08/15/2026
The Black Room of the Tower
In the winter of 1487, something strange happened inside an ancient stone fortress in northern England.
For three hundred years, the fortress had stood above a frozen valley, surrounded by thick forests and cliffs. Soldiers called it Greywatch Castle. Travelers avoided it after sunset.
Not because of ghosts.
Because of the sound.
Every night, just before midnight, someone inside the castle would knock three times on the eastern tower.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Then silence.
The strange part was that the eastern tower had been sealed for almost sixty years.
No door opened into it.
No staircase reached its upper floors.
And according to the castle records, no one had entered the tower since 1429.
Yet every night, the knocking continued.
The story begins with a young royal messenger named Thomas Vale.
Thomas was twenty-four years old when he was ordered to travel to Greywatch Castle. He carried a sealed letter from the king and had been instructed to deliver it directly to Lord Edmund Harrow, the commander of the fortress.
Thomas arrived shortly before sunset.
Snow covered the road.
The castle appeared above him like a black mountain.
Its walls were enormous, its windows narrow, and its towers dark against the evening sky.
As Thomas approached the main gate, he noticed something unusual.
There were no guards.
He shouted.
Nothing.
He shouted again.
Finally, the gate opened.
An old soldier stood behind it.
His face was pale.
He looked at Thomas for several seconds before asking,
“Why are you here?”
Thomas showed him the royal seal.
The soldier immediately stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Thomas entered.
The gate closed behind him.
Inside the castle, everything felt strangely quiet.
There were soldiers in the courtyard, but none of them spoke.
Servants moved through the corridors without looking at each other.
Even the horses in the stables seemed nervous.
Thomas was taken to Lord Harrow.
