She put the book down and yawned. As she looked slowly at the beautifully ornated clock mounted on the wall she realized that yet again another night had passed inside that study. Looking down at the black stone shining on her finger a sad chuckle escaped from her mouth. What are a few hours of sleep when so many of her people were suffering, she was fortunate enough to be born proficient in the art of shadows, and that by itself guaranteed her a place in the high society. But what about the others? What about the millions hiding from the sun, cursed to live half of their lives in the dark unable to control their own bodies, or interact with the physical world? Still, if she collapsed from exhaustion she would be of no use to anyone, allowing herself to rest was a bothersome necessity. She might possess great power, but her body was limited by her mortality.

"Oh, milady, you are still here? You have been reading all night again, haven't you?" The voice startled her, as tired as she was her guard was down. How she hated her body for limiting her in times of need.

"I suppose I have. I was preparing to leave now though, You mustn't concern yourself over my health, I promise I am not overdoing it. Is that for me?" She asked pointing at the envelope the woman was holding while subtly trying to move the subject away from herself

"Ah, this, yes it just arrived from the palace milady. I shall take my leave, but please, if possible go home and rest. I can assure you, nobody is going to blame you for needing to sleep." And with that, she quietly retreated from the room.

A letter from the palace, what could they possibly be wanting from her this time? She slowly started opening the envelope secretly hoping that whatever it was that they wanted could wait for the next day. As soon as she took the piece of paper out, her dreams shattered and a sigh escaped her. The imperial seal. That couldn't mean anything good, the Emperor didn't usually get involved in the internal affairs of the Five Kingdoms. The message simply requested her presence as soon as possible.

“There is no rest when the Kingdom calls…” she said to no one in particular, slowly rising from her seat at the wooden table.

While making her way toward the exit of the Research Sanctum she couldn’t help but wonder about the reason for her summon. What could possibly be so important that the Emperor would get involved, and why was he requesting her presence? Certainly, this matter was one regarding at least one of the other kingdoms. It wouldn’t be trade or anything trivial. Maybe someone was trying to assassinate the imperial family, but she wouldn’t be summoned for something like that, their security was tighter than any other in the Empire. The only thing that could come to mind would be something regarding the Curse, she was a scholar, one of the best, very well-versed in that particular subject, it would make sense for her to be called if that were the case. Or maybe the Emperor sought one of her other skills, although, in that particular instance, she would have to disappoint him. That part of her life had been buried a long time ago, she swore to abandon it. Either way, delving into speculative thoughts won’t help her to reach her destination in a timely manner. The more she stood the furthest she was from returning to her research.

As she descended the grand staircase into the courtyard she walked the path to her awaiting carriage. Quite the impressive vehicle, matte black and exquisitely ornate, silent yet fast end efficient, fit for someone of high status. Not her first choice of transportation, she would much rather walk, but it was a gift, and they wouldn’t let her just walk around everywhere, much to her dismay.

“Good morning milady!” the driver awaiting her said while holding the door open.

“Good morning Lirael! My presence is required at the palace. I would prefer if you would take the short way today, the request seemed urgent”

“Certainly milady.”

The journey to the palace was quiet, as this part of the kingdom usually was. Residing in the Academic District had its perks, peace and quiet were one of them. She couldn’t help looking out the window at the sad beauty rapidly passing before her eyes. The Capital was one of the most extraordinary sights she had ever laid her eyes on, the whole of Nyctopia was, equaled in beauty only by the gardens of Séancevia. One would think that a place swallowed by darkness would be quite the opposite but with its tall buildings built in a beautiful Ghotic yet modern look, every single one a hypnotic black shade, as everything around them for that matter. Breathtaking plants and flowers in velvet, pale yellow, or even white. It was a wonder such mesmerizing foliage survived in a place like this one. There were no light sources here, not as a choice, but as a protection measure. Not that it mattered that much to the people residing in The City Bellow. As evolution would have it their bodies adapted to their unique affliction and the absence of light was of no concern for the residents of the kingdom as they could see in pitch darkness as one would see in the middle of the day. Her heart ached as she watched this massive city passing by the window of her carriage. So massive, yet so empty. It had the capacity to host at least half of the kingdom, but it hosted only two million, while another eight were crammed above ground, not deemed worthy enough to be let inside.

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In no time the gates to the royal palace appeared in front of her. As she was let through and approached the entrance she couldn’t help but notice that there was light coming from the inside of the grand building appearing ahead of her. Someone was here, a visitor from outside their lands. That must be related to her summons, something like this could not be a coincidence.

After being let inside, she was guided to the royal study, a destination that made her curiosity in regards to the matters that were going to be discussed peak. When the doors opened she could clearly see the king talking to another person, a man with a sunkissed complexion, raven wavy hair that reached his shoulders, wearing an all-black ensemble of slacks, shoes, and a button-up. He was pretty tall, towering over her but still a bit shorter compared to most nictopians, strongly built, with sharp lines but somehow elegant, her best guess would be that he was an eternian. If that was the case things were about to become extremely complicated.

“Maeve, I am so glad you arrived in such a timely manner. Come, sit, you look quite tired my dear.”

“Thank you for your invitation, your highness.” She said while respectfully bowing before the king and then proceeding to take a seat on the leather chair.

The king looked at her with a slight smile, then gestured for his other guest to take a seat. “In regard to that allow me to introduce you to Dominic. This young gentleman has come here in search of you my dear.” She looked puzzled, what would an eternian want from her, they are quite the nationalist group of people, and avoid interacting with the other kingdoms. Her face seemed to have betrayed her thoughts as the king began speaking again “There have been rumors of some revolutionists trying to break the curse, His Excellency has sent Dominic here in order to find someone that could help assess the situation.”

“And you were thinking about me as a potential candidate.” He nodded to her response. “Your Grace, I do not mean to be disrespectful but I doubt the emperor would send an eternian here based on just rumors. He’s someone important, isn’t he? Those aren’t rumors, he saw something and you have summoned me because of my specific field of research.” Her speech was calm and calculated, in opposition to the turmoil that had overtaken her.

“She’s smarter than I thought, this one. She figured out so much and all your grace has said was my name.” His voice was deep as he spoke, looking directly into her eyes with a sly smirk on his face “While it is true that I have seen something and that your talents would be detrimental to the task, your knowledge is not entirely why I am here…”

“No” she cut him off, not allowing him to say anything more “If that is what you want it is not up for debate. That sword has been buried a long time ago!”

“And for the sake of everyone in the empire, you should dig it back up. As much as the curse has hurt everyone you should know very well by now what breaking it will do to our society.” He struck a cord, and judging by the look in his eyes he knew it very well.

“Yet it does not mean taking innocent lives is the answer to our problems. If that is the solution that you seek I am sorry but you will have to find it someplace else.” She stood up from her chair and bowed again before the king “I apologize for wasting your time, your grace. I shall be taking my leave now if Your Majesty will allow it.”

“Of course, but I will have to ask you to reconsider your decision if possible, you and I both know he would have wanted you to do it.” He kindly smiled at her, fully aware of what his words meant to her.

“I shall think about it, your grace, but I doubt my answer will change.” Those were her last words before starting to walk towards the door.

“I’m not leaving until I change your mind princess.”

“Good luck with that.”

As soon as the door closed behind her Dominic couldn’t help but chuckle. “She seems quite headstrong, I like that, but she’ll come around eventually.”

“Let us hope she does. Her rationality is clouded by her feelings, it has been years since she last used the shadows.” The king said with sorrow in his voice.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Your Grace, you seem to be quite close with this girl. The man you mentioned to her earlier, who is he?”

“The one she was to marry a long time ago. My son.”