/-Zara-/

Maleek found me in the library at midnight, sitting alone with a stack of old pack records spread out before me.

I hadn't been able to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Aldric's voice: "Your mother was involved with some... questionable organizations. Organizations dedicated to the promotion of dark magic."

I'd never known my mother. She'd died when I was an infant—or so I'd always been told. The royal palace had raised me. Or rather, the palace servants had raised me ...