The Forgotten
The shadows did not move.
They stood in a circle around the silver flame, their forms thin and wavering, their edges blurred. They had been people once — men and women, young and old, rich and poor. Now they were nothing. Now they were memory. Now they were forgotten.
Rhaena walked toward them.
Her footsteps echoed in the silence.
The shadows turned.
They had no faces, no eyes, no mouths. But she could feel them watching. She could feel them waiting. She could feel them hoping.
“You are the queen,” one of them said.
Its voice was soft, like wind through dead leaves.
“I am the queen.”
“You are the heir.”
“I am the heir.”
“You are the hope.”
“I am the hope.”
The shadow stepped closer.
Its form flickered.
“We have been waiting for you. For a thousand years. For ten thousand years. For as long as the throne has stood.”
“You have been waiting for a queen?”
“We have been waiting for someone to remember us.”
“Who are you?”
The shadow was silent for a long moment.
“We are the ones who built this kingdom. The ones who laid the stones. The ones who planted the fields. The ones who died in the wars.”
“You are the ancestors.”
“We are the forgotten.”
Theron stepped forward.
His good eye was wide.
“I have heard their whispers. In the tunnels. In the dark. In my dreams.”
“They have been calling you.”
“They have been calling for help.”
“Help for what?”
The shadow turned to him.
“You buried the king. You sealed the tomb. You closed the door. But you did not open the way.”
“The way to what?”
“The way to the heart. The heart of the throne. The heart of the hunger. The heart of the Withering.”
Rhaena looked at the silver flame.
“The heart is here?”
“The heart is everywhere. The heart is nowhere. The heart is what you make it.”
“How do I find it?”
The shadow pointed at the flame.
“You do not find it. You become it.”
Rhaena walked toward the flame.
The heat was warm on her face.
The light was bright in her eyes.
She reached out.
Her hand passed through.
The flame did not burn.
The flame did not flicker.
The flame welcomed her.
“You are the queen,” the shadow said.
“I am the queen.”
“You are the heir.”
“I am the heir.”
“You are the hope.”
“I am the hope.”
“Then become the heart.”
The light exploded.
The shadows screamed.
The flame consumed her.