Chapter Title: "Invitation of the Roseblade"
In the warroom of the Nareth palace, Princess Kaelenna stood before the high glass windows, the sea breeze toying with her braids. She stared at the horizon—not just toward the Mystic Wolves' lands, but toward a thousand questions still burning in her chest.
Behind her, her personal guards waited silently.
She clutched a sealed scroll in her hand, the royal emblem pressed into the wax.
"Send word to the Alpha of the Wolves." Her voice was clear, royal.
"Tell him I request his presence in Nareth for one week. I wish to begin our alliance in trust. And I wish to see the man—not the myth—I'm meant to marry."
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
The guards hesitated.
One finally asked, "Do you believe the rumors, Your Highness? That he was… sick? A cripple saved by dark magic?"
Kaelenna turned slowly, her eyes sharp with resolve.
"That's why I need to see him."
She paused.
"If he is strong, I'll know it. If he is broken… I'll see it in his eyes."
But what she didn't say—what she couldn't admit aloud—was that a part of her still feared she was being sacrificed to a ghost. That all her training, her pride, her hope for something real would be wasted on a throne ruled by smoke.
She needed proof.
And she would get it.
--
Three days later, in the temple court of the Mystic Wolves, the scroll arrived—carried by Nareth's windhawks and bound in purple ribbon.
San Qi stood beneath the moonstone arch when it was delivered. He read it in silence.
The wind rustled the edges of the paper.
Then, he folded it carefully and handed it to Elder Wu.
"Prepare a company. We ride at dawn."
The elder hesitated. "Alpha… are you sure you should go? What if it's a trap? Or—"
San Qi's eyes glinted silver and gold beneath his hood.
"If it is a trap, let them see what I've become."
He turned toward the horizon, a faint smile at his lips.
"And if it's not… let her see it, too."
