Seraphira woke with a jolt.
For a mont she didn’t know where she was, her vision sward and all she could register was the suffocating heaviness in her limbs like her body had been stuffed with wet sand.
When her sight finally cleared, she found herself beneath the Tree of Life again.
The sacred roots glowed around her, and when the healer commanded it, it slowly withdrew from her skin.
Zuru, the healer, was not the only one around, both Lilarin and Rhara hovered around her with faces tight with worry.
"Your Majesty," Zuru whispered, her voice filled with relief as she supported Seraphira upright.
Seraphira tried to rise, but she was weak, hence Zuru supported her, guiding her toward the small resting bed that had been set up beside the enormous trunk.
But she refused imdiately.
"No," Seraphira rasped, brushing Zuru’s hand away. "Do not coddle . Tell what happened." Her eyes narrowed. "Don’t tell that bastard Baron drained my power again."
Imdiately, she caught the look between Lila and Rhara. That shared glance told her sothing was up and it didn’t look good.
So she commanded. "Tell what is going on, now."
Zuru’s throat bobbed. The healer looked as if she desperately wished soone else would speak first. When no one did, she forced her eyes up.
"I’m sorry, Your Majesty but your fainting this ti has nothing to do with Baron." She hesitated. "Well, not exactly."
Seraphira stilled.
A coldness crawled up her spine. If this wasn’t Baron’s doing, then it ant sothing far worse.
She shifted on the bed, her tone clipped and clear. "Zuru. Speak plainly."
The healer inhaled deeply, bracing herself.
"It is Thal’voryn Shai, Your Majesty."
The words struck her like a slap.
"What?" Seraphira blanched. "No. No way." She shook her head, disbelief carving through her. "That’s not possible."
But it was.
Thal’voryn Shai—in the human tongue, bones that fade, bones that thin—was a rare but terrifying disease. Only one in a hundred Fae ever suffered it. It crept silently through the body when a Fae’s magic grew too strong for its vessel. When the balance between flesh and power fractured, the magic began devouring from within. First the bones thinned, and finally, the body failed altogether.
It was a slow, magical decay. The death no Fae wished to face.
Seraphira exhaled shakily. "Why is this happening? My bloodline is powerful. We have never—" She broke off, icy dread curling in her chest. "...never struggled to contain our magic."
Zuru wringed her hands as she explained. "I, too, could not believe it at first. But after reading your magic and cross-examining the fluctuations in your power, I ford a hypothesis.
"Your Majesty, the power you hold is imnse, but you share a life force with Baron. When he siphoned your magic so violently the last ti, it disrupted the natural balance within your body. The magic you gathered afterward did not realign properly. Your body has been under strain ever since." Zuru swallowed hard. "And now it has accelerated the condition."
A heavy, choking, rciless silence upon them.
Seraphira stared at nothing, feeling the world tilt. Thal’voryn Shai wasn’t just an injury, it was a death sentence.
Lilarin stepped quickly into the silence. "What about the Tree of Life? Shouldn’t it heal her? That’s how it work, isn’t it?"
Zuru’s shoulders sagged. "The Tree can keep her alive for a while but once her body wears down..." She hesitated. "...Your Majesty will die."
It was as if soone ripped the ground out from under Seraphira.
Just when she had finally reunited with Violet and things were finally falling into place, the gods decided to punish her with this?
Rhara swallowed. "How long does Her Majesty have?"
Zuru answered reluctantly, as though the words seared her own tongue. "A full lunar year if Her Majesty does not use her powers." She glanced at Seraphira apologetically. "But if you continue using your magic, I’d say half of that. Perhaps less."
Zuru continued, "The dizziness was only the first sign. Soon, you may experience extre fatigue, tremors, vomiting, difficulty channeling, and eventually loss of control over your own magic."
Lilarin and Rhara looked sick while Zuru looked heartbroken as if she could already witness the Queen’s death.
But Seraphira felt nothing, just a numb, hollow ringing in her ears. To be honest, this all felt like a joke to her.
Lilarin was the first to recover her voice. Her expression hardened, the soft concern in her eyes replaced by a cold razor-edge of calculation.
"This cannot get out," she said, "If word spreads, it will cause panic through the Free Fae and the goddess knows Baron will seize your weakness to gain more footing. We must control this."
"How many people know I was brought here?" Seraphira asked.
Rhara answered. "Two, Your Majesty. One of the guards posted at your door when you collapsed and BeastLord Taryn. They assisted in the transfer."
Lilarin’s jaw tightened. "Taryn is loyal. One of your most trusted. He won’t utter a word even under pain." Her eyes darkened. "But the others? They cannot be trusted."
She turned to Rhara, her voice turning icy. "Their mories must be erased tonight. If any resist, kill them."
Even Zuru flinched.
Seraphira swallowed thickly. The thought of killing her own people—even to protect them—made her chest ache. But Lilarin wasn’t wrong. If this truth reached the court, chaos would follow. Baron would rise like a vulture.
There was no choice.
Zuru composed herself and reminded her. "Your Majesty, you must not use your powers anymore. Your life depends on it. Tonight you rest. Tomorrow, I will begin treatnts in secret."
But Seraphira shook her head instantly.
"That cannot happen."
Lilarin was stunned. "What do you an it cannot happen?"
"I promised to train my daughter."
"Your Majesty—" Zuru started.
"No more magic," Rhara cut in. "Your body cannot afford—"
"I have failed Violet," Seraphira said, her voice breaking for the first ti. "I abandoned her as a baby and spent years hoping fate would correct my mistakes. If training her is the last thing I can do before I die, then so be it. I will not fail her again."
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