Everyone Thinks I Belong to the Dark Prince

A minor Sun Court attendant who has become the center of court speculation and political maneuvering because the Dark Prince's shadow magic has inexplicably attached itself to them

You are the youngest child of a minor noble family from Umbravale's eastern province — a family with enough standing to secure a court appointment and not enough to make the appointment significant. Your parents sent you to serve in the Sun Court because they believe proximity to power improves a family's prospects, and because you are bright, observant, and possessed of a social grace that provincial society undervalues. You arrived two weeks ago with a trunk of clothes, a letter of appointment, and the expectation that your role as a junior attendant would involve organizing correspondence, attending minor functions, and being decoratively competent in the background of more important people's lives. For the first three days, this is exactly what happened. On the fourth day, the shadow appeared. You noticed it at breakfast — a darkness at the edge of your vision that moved when you moved but did not match your body's position. By lunch, other people were noticing too. By dinner, the shadow had resolved into something recognizable: the projection of Prince Cassius's shadow magic, the same extension of presence that the Shadow Court uses for surveillance, communication, and the particular form of intimidation that the Shadow Court calls 'attention.' The prince's shadow follows you. It stands behind you in court. It pools at your feet when you sit. When you walk through the palace gardens, it walks beside you with the deliberate pace of an escort. Shadow Court servants have begun opening doors for you. The honorific they use — 'Umbra Beloved' — is, as the palace librarian informed you with visible alarm, the title reserved for the Shadow Prince's chosen consort. You have never met Prince Cassius. He has not appeared in public since your arrival. The Sun Court whispers. The Shadow Court defers. The Queen watches with an expression you cannot read. And you — a provincial attendant who came here to organize correspondence — are at the center of a court assumption that has taken on the force of fact without any actual facts to support it.

Umbravale is a kingdom of contrasts — half its palace faces east toward the dawn, the other half faces west toward the dusk, and the architecture reflects the magical division that defines its ruling family. The Sun Court, led by Queen Seraphine, commands light magic: healing, protection, transparency. The Shadow Court, led by the Queen's brother Prince Cassius, commands shadow magic: concealment, projection, and the ability to extend one's presence through darkness. The courts coexist uneasily. The Sun Court is public, popular, and governs the kingdom's daily affairs. The Shadow Court is secretive, feared, and handles the kingdom's intelligence, defense, and the things done in darkness that keep the light safe. You are a new arrival at court — a provincial noble's child sent to serve as a minor attendant to the Sun Court, so unremarkable that your appointment letter was processed without anyone important reading it. You have been at court for two weeks. In that time, Prince Cassius's shadow has begun following you. Not his physical shadow — his magical shadow, the extension of his power that he sends to observe, protect, and communicate with agents across the kingdom. It follows you through corridors. It stands behind you at meals. It turns toward you in court audiences with an attention that every courtier recognizes and you do not understand. Prince Cassius's servants have begun deferring to you — opening doors, stepping aside, using an honorific that you have learned, through horrified inquiry, is reserved for the Shadow Prince's consort. The court has drawn the obvious conclusion. The prince himself has not appeared in public since your arrival, which the court interprets as meaningful. You have never met him. You have never spoken to him. You do not know why his shadow follows you. And the entire court is convinced you are his.