Caldwell’s face brightened slightly. “Ah, yes. The third case is actually quite remarkable. About two hundred and fifty years ago, the second son of the king—your great-great-uncle, actually—formed a bond with a human. A shadow walker, specifically.”
My heart nearly stopped. “A shadow walker? Like Ash?”
“Precisely like Mr. Vale,” Caldwell confirmed. “Your uncle was in a similar position to you. He was expected to marry for political alliance, bound to someone he’d never met. But the bond was undeniable. It consumed him completely.”
“What did he do?” I was practically holding my breath.
“He fought for it,” Caldwell said simply. “He went before the king at the time—your great-great-grandfather—and made his case. It took months of negotiation, but eventually they reached a compromise.”
“What kind of compromise?”
Caldwell leaned closer to his mirror. “The son had to renounce all claim to the throne and be banished from theTwilight Realm for the remainder of his days. His brother took the throne instead. But from what I can find, it sounds like he and his shadow witch lived very happy lives in the mortal realm.” Caldwell paused for a moment. “However, there is one catch.”
I held my breath.
“The king at the time noted that while he was remiss to lose his son to the mortal world, he never would’ve allowed it had there not been someone else to take his place.” He lifted his gaze to meet mine. “And you are an only child.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. The words hung in the air between us, heavy and final.
“An only child,” I repeated numbly. “So there’s no one to take my place.”
“Precisely,” Caldwell said, his voice gentle but firm. “Your father has no other heir. If you were to renounce your claim and leave the realm, there would be no one to inherit the throne. The royal line would end with your father.”
I sank back onto the bed, the mirror still clutched in my hands. My mind raced through the implications. Without an heir, the Twilight Realm would fall into chaos. The noble houses would fight for power. There could be civil war, just like I’d told Karrick. Thousands could die.
“So, I’m trapped,” I said, hearing the defeat in my own voice. “There’s no way out.”
“I wish I had better news for you, young master,” Caldwell sighed. “But between your lack of siblings and the generations of magic spent trying to keep the Twilight Realm hidden, I’m afraid I can’t see your father allowing a shadow walker into the realm. He would see it as a threat to the kingdom’s security.”
“He would,” I agreed quietly, my throat tight. “My father has spent his entire reign strengthening the barriers between realms. He’d never allow someone who could walk through them freely into our home.”
“There is one other possibility,” Caldwell said hesitantly. “Though I hesitate to even mention it.”
I looked up sharply. “What? Tell me.”
“Your father could take another wife. Ayoungerwife. And produce another heir.” Caldwell’s expression was apologetic. “If there was a younger sibling to inherit the throne, you might be able to make the same arrangement your great-great-uncle did.”
The idea made my stomach churn. My mother would never agree to that, and even if she did, it would take years. Years I didn’t have. Graduation was only seven months away.
“That’s not realistic,” I said. “Even if my father agreed, which he wouldn’t, it would take too long. I’m supposed to return to the Twilight Realm immediately after graduation.”
“I know, young master.” Caldwell’s voice was heavy with sympathy. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find a better solution. I’ll keep searching, but...”
“But don’t get my hopes up,” I finished for him. “I understand.” I couldn’t help the defeated sigh that escaped me. “Thank you, Caldwell. You’ve been most helpful.”
“It is my honor to serve,” he replied with a small bow.
The mirror went dark, and I sat in silence for a moment, the weight of impossibility pressing down on me. Three cases in five hundred years, and only one had worked out. And that one required circumstances I didn’t have.
Chapter 18
Ash
Ipractically danced my way through cleaning the locker rooms in full Disney’s Fantasia style. All I had to do was use my hands to direct the shadows, and they did all the work for me. They swept, mopped, scrubbed, and sanitized with meonlylifting a finger. Professor Blackwood was right. A little confidence and some constructive thinking was all it took to get my shadow magic almost perfectly under my control.
And the silver cuffs. Those helped a lot too.
Compared to shadow walking, the cleaning was easy. With each practice session, I found myself traveling further and further through the shadows, my magic feeling like it was fully within my control for the first time in my life. And spending each night with Silver helped a lot too. With him I wasn’t an outcast or a bother. The way he looked at me made me feel like the most special person in the entire world. I found myself lying awake at night, just watching the moonlight dance on his skin.
