Chapter 29 - Embers Beneath the Crown
"If fire is what they fear, then let me be the match."
The days had grown colder, though spring whispered just beyond the palace walls. Inside the stone halls of the empire, warmth had long since fled—replaced by suspicion, silence, and secrets.
Saren sat alone beneath the amber glow of the lanterns, a letter clutched in her hands. Her informant's elegant script stared back at her, damning and final:
"He knows. Your brother has set the trap. Flee, or fall."
Her breath shuddered. Not from fear. No—Saren didn't fear death. She feared what she'd have to leave behind.
Behind her, the door creaked open.
Alric.
He crossed the room in slow steps, his eyes soft yet searching. She did not turn, but he came anyway, lowering himself beside her chair, resting his arm gently across her lap.
"I know," he whispered.
She tensed.
He lifted his head, meeting her eyes. "I know the council. The letters. The hidden messengers. I've known for some time."
Her voice cracked. "Then why say nothing?"
"Because loving you has made me blind... and I never wanted to see clearly."
Her fingers reached for him—slow, trembling, desperate for something to hold on to in the collapsing dark. "I never meant to hurt you."
"I believe you."
She stared at him, wide-eyed.
"I believe that even if you once meant to destroy me, somewhere along the way, you changed," he said. "And so did I."
---
That night, they sat together in silence.
And in that silence, Saren finally told him everything.
About the throne.
About the competition she was denied.
About how she was made to bow simply because she was born second and a girl.
How she watched her brother fail and fall, and still be handed the future she had earned.
"I didn't want power for greed," she said. "I wanted it because it was mine. I was the one who stayed up reading until dawn, memorizing law, history, scripture. I was the one who passed every trial. But when it came to choosing... he chose my brother."
Alric listened without interrupting, holding her hand the entire time.
And when she finally said, "I never meant to fall in love with you," he only smiled sadly and whispered, "I did."
---
In the war room above, the Crown Prince stood over a map marked with blood-red pins.
Darian entered quietly.
"He will leave with her tonight," Darian said.
"I know," the Prince replied.
"They may reach the old forest if they ride hard. Beyond that, they'll vanish."
"I won't let them vanish," the Prince growled. "She took everything. You warned me. And I ignored you."
Darian said nothing. His face was unreadable, but his heart wavered.
"Send the riders," the Prince ordered. "Bring them back dead, if needed."
Darian hesitated—just for a moment—but then nodded.
Outside, the horses were being saddled.
The noose had been tied.
And the fire was ready to rise.
.....to be continued.....
Author's Note
This one left my heart a little bruised.
Saren's confession was a moment I've been aching to reach since the beginning. She finally let herself be seen—not as a schemer or a symbol, but as a girl who fought and lost, and bled for everything she never got to have. And Alric… he didn't flinch. He didn't retreat. He held her through the wreckage of everything she'd hidden.
That kind of love? That quiet, relentless loyalty? It's the most dangerous kind.
But this chapter is also the beginning of the end.
The Prince is done whispering. The storm is galloping in with blades drawn. And in between it all—two people are finally choosing each other, not for gain, not for duty… but for love. Even if it leads them straight to ruin.
You can probably guess what's coming next, can't you?
Saddle up, love. The tragedy begins now.
—your author