The wind had changed.
Seraphina felt it before she even reached the palace gates.
The Thornblade was hidden beneath her cloak, strapped against her thigh, but it pulsed faintly warm, alive.
Watching.
Cassian stepped from the shadows as she approached the corridor entrance.
"You went," he said quietly.
It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
His eyes searched her face, lingering too long.
"And?"
She hesitated.
Then, softly, "We're running out of time."
They moved through the silent halls together. The palace slept or pretended to. Servants avoided eye contact. Guards stood too stiffly
Fear was spreading.
"The Queen Mother has called for you at first light," Cassian said. "Private audience."
Seraphina's stomach tightened.
"She knows."
"She suspects."
"That's worse."
They stopped outside her chamber door.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Cassian finally broke the silence. "Did she give you something?"
Seraphina studied him.
He always saw too much.
She reached beneath her cloak and drew the Thornblade halfway free.
It glimmered faintly in the dark corridor.
Cassian's breath caught.
"That's not ordinary steel."
"No," she whispered. "It isn't."
He didn't reach for it. Didn't recoil either.
Instead, he asked, "What will it cost you?"
Her throat tightened.
"Everything, probably."
Silence stretched between them.
Then
Footsteps echoed from the far end of the hall
Not guards.
Heavier.
Armored.
Royal armor.
Cassian's expression hardened instantly.
"Inside," he muttered.
They slipped into her chamber just as three palace sentinels marched past.
And at their center
The High Inquisitor.
Seraphina's blood ran cold.
"He hasn't been summoned in years," she whispered.
Cassian's jaw clenched. "The Queen is no longer investigating. She's preparing."
"For what?"
His eyes met hers.
"For you."
At dawn, the throne room felt like a battlefield disguised in gold.
The Queen Mother sat poised, her silver crown gleaming beneath stained light. Beautiful. Untouchable.
Deadly.
Seraphina stepped forward alone.
Cassian was forced to remain behind the marble line reserved for guards.
The Queen's gaze was sharp.
"You were absent from your chambers last night."
It wasn't accusation.
It was confirmation.
"I couldn't sleep," Seraphina replied evenly.
"Strange," the Queen murmured. "The veil thinned at midnight."
The words struck like a blade.
Seraphina did not react.
The Queen rose slowly.
"You've always been special, child. But special things require control."
She descended the steps toward Seraphina.
"The relic inside you - it is unstable."
"You don't know that."
A faint smile curved the Queen's lips.
"I know more than you think."
Her voice dropped to a whisper only Seraphina could hear.
"You met her."
Not a question.
A statement.
Ice flooded Seraphina's veins.
The Queen leaned closer.
"She always chooses wrong."
Before Seraphina could respond-
The massive throne behind them groaned
A crack split down its center.
Gasps filled the chamber.
The marble fractured.
A faint red glow seeped from within.
The Thornblade burned against Seraphina's skin.
The throne.
It was feeding the curse.
Exactly as Rhiannon said.
The Queen turned slowly toward it.
Her expression did not show fear.
It showed irritation.
"Seal it," she ordered coldly.
The High Inquisitor stepped forward, raising a staff carved with runes.
Seraphina felt it instantly
A suppression spell.
To bind her.
To cage the Rose.
The runes ignited.
Chains of light shot toward her.
Cassian moved before anyone else.
Steel flashed.
He intercepted the first chain.
The throne exploded.
Not outward
Inward.
A shockwave knocked everyone to the floor.
Smoke swallowed the chamber.
When it cleared-
The throne was cracked in two.
And beneath it
Roots.
Black, twisted roots pulsing with red light.
The entire hall fell silent.
The Queen Mother stared at the exposed roots.
For the first time
She looked afraid.
Seraphina slowly rose to her feet.
The Thornblade slid into her hand like it had always belonged there.
"The curse doesn't live in me," she said quietly.
"It lives in the crown."
Every noble in the chamber gasped.
The Queen's gaze sharpened into something lethal.
"You dare."
Seraphina stepped forward.
The blade glowed brighter.
"I don't dare."
Her voice echoed unnaturally.
"I remember."
The roots beneath the throne began to writhe.
Outside
War horns sounded from beyond the city walls.
Cassian looked toward the distant gates.
"They're here."
The rival kingdom.
The enemy long silent.
Drawn by the Rose's awakening.
The Queen Mother's lips curved into something dark.
"Good," she whispered.
Seraphina felt her stomach drop.
"You wanted this," she breathed.
The Queen's eyes burned.
"I built this kingdom on blood. I will not let you unravel it."
The roots burst upward.
Crimson light filled the throne room.
And the war began.
