Lyon, France — City of Snow and Secrets
Montclair Castle loomed ahead, buried beneath falling snow and forgotten truths. It belonged to the Blood Council now. But tonight, it belonged to me.My boots sank into the ice. My body moved forward, but my soul dragged like iron.Maeryss was there. I felt it — in my bones, in my scars.So was Dato' Lyon — the one who signed my father's execution.
Inside Montclair — Throne Room of Betrayal
She was waiting.Maeryss.Hair dark as spilled ink. Eyes colder than the grave.Wearing my mother's locket."La Reyna," she said, voice silk and venom. "You've come far.""Far enough to bleed you," I replied."Still clinging to your pain, little Fathya?""No," I said, stepping closer. "I buried her. I'm what rose from the grave."
And then — war.Flames clashed with shadow. Spells ripped through air. The portraits screamed. The walls bled.She summoned cursed kin — traitors bound in blood.I answered with my mother's last spell."For my father." "For my mother." "For the girl you tried to burn."
I drew the final circle. Blood-fed. Truth-forged.She shrieked as it took hold."You're too late, Reyna," she hissed. "The gate's already open—""Then I'll make Hell regret ever trusting you."
And then — she turned to ash.Silence fell. And from it… Lucien stepped through the smoke.Bruised. Torn. Alive.
"You didn't wait," he said."Wanted to see me kill her?" "No," he said, voice low. "Wanted to see if you'd survive it."
We stood there — in a room of ruins, as dust fell like snow."What now?" he asked.I stared at the broken horizon.
"Now… we kill the Council.""And after that?""Then maybe I figure out who I really am."
Two Nights After — Ruins of Montclair
Snow kept falling. But the blood had frozen.Bodies littered the stone. Some burned. Some beyond recognition.Lucien stood beside me, silent, watching the El'Raez crest half-buried in ash.
"You've started a war," he said."No," I replied. "But I'm damn well going to finish it."
Lucien's Outpost — Beneath an Abandoned Abbey
We slipped into the underground hideout just before dawn. My skin stank of smoke. My coat crackled with dried magic.Lucien bolted the door, tossed his coat aside.
"You're hurt?" "Just scorched." I peeled off my gloves. My wrist, bruised deep purple, throbbed. I dabbed Selene's salve. It burned. I welcomed it.He watched me for a long time.
"What if Maeryss isn't gone?" he finally said.I froze. "Explain." "If she was bonded to Syedrath… you only killed the shell. Not the soul."I clenched my jaw. "Then I'll burn the underworld too."
That Night — Stone Lounge, Shadows and Flame
I sat slumped against the wall, bandages half-undone. Lucien sat across me, liquor in hand. Torchlight danced over his bruised jaw and tired eyes.
He stared."Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked."Because I don't know who you are anymore," he whispered. "La Reyna… or Fathya, the girl I once saved."
I stood, slow and aching, and stepped toward him."I'm neither," I said, fingers grazing his chest. "But tonight… I don't want to be alone."
His breath caught. He didn't speak. Just pulled me in.
When our lips met, it wasn't soft. It was desperate. Raw.Pain flared through my side, but I used it. Let it fuel me.His hands were rough. My skin burned beneath them.
"I should hate you," I breathed."Then hate me," he growled, "while you still don't want to let go."
We didn't stop until the shadows swallowed our names. That night, for the first time in a long time — I didn't feel alone.
The Morning After — A New Fire
Wrapped in black, hair damp, I sat before a war map.Lucien approached behind me.
"What now?" "We find Lyon. And we tear open every lie they buried."
Three Days Later — Marseille
The hall was cold. High ceilings, judgmental eyes.I walked in, El'Raez crest stitched in gold across my chest. Lucien trailed behind in disguise.
"My name is La Reyna," I declared. "Daughter of Raezmir. The heir you tried to erase. I'm not here to beg."I threw a blood scroll to the floor. Crimson symbols blazed to life beneath their feet.
"I'm here to expose your secrets.Who made pacts with Syedrath?Who betrayed our blood?"
Then — the rear doors burst open. Soldiers in gray. A man in royal blue stepped forward, mask cold as death.
Lyon.
"La Reyna," he sneered. "You finally come into the light.""No," I replied. "I came to set fire to the dark."
Lucien unsheathed his sword — glowing with deep blue runes.I stood ready beside him.
This time… there would be no mercy.