Adrian's POV
My mother prepared herself for the journey with a seriousness I had not seen in decades. She adorned her body in a gown made from midnight velvet, a fabric so dark that it seemed to drink the surrounding light. Each fold shimmered faintly with runic embroidery that glowed like soft candlelight, ancient enchantments woven into the threads to honor her position as Queen Caroline of the Vampire Realm. The gown did not merely clothe her. It carried history, dignity, sorrow and the quiet weight of a mother walking toward the possibility of reclaiming something she believed she had lost forever.
