding his hand while the chamber remained illuminated by the enormous crystal heart above them.It was strange.Every time she touched Caelan, the black veins stopped moving.But the moment she released him, they returned.Darian stood near the doorway.Riven paced across the chamber.Lucien sat against one of the ancient pillars, unusually silent.Finally, Riven stopped.“How long?”Darian looked at him.“Three days.”“And the healers?”“Nothing.”Riven's jaw tightened.“Then we find another way.”Lucien slowly looked toward Lyra.“There may be one.”She turned.“What?”Lucien's eyes moved toward the giant heart hanging abov