In a land where the dead still rule, forgetting to grieve is heresy—and joy, a forgotten sin.
Kael, Lia, and the Mindborne child Ihlon journey through the southern gates of the known world. Their path winds through the Vales of Hollow Bells, where the air hangs with the sound of mourning chimes that never cease.
They follow the Procession Road, a pathway of black petals and veiled statues that ends at the gates of Syr-Kharad—the Kingdom in Mourning.
The city is cloaked in perpetual twilight. Not because the sun doesn't rise—but because no one looks up anymore.
Its people wear grey, white, and duskblue. No music plays. No laughter echoes. Even the children cry in silence, as if joy was something obscene.
At the city's heart: the Palace of Sorrows, where the king walks still…
And doesn't know he's dead.
King Elen Virael rules with solemn kindness, unaware that he perished seventy years ago during the War of Silent Thrones. He speaks in the present tense, remembers things that didn't happen, and responds to court affairs as though nothing changed.
The royal court plays along.
Why?
Because of the Sorrow Oath—an arcane pact formed with a god of grief, the Tearless Queen, who granted the kingdom survival in exchange for eternal mourning. If they ever allow joy, even for a moment, the entire kingdom will crumble into the Vale of Forgotten Souls.
And the Tearless Queen will awaken.
Kael realizes the fourth shard must be within the king himself—anchored in his suspended undeath.
But to retrieve it, Kael must end the mourning spell—and bring the king peace.
To do so means breaking the most sacred law of Syr-Kharad: he must make the king remember his death.
Kael and Lia infiltrate the House of Sighs, an ancient temple where the royal memories are stored in soulglass.
Inside, memories swirl like ash-smoke—dying echoes of a kingdom frozen in grief.
Kael finds the true memory: King Elen fell in battle, pierced by an Unkind Blade during the siege of Blackmeath Bridge. His final words were not commands, but sorrow for his unborn son.
Kael steals the memory, infuses it into Ihlon's blood, and prepares to confront the king.
But as they leave the House of Sighs, they are surrounded.
By the Grey Inquisitors—priests of the mourning law.
Their punishment: public despair infusion. A magical branding that replaces emotion with unending grief.
Kael and Lia are dragged before the court, where hundreds sit in silence, eyes grey, lips trembling.
But Kael resists.
He steps forward and addresses King Elen directly.
"You are not cursed, Your Majesty. You are crowned with sorrow because you were never allowed to die."
He places the soulglass before the king and lets it shatter.
The memory floods the throne room.
The king watches himself fall.
Sees his people cry.
Sees his son stillborn.
Then he looks at Kael. A single tear falls.
The court gasps.
Joy has occurred.
Reality fractures.
The spell breaks.
And beneath the palace, a monstrous cry echoes—the Tearless Queen has awakened.
She is not beautiful.
She is hunger, wrapped in veils of stained silk, with hands that pull joy from flesh and words that dissolve hope.
"You dared to break the pact. You dared to heal."
She lunges at the court—ready to devour them all.
But Kael invokes the Mindthorn.
From Ihlon's blood, he draws the glyph of Compassion Remembered—an ancient emotional seal.
He binds it with the third shard's flame and offers her memory.
"Grief without memory is pain. Grief with memory is love."
The Queen halts. Trembles. And for the first time in eons… weeps.
Then crumbles to ash.
King Elen turns to Kael.
He smiles—briefly—before fading, peacefully, into light.
Where his throne once stood lies a crystal.
The Fourth Shard—its core dark blue, burning with threads of silver.
Kael reaches out and takes it.
It pulses with power and memory—and sorrow tempered by love.
Syr-Kharad is free.
And the people… laugh.
For the first time in seventy years.