Echoes in the Locked Garden
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The garden behind House Velmira was known only to the bloodline. Surrounded by high hedges, sealed by magic woven into old iron gates, it was where heirs of the family contemplated duty and where promises were often broken.
Kael stood by the edge, his breath visible in the cold morning air. The sun had yet to rise. The only sound was the trembling of leaves.
He waited.
Then he heard it. A whisper of footsteps.
Lireen.
She wore a cloak over her gown. Her eyes were shadowed by sleeplessness, yet her steps were deliberate.
> "You came," she said quietly.
Kael nodded. "I always will."
She looked away.
> "There's something you must see."
She led him past overgrown ivy and forgotten statues until they reached a circular altar covered in faded runes.
> "This is the Garden of Oaths. My father used to bring me here before everything changed."
She reached into her cloak and pulled out something wrapped in velvet.
A broken feather.
Kael gasped. "That's… one of the three."
Lireen nodded.
> "It was in my mother's belongings. She said it was 'a gift from the Architect.' I never understood what she meant."
Kael studied the feather. It pulsed faintly.
> "This… this is connected to everything. The mirror, the seal, the letters."
Lireen whispered:
> "And maybe to the reason why they want me married to Taven."
Suddenly, a tremor shook the garden. The altar glowed. And from the runes, a voice echoed:
> "Three wings. Three sins. One redemption."
Kael stepped back. "What is this?"
Lireen: "I think it's starting."
A light shot upward from the altar, slicing the sky. And in that moment, Lireen turned to Kael.
> "I want to run. But not yet."
Kael frowned. "Why?"
> "Because someone else has to fall before we rise."
And behind them, the iron gates slammed shut on their own.
A sign. Or a warning.
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🔹Chapter Highlight Teaser : Kael and Lireen meet in a hidden garden sealed by ancestral magic. There, they uncover an artifact tied to the mysterious Architect and a prophecy that's begun to awaken. But escape must wait for the cost of running is now tied to something far greater than love.
Next: Chapter 24 – "A Proposal Without a Voice"
Chapter 23 – Echoes in the Locked Garden Have been completed 🌿🔒
In the middle of the morning whisper and your own closed gate, Kael & Lireen found the first trail from destiny that was far greater than just love🕊️⚙️
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📌 Highlight Teaser:
> Kael and Lireen meet in a hidden garden sealed by ancestral magic. There, they uncover an artifact tied to the mysterious Architect and a prophecy that's begun to awaken. But escape must wait for the cost of running is now tied to something far greater than love.
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