The forest path stretched endlessly before them, cloaked in a shroud of twilight. The sun, now slipping beneath the horizon, left the world in shades of gray and shadow. Queen Helena trudged onward, her steps faltering, her breaths labored. The weariness in her bones was a relentless weight, each step an act of defiance against her own body's desperate plea to rest.
"Seth, right? Your name?" she asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and exhaustion.
Seth, walking a few paces behind, stopped abruptly, startled by her words. He hesitated before replying, lowering his face as if the act of respecting her. "Yes, Your Majesty," he said, his voice soft but steady.
"Do you know how long we have to walk to the Vertox Kingdom?" she asked again, her tone now tinged with urgency.
