The sky over the Sapphire Isles was always blue.
Not because of magic.
Not because of pride.
But because the rulers who lived beneath it refused to let the world turn dark.
The woman had walked for two days Sapphireys without rest.
She carried no satchel, no food, no weapon.
Only a small boy wrapped in a stained blanket.
And a name.
"Livar," stitched in silver thread.
The guards at the palace gates nearly stopped her.
But one look — at the bruises on her feet, the boy in her arms, and the tears she had tried not to cry — and they let her through.
Because kindness still ruled in that place.
The throne room was quiet when she arrived.
The Queen sat by the window, hands folded gently.
The King stood nearby, reading a scroll.
They turned as she entered.
She bowed deeply, her voice trembling.
"Your Majesties… I found him in the forest. Surrounded by… by death. He was alive. Alone."
She lifted Livar slowly, showing his sleeping face.
"Please. Take care of him."
The Queen rose without a word.
She stepped forward.
And when she saw the scars on his arms — the ones no child should bear — she covered her mouth and let the tears come freely.
"What is his name?" she whispered.
"It was stitched on his blanket," the woman said. "Livar."
That night, the Queen held Livar in her arms like he had always belonged there.
He didn't speak.
He didn't cry.
But he rested his head against her heart.
And stayed.
The woman who found him watched from the corner of the room, hands clasped tight.
She had nothing left in the world.
Except him
And in the palace of the Sapphire Isles—
Beneath a sky that never turned gray—
The boy who had survived his own storm
Began a quiet life of peace.
End of Chapter 20 – The Sapphire Gate