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Chapter 10: The mark in the garden
Author: Honey Lee
last update2025-06-27 05:47:14

Chapter Ten: The Mark in the Garden

The Caelwyn palace gardens, a sanctuary for those nobles who had sought refuge from the trappings of courtly life, had become a sanctuary of darkness a sanctuary where peace was disturbed, and fear and discomfort replaced it. The hedges were tall and overgrown, reaching to the skies like gnarled fingers, and the cobblestone paths wound around sunken fountains, their waters stagnant. Beneath the marble statues of the ancient rulers forever locked in their eternal vigilance there was no peace.

At break of dawn, the air was thick with mist, as if the earth itself was holding its breath. Mira, a teenage assistant groundskeeper, moved softly through the gardens, a basket of fresh herbs slung on her hip. She had not expected to be working so early, but her father, a veteran palace staffer, had fallen ill, and she had taken on more of the duties in his stead.

As she strolled along the thick, overgrown vines of the Herb Walk, her mind went to the strange at
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