ROYAL BLOOD
The path she took went deeper into the woods, where the trees grew thick and old, their gnarled roots twisting across the ground like coiled serpents.
The night air was colder here, the silence broken only by the low croak of frogs and the faint rustle of unseen creatures.
She clutched her shawl tighter as she walked, her eyes darting around every few steps. The moonlight guided her through the narrow trail until, at last, the trees parted—and there it was.
The Black Waters.
It wasn't truly black, not in the way the stories said.
By moonlight, it shimmered dark silver, calm and almost beautiful. But beneath that calm surface, the water ran deep and dangerous, its bottom lost to time and silt