Beneath the Sapphire Crown

Previously

…Valerius paused at the threshold, his back to her. He did not turn. “The Sapphire Crown,” he said, his voice distant, almost hollow, “chooses its wearer. That is all that matters.” And then he was gone, leaving Anya alone once more with the ghosts of the past. The dust motes danced in the slivers of light piercing the gloom, no longer comforting, but like tiny, silent witnesses to a truth she was only beginning to grasp, a truth that promised to unravel everything she thought she knew about Elavania, the Sapphire Crown, and herself. The weight of it settled upon her, heavier than any royal robe. The quest for truth, she realized with a dawning sense of dread, had only just begun.