IV
IV · THE EMBER
The Ember Beneath the Ice
Winter never knocked.
It arrived like a verdict.
They called her cold.
They did not know what she carried.
One ember. Cupped in both hands. Kept alive through every winter they blamed on her.
Not warmth for herself —
warmth for whatever might, one day, return.
Some prayers ask for miracles.
✦ THE HALL THAT NEVER THAWED ✦
Others ask only to remain kind.
Some lights survive
because someone carries them alone.
She was not the storm.
She was the warning.
History remembered the queen.
The crown remembered Seraphine.
The world remembered the frost.
The ember remembered why.
The ember remembered why.