My Omega instincts scream that something is wrong. That I'm in danger. That my unborn child is in danger.
The thin scar on my arm has already faded thanks to Ivy's healing magic, but I can still feel where his shadow sliced through my skin. Can still see the horror on his face when he realized what he'd done. Can still hear Julia's words echoing in my mind: His shadows don't obey him anymore. They move with their own intent, reacting to emotions he can't control.
She was pregnant when she wrote those words. And now I'm pregnant, and his shadows are destabilizing again.
Coincidence? Or a pattern I'd be a fool to ignore?
I need answers. Real answers, not speculation based on a two-hundred-year-old journal. Julia wrote about a curse, about Malakai's father, about darkness spreading through him — but she didn't understand what was really happening. She died without knowing the full truth.
I won't make the same mistake.
The palace kitchens are quiet this early, most of the staff still preparing for the day's duties. I'm looking for someone old enough to remember, someone who might have actually witnessed what happened to Julia. Not court records that can be sealed or sanitized. Living memory.
I find her in the herb pantry — Mireth, one of the oldest servants in the palace. Her silver hair gleams in the dim light, her ancient hands sorting through bundles of dried shadowleaf with the ease of centuries of practice. She served here when Julia was alive. If anyone saw what really happened, it would be her.
"Lady Seraphina." She greets me without looking up, her voice like rustling leaves. "You're awake early. The other servants say you've been restless lately. Wandering the halls at odd hours."
Of course they've noticed. Nothing escapes the servants' network.
"I need to ask you something," I say quietly, glancing around to ensure we're alone. "About Lord Malakai's first wife. About Julia."
Her hands are still in the herbs. For a long moment, she doesn't move at all. Then, slowly, she sets down the bundle she was holding and turns to face me fully. Her eyes, still sharp despite her centuries, study me with an intensity that makes me want to look away.
"That's old pain, my lady. Best left buried."
"Please. I need to know what really happened. What you saw."
"What I saw." She repeats the words carefully, as if testing their weight. "Why would the new Lady of Shadows want to know about the old one? What good could it possibly do you?"
"Because I think history might be repeating itself."
The words hang between us. Mireth's expression shifts — something flickers in those ancient eyes. Recognition, perhaps. Or fear.
"You carry new life," she says softly. It's not a question.
My breath catches. My hand moves instinctively to my stomach before I can stop it. "How did you?—"
"I've attended enough pregnant Omegas to recognize the signs, child. The way you move. The way you protect your belly without realizing it. The changes in your scent that no fairy glamour can fully mask." She shakes her head slowly. "Your secret is safe with me. But if you're asking about Lady Julia now, in your condition..." She trails off, her expression troubled.
"Then you understand why I need to know."
Mireth is quiet for a long moment. Then she sighs, gesturing for me to sit on a small stool tucked between the herb shelves. She lowers herself onto a barrel across from me, her joints creaking with age.
"Lady Julia was light incarnate," she begins, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "An Omega of such grace and warmth that even we shadow folk could feel it. When she smiled, the whole palace seemed brighter. And the Lord..." She pauses, something painful crossing her face. "He was different then. Not the man you know. He laughed. He was gentle. He looked at her like she was the only thing in all the realms that mattered."
"What changed?"
"She became pregnant." Mireth's hands twist in her lap. "At first, everyone rejoiced. An heir for the Shadow Court, born of a true fated bond. The Lord was... I've never seen him so happy. So hopeful. He doted on her constantly, barely let her out of his sight."
"But something went wrong."
"Gradually. So gradually that at first, no one noticed." Her voice grows heavier. "Lady Julia started to weaken. Grew pale, tired. The healers said it was normal — pregnancy takes its toll on Omegas. But the Lord... his shadows started behaving strangely. Flickering when they should have been still. Reaching for things he wasn't commanding them to reach for."
My blood runs cold. "Reaching for Julia?"
"Not at first. At first it was just objects. Candles snuffed out. Curtains torn. Small things that could be explained away." She meets my eyes. "But then there was the incident in the solar."
"What incident?"
