He laughed softly, shaking his head. The sound was warm at first—then hollow, as though it came from somewhere far behind him instead of his actual lips. Then his voice cut through the air like a blade, heavy with solemnity, as he said, " It's time for you to know the truth."
His words carried a gravity that made her chest tighten, each syllable laced with disappointment. As he spoke, he unraveled a web of secrets that had surrounded her recent behavior, stripping away any hope that her actions went unnoticed.
" A guard informed me," he said, his tone colder now. " About your excursion into the forbidden cave. The very cave I warned you about. "
His revelation sent a wave of unease crashing over her. For a moment, she felt unsteady, like the ground shifted beneath her feet—but when she blinked, everything was perfectly still. The torches behind Cesar flickered with an unnatural, synchronized rhythm. She didn't remember them doing that before. Her mind raced. She had been careful, hadn't she? Had someone truly seen her—or was she misremembering?
" I thought," he continued, quieter but sharper, " that you were wise enough to heed my warnings. But now I see my trust in you was misplaced."
The weight of his words forced her gaze downward. Shame pooled in her chest.
" Starfania. "
He said her name with such precision—too precise, as though rehearsed. The syllable rang in her ears longer than it should have, lingering like an echo that didn't belong to the throne room's aesthetic at all. She refused to meet his gaze. She couldn't handle the intensity she imagined in his eyes—because she couldn't quite bring herself to look up and confirm it. A storm of guilt and fear churned inside her. She knew she'd broken his trust…or at least; she thought she knew. The events of the day tangled in her mind like threads knotted too tightly. After a long, suffocating silence, his voice shattered it: " Perhaps it's time I stop being so soft on you…and teach you that your actions have consequences."
Before she could grasp the meaning, he snapped his fingers. The sound echoed strangely—once from his hand, and again from somewhere behind her, delayed by a heartbeat. Two guards stepped forward. Their armor glinted…then briefly dulled…then gleamed again, as though the torches couldn't decide how bright they wanted to burn. Starfania's breath caught when the guards stepped aside. Aeron. Violet. Drogo. But something was off. Their expressions flickered like half-formed memories. Violet's hair seemed longer for a second—then it wasn't. Drogo's scales shifted in color, just for a moment. The floor beneath her seemed to pulse, like a heartbeat. Her heart hammered harder.
" So," Cesar said, his voice slicing through the warped stillness, " these are your companions who have joined you in their disobedience."
Aeron's jaw clenched, but even that movement seemed too slow…then suddenly too fast. Violet looked at Starfania, her eyes wide—but Starfania couldn't tell if the purple of her irises was the same shade it had been minutes before. Drogo growled, his chain rattling—but the sound felt muffled, like it was underwater.
" You've brought them into this?" Cesar continued, voice dripping with condemnation. " Oh, daughter…your recklessness knows no bounds."
" No—" Starfania began, her voice trembling, " They—"
" Silence!"
The command cracked violently through the space—then echoed again and again, louder each time until multiple versions of Cesar spoke at once before fading into one.
The guards moved closer. Drogo strained harder, his body flickering in and out of focus with each tug. Violet backed against him, but her outline rippled like heat off stone. Aeron stepped forward to shield Starfania—and froze in mid-step. Not stopped by Cesar's glare this time. Just frozen. Completely still. Starfania's stomach dropped. The throne room…wavered. Her throat tightened as the walls rippled like disturbed water. The soldier's faces blurred, melting into a shapeless outline. Aeron's half-frozen expression twisted unnaturally.
Violet's voice, though she wasn't speaking, seemed to echo faintly as though the cave had followed her here. Drogo's roar distorted, stretching into a low, vibrating hum—then into silence. Panic surged through her as she looked at her father. But he was no longer standing where he had been. His form dissolved, darkening, melting into shadows that seemed to crawl across the stone floor like living ink. A cold, sharp laugh echoed through the dissolving throne room—not his. Not anyone's. It came from everywhere. And nowhere. And her vision blurred as the world collapsed inward like a folding dream.