📍 Chapter 78 – The Cradle Was Empty
The palace woke late.
It had been a quiet night.
Too quiet.
The rain had started around midnight—soft, gentle, cleansing.
The kind of rain that made people feel safe enough to sleep.
But when the first morning bell rang…
The nursemaid ran into the hall screaming.
---
Zara's scream echoed two seconds later.
She stormed into the nursery barefoot, gown dragging behind her.
The cradle was empty.
Blanket folded neatly.
No sign of blood.
No sign of struggle.
Kaelen was **gone**.
---
The palace turned upside down within ten minutes.
Leva ran from tower to tower, shouting orders.
Zaire broke down two doors by hand.
Auren had disappeared completely, reappearing in the dungeons with a dagger in one hand and a half-conscious spy in the other.
Malric barred every gate.
But the damage was done.
The **heir was gone**.
---
Zara paced the nursery like a trapped lioness.
Her hair was a mess, her voice hoarse, her eyes wild with fury.
The wet nurse knelt at her feet, trembling.
"I didn't hear anything—I swear, I was here all night, I never left—"
Zara spun on her.
"You were asleep."
"I—I may have dozed, just for a moment—"
Leva pulled the nurse away.
Zara gripped the edge of the cradle, knuckles white.
There was no blood.
No prints.
No sound.
Just… nothing.
A perfect silence.
As if **the child had vanished from thin air**.
---
An hour later, Zaire returned to the Queen's war chamber.
His face was pale.
"We've searched every inch. From the roof to the wine cellars. No signs."
Zara stood by the window, unmoving.
Her voice came low.
"Someone inside the palace took him."
Leva growled. "I'll skin them alive."
"No," Zara said sharply. "You'll find them. Alive. I want names. I want to look into their eyes."
Auren entered behind them.
"I interrogated the spy in the dungeons," he said. "He didn't know about the baby. But he whispered something."
Zaire narrowed his eyes. "What?"
Auren hesitated.
Then said,
> "The ghost took him."
---
Everyone went still.
"The *what*?" Leva snapped.
"The ghost," Auren repeated. "That's what he said. Whispered it like a prayer. 'The ghost took him. The ghost took the Crownborn.'"
Zara's blood turned to ice.
---
She went to the chapel again that night.
Alone.
Lit a single candle.
Kneeled in front of the stained glass.
Closed her eyes.
And whispered, "What do I do now?"
No answer.
Just silence.
And a flicker in the candle flame.
She opened her eyes.
Someone stood behind her.
A shape in the reflection of the glass.
She turned fast.
But the chapel was empty.
---
The next morning, a letter arrived.
No seal.
Just a torn scrap of black parchment slipped under her chamber door.
It read:
> "He is alive.
> He will be raised with purpose.
> Your softness will kill him.
> You have five days to surrender your crown.
> Or you will never see him again."
Zara stared at the words until her hands began to shake.
Leva grabbed it.
Read it aloud.
Malric cursed.
Zaire punched the wall.
Zara remained still.
Then said,
> "They think I will break."
She looked up, eyes aflame.
> "They are wrong."
---
The war room blazed into motion.
"Double the guards," Zara said. "No sleep rotation. No new servants. No deliveries without my seal."
"Done," said Zaire.
"Post wanted notices in every town. Triple the bounty if he's returned alive."
"Done," said Leva.
Zara turned to Auren.
"I want one thing."
"Name it."
"Find out what the 'ghost' is."
---
By sundown, Auren returned.
He looked troubled.
"There's no ghost. Not in the old legends. Not in the Raven's army. But…"
He laid a small black book on the table.
"The Hollow had a special title for their best child assassin."
Zara stared.
Auren opened the book and pointed.
The name was written in old ink.
Curved letters.
> "The Ghost of Wrenhill."
A child who never missed.
A child who killed royalty in their sleep.
A child who vanished for years… then returned.
Zara's heart pounded.
"Find out where Wrenhill is."
Auren nodded.
And vanished again.
---
That night, Zara stood at the empty cradle.
Touched the edge.
A faint tear ran down her cheek.
"I named you Kaelen," she whispered. "I named you after my pain. And now they've taken you."
She didn't scream.
Didn't break.
Instead…
She turned to the guards.
"Bring me armor. Full steel."
Leva blinked. "What?"
Zara's voice was calm.
"If no one can find him… then I will."
---
In a secret chamber below the palace, Auren traced his finger across a dusty map.
Found Wrenhill.
An abandoned monastery deep in the Dead Marshes.
Unreachable by road.
Protected by salt fog and serpent traps.
A ghost town.
Literally.
He ran.
Straight back to the Queen.
---
Zara was already mounting her horse.
Leva shouted, "You just gave birth three weeks ago—"
Zara gritted her teeth.
"I am still a mother."
Zaire approached.
"You will not ride alone."
Malric stepped up. "Nor unarmed."
Auren held out the map.
Zara took it.
Looked to the horizon.
And whispered,
> "I am coming, Kaelen.
> And I will burn the marshes to the ground if I must."