Time flowed like silk over thorns.
Queen Lily, now in her final month of pregnancy, remained in Raelynn's castle under the pretense of care and bonding. But Raelynn's once-gentle smiles were becoming more calculating, her eyes sharper—watching Lily's every move.
Lily couldn't sleep.
Not from the child kicking within her, but from the coldness creeping through the stone halls of the old palace. Whispers trailed the corridors. Servants bowed to Raelynn with too much fear in their eyes.
And one night… Lily overheard something.
Behind the velvet curtain near the council room, two voices spoke.
"She doesn't suspect a thing," Raelynn's voice echoed. "Once the child is born, make sure it's taken before she wakes."
"But, Your Majesty—"
"I will raise the child as mine. The people will follow me, not her. Lily is too soft."
Lily's heart stopped. She gasped—just loud enough.
The curtain flew open. A guard caught sight of her.
She ran.
With trembling hands and tears burning her eyes, she wrote one letter—to Kaelion—and hid it under her jewelry box. Then she slipped into the night, cloaked in darkness, running from the palace she once trusted.
But fate was cruel.
Raelynn had already planned for betrayal.
As Lily reached the secret passage near the garden wall, she was surrounded. Guards grabbed her, dragging her back.
"You should've stayed quiet," Raelynn said, coldly. "Now, you've given me no choice."
---
The next morning, the castle awoke to news: Queen Lily had vanished.
Kaelion was informed she died during childbirth… but there was no body.
And the child? A princess, born healthy and strong. The people rejoiced—believing she was Raelynn's.
Only Lily knew the truth.
And only the forests of her childhood would shelter her now.