Chapter 62 The Letters of the dead
Sana had wandered into the eastern wing of the abandoned palace, led by nothing but a tug in her chest — a magnetic pull she couldn’t explain.
The air was thick with silence, broken only by the crunch of dust beneath her boots.
Moonlight filtered through cracked stained-glass windows, casting jewel-toned patterns on the faded marble.
Every creak of the wooden floor echoed like a whisper from the past.
She came upon a forgotten room with ivy creeping through broken shutters.
At first glance, it looked like any other — empty, cold, abandoned by time.
But a glint beneath a shattered painting caught her eye.
Curious, she knelt and brushed away the cobwebs to reveal a small emblem etched into the floor — the crest of the Starborn, the old royal line.
Her fingers trembled as she traced it.
“Open,” she whispered instinctively.
A low rumble followed, and with a shimmer of violet light, a section of the stone floor slid open, revealing a concealed trunk. It was elegant, carved from celestial oak and bound with silver latches. Magic pulsed faintly from it, warm and rhythmic, like a heartbeat frozen in time.
Sana opened the trunk with reverence.
Inside, neatly tied with silk ribbons, were stacks of letters — hundreds of them.
Some were aged, their ink faded; others shimmered as if they had just been written.
Magic had preserved every word. A soft fragrance of jasmine and sandalwood wafted from the parchment, transporting her instantly to another time.
She took out the topmost letter and opened it.
> "My Moonbeam,
If fate turns against us, remember this: my soul has already chosen you.
Tears filled her eyes as she read.
Sana didn’t even realize she had sunk to the floor until the candlelight in the room danced more freely around her.
One by one, she read the letters — some short and desperate, others long and filled with poetry, dreams, and promises of forever.
Their love had bloomed in shadows, away from the eyes of a kingdom that would never have accepted it. Yet, each word held light.
Through the letters, she pieced it all together — Aarav, a low class servant, and Chandini, the luminous guardian of magic, had fallen in love during the darkest war in Chandlok’s history.
Their love had defied not just tradition but prophecy.
They had risked everything to be together. Even their lives.
Sana clutched one letter that had been sealed with a crescent-shaped wax mark — Chandini’s final message to Aarav.
> “Aarav,
I feel her heartbeat now. She kicks when I whisper your name. If you read this, know I never stopped loving you. The world may erase our names, but it cannot unwrite the love that created her.
Our daughter will carry stardust in her veins. Protect her. Believe in her. She is the bridge between light and shadow.
Forever yours,
Chandini”
Sana couldn’t breathe.
All her life, she had been called a mistake. A cursed child. The daughter of a shameful, forbidden love. But these letters — they told another story. A story of soulmates torn apart by fear and prejudice, of a child born not from scandal but from hope.
She wasn't the mistake. She was the legacy.
A new fire lit inside her. The shadows that had haunted her heart began to lift. For the first time, her tears weren’t from sorrow — they were from understanding. Her parents had fought for each other, died for love, and still... had left behind a trail of truth, just waiting to be found.
This was her purpose. Her mission.
To restore their honour.
To show the world that their love was not impure — it was pure magic.
As the candlelight flickered over the ancient letters, Sana whispered a vow:
> “I will tell your story. I will make them see you for who you truly were — not traitors, not sinners... but lovers who deserved the stars.”
At that moment, the magic in the room stirred. The letters glowed softly. A breeze swirled, though the windows were shut. And in the hush, a single phrase echoed — as if the walls themselves remembered.
> “She knows.”
Sana looked up, heart racing. The trunk shimmered once more and revealed a false bottom. Inside it was not a letter, but a small vial filled with stardust and a ring etched with the initials C & A. And beneath it, a prophecy scroll — sealed with the same crescent moon mark.
She unrolled it carefully.
> "When the child of stars and shadows awakens the letters of the dead, the legacy of love shall rise, and with it — the fate of Chandlok shall turn."
Sana’s hands trembled, but her soul stood still — steady and burning.
This was just the beginning.