"Princess, wait," Kael called from behind. "You need to calm yourself."
"I am calm!" she yelled.
The moment the words left her mouth, the Crimson Amulet pulsed against her chest.
A slightly ajar door nearby slammed shut violently.
Kael's expression softened.
"You cannot hide your feelings from the amulet," he said quietly. "You are not fine."
Seraphina looked away.
"Where are you going?" Kael asked.
She swallowed hard.
"I am going to see Mother. I intend to tell her everything that has been happening in the palace."
The amulet grew warm.
As though it remembered the woman who had once worn it before her.
Kael watched the faint crimson light flicker beneath her dress but said nothing.
"You are going to the Garden of Quiet Blooms?" he asked again.
"Yes." Her voice trembled despite her effort to sound strong. "She has every right to know what is happening. She is still my mother... your queen... just a little colder and gone."
At those words, the amulet shimmered softly.
Tiny crimson sparks drifted briefly through the air before fading away.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"If this will help calm your heart, then let us go. I will escort you."
After that, Seraphina led the way, and together they walked toward the garden.
---
The Garden of Quiet Blooms rested within the quietest part of the palace grounds, a sacred place where only the king and princess were permitted to enter.
In Altheris, the dead of royal blood were never buried carelessly.
For generations, ancient preservation rites had been performed upon fallen kings and queens. Rare herbs, sacred oils, enchanted flowers, and moonwater gathered beneath silver nights were carefully prepared by the Bloomkeepers, the silent attendants entrusted with preserving the royal dead within the sacred garden.
But Queen Ismira's preservation was... different.
Even after death, traces of the Crimson Amulet's power still lingered within her.
The relic had been bound to her heart, emotions, and very life for years, and though the amulet now belonged to Seraphina, it had not completely abandoned its former bearer.
Time itself seemed slower around Ismira.
The flowers near her resting place never wilted.
The scent of summer roses still lingered faintly in the air around her.
And while death had stolen her warmth, it had not taken the strange beauty that remained upon her peaceful face.
When they arrived, Seraphina hurried toward her mother's resting place.
She looked down at the woman who had believed in her enough to leave behind something as powerful as the Crimson Amulet.
Slowly, Seraphina lifted a trembling hand and brushed her thumb gently against her mother's cold face before clearing her throat to speak.
"Mother... you look as beautiful as ever."
The amulet shimmered faintly, almost as though it too acknowledged the queen.
"But I have something important to tell you."
Her breathing faltered slightly.
"A lot has happened in the palace since your passing. I met a nobleman named Lorin... and somehow, he is connected to the amulet. He became a royal guard, but Father sent him away."
Kael slowly approached from behind, remaining silent.
"Yes, Mother... Father has changed." Her voice cracked. "I wish you were here. Only you knew how to calm him, but now he lets fear guide him."
Tears clouded her eyes.
"And it is all because of that witch."
The amulet pulsed harder.
"She is behind all of this, Mother!" Seraphina cried. "And I will make her pay for what she has done to Father... to our King!"
Crimson light flickered around her as her emotions spiraled dangerously.
Kael immediately knelt beside her, gripping her shoulder carefully.
"Seraphina, calm down."
"NO!" she shouted.
The wind rushed violently through the garden, flowers trembling beneath the force of the amulet's grief.
"Mother deserves to know what that witch has done!"
Her voice broke apart completely.
"I promise she will pay..."
And then the anger shattered into grief.
Seraphina collapsed against Kael, clutching him tightly as sobs overtook her.
---
"That amulet helps filter her emotions," the witch said with a sly smile. "But how long will that keep happening?"
"Not too long," Maelrin replied. "Her emotions are strong... and very alive."
"It will not be long until she lets loose all the anger, pain, and hidden emotions," Maryse added. "And when that happens, her destruction will become our greatest distraction."
"You may be forgetting something," Maelrin warned. "If she causes too much destruction, the Order could be freed and jeopardize our plans."
"Then we will deal with them," Maryse said calmly.
"Wife... something is happening," Maelrin suddenly said, his tone shifting.
He raised his hand toward the orb and immediately began chanting beneath his breath as the crystal trembled violently.
The surface flickered.
---
Within the Garden of Quiet Blooms...
Seraphina sat silently.
Her tears fell one after another, slow and heavy, slipping down her cheeks.
One tear dropped onto the Crimson Amulet.
At first—
nothing happened.
Then the amulet shone.
Blinding crimson light exploded outward, swallowing the entire garden in an instant.
The vision inside the orb shattered.
Maryse and Maelrin staggered back slightly as the image disappeared completely into crimson light.
"What is happening?" Seraphina whispered as she slowly stood up.
Kael immediately rose and stepped closer to her.
"Your tears," he said quietly. "Your tears, Princess."
"I feel something..." she said softly, confusion filling her voice. "I cannot explain it. It feels like... peace. Can you feel it?"
Kael hesitated.
"No," he admitted. "But I believe the Queen is with us."
His eyes settled carefully on the amulet.
"Your tears awakened something different. In the ancient texts, there were rare moments like this. When grief connects with the memory of a former bearer, the amulet responds in ways beyond understanding."
"This was written in the ancient texts?" Seraphina asked softly.
"Yes."
She lowered her gaze toward the glowing amulet.
"It feels like all my anger... all my grief... has been taken away from me."
Her voice softened even more.
"And replaced with peace."
Kael nodded slightly.
"Then we should remain here a little longer."
---
Back in the tower, Maryse narrowed her eyes.
"Why did that happen?"
Maelrin frowned as he stared at the fading remnants of crimson light within the orb.
"There is only one thing powerful enough to trigger a reaction like that..."
He looked up slowly.
"Grief."
For the first time in a long while, uncertainty crossed Maryse's face.
Something had changed.
Something even they did not fully understand yet.