The Lullaby of Blackwood

On a crisp, starlit night in late July, the master suite of Castle Schwanstein was filled with the sacred, tranquil hush of new life. In the center of the bedchamber, resting in a hand-carved walnut cradle crafted from timber felled on the estate, lay their newborn daughter, Evelyn Drake. The infant had inherited her mother’s thick crown of dark chestnut curls and delicate porcelain skin, paired with her father’s striking,…