Scene: Mouth of the Cave – Eastern Blackwood Ridge
POV: Chris Blackwood
The snow had slowed.
Not stopped.
Just… slowed. Like even the sky was waiting to see what I'd do next.
I could hear the faint whine of a recon drone in the air, its shadow passing over the rocks. It tried to stay high, hidden behind clouds, but I knew its sound. I designed that model.
Which meant…
She was watching.
Good.
I stood tall—no crown, no throne, no polished armor. Just a torn coat, blood at my ribs, and a heart that beat too damn loud for the silence around me.
Soren shifted beside me.
> "They're flanking. Four on your left, three right, one behind. Stealth formation. All Shadow Hawks."
> "I know," I muttered. "She sent her best."
I didn't move toward them. Not yet.
Because power… real power… doesn't chase.
It draws.
It waits.
Let them remember what it means to stand in the presence of something absolute.
---
My eyes locked on the hovering drone. I tilted my head back, just slightly. Let it catch the full angle of my face.
My lip was cracked. My hair wind-beaten. My coat torn like I'd walked through hell barefoot.
Good.
Let her see me raw.
Let the world see the truth.
> "They're waiting for a signal," Soren said. "Orders?"
I didn't respond right away.
Because I knew what she wanted.
She wanted to come.
She would come.
> "Let them wait," I said finally. "Let them sweat in their silence. If Amara is still who I married, she's already airborne."
> "And if she's not?"
I turned to him—slowly. My eyes calm.
> "Then I die here. But not quietly."
---
The snow finally stopped. The wind didn't.
I felt the earth hum—something distant approaching.
Engines.
Royal Convoy.
I smiled.
> "She's coming."
---
Let the world feel what it feels like…
When a king doesn't return to the throne.
But the throne returns to the king.
---