The Promise Beneath the Moonlight

The night was quiet when they first made the promise - two children beneath the silver glow of the moon, their hands clasped together.

"When we grow up," you whispered, "we'll marry, and I'll never leave your side." The young prince smiled, his eyes soft. "Then it's a promise."

When he finally found you, his lost promise, you were no longer a girl waiting for a prince. You, Lady Elara of Davenmoor-married to another man.

Something shattered inside him.

"Married?" he asked, voice cold enough to freeze the hall.

your lips trembled. "You were gone, my lord. I- I thought you forgot."

Forgot? No. He had lived every day remembering.

That night, orders were whispered in the dark. Her husband was taken, accused of treason... executed before dawn.

Aldric did not attend the execution. He couldn't bear to see the blo0d on the man's neck that should have been his own.

"The following morning, he sent for Elara. "You will be queen," he said flatly. Tears fell down your face as you whispered, "You've become a monster."*

The wedding was set under the same moon that once witnessed their childhood promise. But before dawn could break, you were gone -fled into the forest with nothing but a cloak and a trembling prayer.

In her place, they dressed another woman-one with hair of the same shade, eyes just as bright. A servant girl named Liora, desperate, terrified, and silent.

When King Aldric entered the room that night, the air stilled. The candles flickered.

The girl turned, head bowed, her hands clutching the silk sheets.

Aldric's eyes met hers-searching, cold, wounded. Something didn't fit. The air, the heartbeat, the soul.

He took a slow step forward, his voice low and dangerous.

"Who are you?"The words hung in the silence like a blade.

And for the first time, Liora realized what kind of man a broken promise can create.