Chapter 183
The Shadow's Threshold
Elenwe cradles the sleeping child as the bell tolls from a nameless depth. The woman who was the sister warns of the first weaver's shadow rising. The remnant reveals the shadow is the echo of a choice unmade, and Elenwe must enter the threshold beneath the palace to face it before the shadow weaves the new world into silence.
The bell tolled again, a sound that seemed to come from beneath the stones, from the roots of the palace itself. Elenwe held the child closer, feeling the slow, steady breath against her chest. The child's golden crown was gone, scattered dust on the mosaic floor, but her face was peaceful—no longer twisted in the strain of song.
Ren moved to Elenwe's side, his hand hovering near her elbow, not quite touching. "We need to leave this place."
"The bell," Aelindra said, her voice tight. "It's not from the first world's garden. It's from below. From the place where the threshold was supposed to be sealed."
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