S2, Chapter 13: The First Crown
1578 Words
The bells did not stop.
Their sound traveled through the underground chamber and into the palace above, where soldiers were still fighting over corridors they no longer understood. Each note seemed to strike something inside my chest, until I could no longer tell whether the trembling beneath my feet came from the bells or from me.
The throne had gone silent.
Its silver roots remained wrapped around the black stone, but the light that had filled the chamber moments earlier had disappeared. Only the mark on my palm continued to glow.
Kael was the first to move.
He walked toward me carefully, as though approaching something that might disappear if he moved too quickly.
“Are you hurt?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“Did it speak again?”
I shook my head.
“It asked me to name my will.”
“And you chose the truth.”
“Yes.”
Lucian gave a quiet, humorless laugh.
“Of course she did.”
Kael looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the throne accepted her.”
Raithe was still kneeling several meters away. His sword lay beside him, forgotten.
He stared at me as though I had become something he no longer recognized.
“What happens now?” I asked.
Lucian looked toward the throne.
“Now the empire knows you're alive.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“The bells weren't caused by the palace.”
He pointed upward.
“The throne announced you.”
A chill passed through me.
“To whom?”
“Everyone.”
Kael's expression hardened.
“Then we leave.”
Lucian shook his head.
“Too late.”
The chamber doors opened.
Selene stood there.
Her dress was torn at the sleeve, and blood stained one side of her face. Two guards followed her, but neither appeared willing to come any farther into the chamber.
Her eyes went directly to the throne.
Then to me.
She stopped.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Finally, she whispered, “You awakened it.”
I looked at her.
“You knew this would happen.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father was alive.”
Selene closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
The answers came too easily.
I stepped toward her.
“Then tell me everything.”
Kael moved slightly, but Selene raised a hand.
“No.”
I stopped.
“Why?”
“Because once I tell you, there is no returning to the life you knew.”
I almost laughed.
“That life ended years ago.”
Something painful crossed her face.
“You don't understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
Selene looked at the throne.
“The First Crown does not grant power.”
She took a slow breath.
“It grants authority.”
Lucian nodded.
“The distinction matters.”
Selene continued.
“The ancient throne recognizes the bloodline that created the first laws of this empire. Whoever carries that blood can challenge the legitimacy of every ruler who came after.”
I looked at Kael.
“So I can take his throne.”
“No,” Selene said.
“You can take it from him.”
Kael remained silent.
The words should have frightened me.
Instead, they left me strangely empty.
“I don't want it.”
Selene looked at me.
“You may not want the crown.”
Her eyes dropped to the mark on my hand.
“But the crown wants you.”
Raithe suddenly spoke.
“Your Majesty.”
Selene turned.
“You've failed.”
His face tightened.
“I followed the council's order.”
“You followed cowards.”
“They said the Moonblood would destroy the empire.”
Selene's expression hardened.
“They were afraid of losing control.”
Raithe looked at me.
“What's the difference?”
Selene didn't answer.
Lucian did.
“The difference is that one is a prophecy and the other is politics.”
Raithe stared at him.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
“So were you, according to the official records.”
The commander looked away.
Kael stepped forward.
“Who sits on the council now?”
Selene's expression changed.
“Varian.”
“He's alive?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He was never in the council chamber.”
Kael frowned.
“What?”
“The man you saw was a decoy.”
Lucian's eyes narrowed.
“Then Varian is already gone.”
Selene nodded.
“He left before the attack began.”
“Where?”
“The capital.”
Kael looked toward the throne.
“Why?”
Selene hesitated.
“To find the second key.”
Lucian's expression darkened.
“There isn't a second key.”
“There is now.”
The chamber fell silent.
I looked at Selene.
“What is the second key?”
She didn't answer immediately.
Then she looked at Kael.
“Your blood.”
Kael's expression changed.
I felt the mark on my palm pulse.
Selene continued.
“The First Crown cannot fully awaken through one bloodline.”
Lucian understood first.
“The vessel.”
Selene nodded.
“The Ashthorne blood carries the other half.”
Kael looked at me.
“So that's why the contract chose us.”
“Yes.”
“And Varian knows.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if he gets my blood?”
Selene's silence answered before her words did.
“He can force the awakening.”
“And then?”
“The throne will choose a ruler.”
I looked at the black stone.
“Between us?”
Selene shook her head.
“Not necessarily.”
A cold feeling settled in my stomach.
“Then who?”
“The person who controls the ritual.”
Lucian cursed quietly.
Kael turned toward Raithe.
“Where is Varian going?”
Raithe hesitated.
Selene answered for him.
“The old capital.”
Kael's face went still.
“The ruins?”
“Yes.”
Lucian looked at the throne.
“The first temple.”
Selene nodded.
“If Varian reaches it before Elena does, he'll have access to the original records.”
“What records?”
“The ones your family spent centuries destroying.”
I looked at her.
“Why would he need records if he already knows about the throne?”
“Because he doesn't know how to control it.”
Selene stepped closer.
“And neither do you.”
The truth of that was difficult to argue with.
Kael sheathed his sword.
“Then we go.”
Selene looked at him.
“You cannot take her.”
“Why?”
“Because the moment you leave the palace with her, every faction in the empire will know where you are.”
Kael's expression hardened.
“They already know.”
“No.”
Selene looked toward me.
“They know she's alive.”
She paused.
“They don't yet know she's chosen you.”
I felt Kael's hand tighten around the hilt of his sword.
“Chosen me for what?”
Selene's eyes moved between us.
“The vessel.”
I looked at Kael.
He looked at me.
Neither of us spoke.
The Blood Contract suddenly felt heavier than any chain.
Lucian stepped toward the throne.
“We don't have time to argue.”
Selene nodded.
“The old capital is three days away.”
“Two,” Kael said.
“With an army.”
“Without one.”
Selene stared at him.
“You're considering abandoning the palace.”
“I won't abandon it.”
“You'll leave it leaderless.”
Kael looked toward the chamber entrance.
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“I'll leave it to someone I trust.”
Selene understood.
“Cassian.”
“Yes.”
“And the council?”
“I'll deal with them when I return.”
Selene gave him a tired smile.
“If you return.”
Kael didn't respond.
I looked down at my palm.
The silver mark had begun fading.
For the first time since it appeared, it no longer felt like a wound.
It felt like a door.
And somewhere beyond that door was a history that had been waiting for me longer than I had been alive.
I turned toward Kael.
“When do we leave?”
He looked at me.
“At dawn.”
Lucian shook his head.
“Tonight.”
Kael frowned.
“Why?”
Lucian walked toward the entrance.
“Because Varian isn't heading to the old capital alone.”
A distant horn sounded above us.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Selene's face went pale.
“What is it?”
Lucian looked toward the ceiling.
“An army.”
Kael drew his sword again.
“Whose?”
Lucian's answer was quiet.
“The empire's.”
The underground chamber began to tremble.
Above us, the bells suddenly stopped.
For the first time that night, there was complete silence.
Then every torch in the chamber went out.
A voice whispered through the darkness.
Not the voice of the throne.
Not my mother's.
Not even the voice I had heard before.
This one belonged to a man.
And it knew my name.
“Elena Voss.”
Kael moved in front of me.
The voice laughed softly.
“Your father found you.”
A pause.
“Now let me show you what he did to your mother.”
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