"State your academy."
"Heavenly Academy."
"State your elemental affinity and Arcana Spirit."
"Death. My Arcana is named Tezca, the Death Scythes."
A small ripple spread through the court. That name was not normal.
"Do you possess any personal or political enmity with Prince Dushassana?"
Rael looked up at King Dhritarashtra without blinking. "No."
The circle pulsed gently. No reaction. The truth.
The King nodded slowly. "Then why, young one, did you say he would die?"
Rael hesitated. Not in fear, but in weight.
Then, finally, he spoke. "Because I am cursed."
Silence fell like a sword.
The priest frowned. "Clarify."
Rael's voice echoed through the marble chamber.
"Since I awakened my Arcana, I've felt it. A shiver runs through my soul when someone near me is… marked. People who are about to die give off a scent. A shadow. A ticking."
He tapped his chest softly. "I don't see death. I feel it. That's why I said it. That's why I knew."
