wooden beams above and making the small chamber feel both sacred and suffocating. Sapphire sat cross-legged on the woven mat, facing Mama Imani,

he centuries of wisdom she carried. Her fingers moved slowly across her cheeks, tracing the creases and folds as if

tector and perhaps a warden. He had insisted on accompanying Sapphire, though she couldn't tell whether it was

hat rustled through the smoky air like dry le

. "I have no power," she repli

," she said, leaning forward. "Your mark is not just a symbol of kingship. It is a gift

" Sapphire blink

love... they will either shape your strength or shatter you.

he lamplight. She had always tried to ignore it, to act as if it meant nothing. Yet, wheneve

led. "What if I

e vanishing. "Then, as foretold in the old pr

spine, and the shadows on th

-

alace

ould understand just how true

omething. Sapphire couldn't sleep. Her thoughts were turbulent, swirling with everything Mama Imani had said. S

ie

he ground trembled. A violent explosion from above sent clouds of dust cascading down

e was und

hadn't gotten far when a group of masked warriors stormed into the hallway. They wore dark armor

d turned

e torchlight. Sapphire froze, but before the blade could re

ce K

s blade cutting through armor like it was cloth. Blood

he sh

nother assassin rushed in from the side and slashed Kieran across

apphire

gan to spiral. Fear surged, followed by anger, then

k began

ickled with a heat that spread like wildfire, igniting something ancient and t

it hap

masked warriors with a force beyond anything she had ever known. The fire writhed and twisted like a living

ell in cinders. The hallway-once a corridor

ion, trembling, her breath shallow and rapid. Her hand

ar. He clutched his side, the band

red, as if her name i

im, eyes wide, voic

-

r of th

he entire

es. Word spread like wildfire-Sapphire had called down fire from her hands, had redu

d it to

ce. Eyes averted or, worse, stared with fear. Those who had once bow

st had she

doing so, she had revealed something ter

savior? Or

entle night wind stirred the leaves. It was there, beneath the moonlight, that

said quietly, not

d what they saw," he

ither," sh

r. His hand reached out, and his fingers gently br

ed to believe that someone coul

the truth. The power ins

didn't mast

troy everyth