Chapter74: The Queen of All Time

*Maerilee* It’s strange how quiet the castle feels now that the war is over. No battle cries echo off the walls. No generals bark orders in the courtyards. No smoke curls from the skyline. There’s just the gentle hum of wind stirring the trees beyond the palace gates, the soft laughter of children somewhere in the gardens, and the sound of rebuilding. Altinna is healing, and so am I. The barrier stands again, stronger than before, more than magic now. It is memory, sacrifice, blood, and love. It is a promise sealed in fire and light. Sometimes, when I walk through the palace grounds, I feel it pulse faintly beneath my feet. As if it recognizes me. As if it knows that I am one of its keepers. We all are. River, Brook, Akin, Permiton, and I. They aren’t just my Four. They are my home. It’s been three months since Eirlwyn fell beneath my mother’s judgment, since Diereken was consumed by the magic he thought he could bend… three months since we bound our souls in light and carved our futur