The wind shifted first in the east.
In the high towers of Zephyra, the air carried a silence that even the birds refused to break. King Cassel Olarith Zephyrion, cloaked in his sea-gray robes, stood at the edge of his sky-bridge, eyes closed.
"The wind holds her name," he murmured.
Beside him, his young daughter—Lilith Sylwen—twirled with a ribbon caught in the breeze. She stopped suddenly.
"The Vale is breathing," she said. "But it's hiding something."
Cassel opened his eyes.
"A whisper of change," he replied. "Tell your mother to ready the envoys."
---
Far south, beneath the tide-cradled walls of Indoria, Duke Caelan Myrr faced his temple seers. The water in the Oracle Pool churned despite the still air.
"The Empress is gone," one priest said.
"No," the duke answered. "She has been... displaced."
The tides had risen early. Fish had turned toward deeper waters. The moon had not graced the harbor in two nights.
"Ready the tidebound scroll," Caelan ordered. "The Concordia must meet."
---
In the ashstone citadel of Pyrian, the fires had flared on their own. Duke Alric Ignarion Valeria stood beside the Great Forge, silent as sparks danced in his beard.
"Let the rest of them chase ghosts," he grunted.
"And if it is prophecy?" one of his men asked.
Alric didn't answer. Instead, he turned to the forge and lifted the unfinished hilt he had been crafting. The metal hissed.
"Prepare our banner anyway. The Emberwatch rides."
---
In the crystalline sanctum of Lucerion, Saintess Liceriana Celeste Lucerion knelt in deep prayer.
She had already seen the signs: the light bending near the sacred flame, the hymn of Luceria altering its tone.
The Empress's name had not been spoken in days.
And yet, Liceriana felt her presence... fading.
"Light be my guide," she whispered. "If the world forgets her, let me remember."
She rose, calm but resolute, and turned to the Holy Emperor.
"Father," she said. "It is time."
---
In Aetheria, Emperor Edmund stood at the edge of the map chamber.
Before him, five thrones remained untouched. The empty chair at the center gleamed faintly in the cold sun.
"Send the summons," he told Sir Kairon.
"To all five houses?"
"Yes. In silence. And in haste."
---
The Quinta Concordia had not gathered in years. But now, as shadow moved beneath the soil and wind carried rumors of a child hidden from fate, the thrones would stir again.
---