Chapter 196

The air was heavy with foreboding as the Elf wedding ceremony began. The garden was shrouded in a somber, grey mist that clung to the trees like a damp shroud. The Mother Tree's branches hung limp, seeming to sag under the weight of her grief, her leaves looking wilted.

The music was a slow, haunting dirge, played on instruments that seem to be crafted from the very shadows themselves. The notes were mournful and forlorn, echoing through the garden like the cries of lost souls. The sound sending shivers down the spines of the gathered Elves, who whisper to each other in hushed tones of dread.

Some of them weeped openly, their faces streaked with tears as they watch their Queen stand beside an Elf they once trusted but now despised. Others covered their faces with their hands, unable to bear witness to the sorrow that hung in the air like a palpable force.

The ancestors' wails filled the air, intertwining with the