A Throne of Ash

The Morning After

The Council chamber was silent.

Smoke clung to the ceiling. Blood stained the marble beneath Markus's chair. Olivia sat at the head of the long table—elegant, poised, lethal.

She had power now.

And everyone knew it.

But victory never came clean.

Damon leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching her. There was something harder in his eyes now. Not distrust—something worse.

Understanding.

They both knew the storm wasn't over. It was just inside now.

The New Order

Olivia met with the remaining Council privately.

"You answer to me now," she said, voice calm but edged with steel.

Darian, always bold, dared speak.

"You act like a queen. But you're still just a girl who spilled blood to feel important."

She didn't blink.

"I am important because I survived. Because I rebuilt what your generation ruined. Because your fear gives me more power than your votes ever did."

She walked to Darian, leaned down beside him, and whispered:

"You call me a girl again, and I'll make you beg for your life before I remind you what I became to survive men like you."

His silence was absolute.

Damon's Nightmare

That night, Damon woke in a cold sweat. His dream was a memory—his first kill. A boy. Barely thirteen. Ordered by Markus. Rewarded with silence.

Aurelia had said he was meant for more.

But what if the monster Markus forged couldn't be unmade?

He stared into the mirror, fists trembling.

"You chose her," he reminded himself. "You're not their weapon anymore."

But part of him wondered if he'd only traded one leash for another.

An Old Flame Returns

At dawn, the guards dragged a woman into the estate. Wet from the storm, blood on her cheek, eyes burning with fire.

Aurelia stood at the door, watching.

"You left me in that hell," the woman spat.

"I thought you were dead."

"No. Just forgotten."

Aurelia turned to the guards. "Bring her in. Treat her wounds. And keep your mouths shut."

The woman's name was Cassia.

Once Aurelia's second-in-command. And once—Damon's lover.

Tensions Rise

Olivia sensed the shift in Damon before she saw the woman. His voice was different. His eyes kept drifting.

"You knew her," Olivia said.

"Yes."

"Did you love her?"

He didn't answer.

And that said more than any yes ever could.

Olivia turned away. "Then maybe she'll remind you who you used to be."

He caught her wrist.

"I don't need reminding. I need you."

But for the first time, Olivia wasn't sure that was true.

The New Threat

A letter arrived at the estate.

No seal. Just a black rose inside.

Damon opened it.

"One queen down. One to go. — M"

Olivia's heart went cold.

Markus was gone. Escaped custody.

And the rose meant one thing:

He wasn't working alone anymore.