Chapter 45
Elara’s POV
The fortress groaned under the weight of war.
From the highest balcony, I could see the horizon burning—a line of smoke and fire where Lucien had taken the army out to meet Kael’s forces. The sky was bruised purple and ash-gray, the air thick with the acrid tang of charred wood and blood I could almost taste. The soldiers who remained behind—the old, the wounded, and the green—looked at me for direction. Me. Not the hardened captains. Not the iron-helmed knights.
The queen who had once been a shadow.
The queen who had once doubted she even had a claim.
And now—the queen who must keep them alive.
The fortress was supposed to hold. The scouts had sworn Kael’s main force had followed Lucien. But the enemy was cleverer than we guessed. I heard it in the hurried wh
