Queen of Ashes

The man I crossed battlefields for sat beside the woman who stole everything from me. My wrists bled beneath silver chains. Thousands watched from the execution square. Not one stepped forward. Not even my son. The winter wind cut through the plaza like sharpened steel, carrying the scent of snow and smoke. It whipped strands of silver hair across my face, but I couldn't lift my bound hands to move them. I stood on the execution platform built in the center of Moonfang City. The same city I had protected. The same city whose walls I had defended while arrows rained from the sky and enemy armies surrounded our gates. The same city whose people had once called me their Crimson Queen. Now they looked at me as though I were a monster. A traitor. A criminal. A disgrace. The irony would have made me laugh if my heart wasn't already dead. Above me, dark clouds swallowed the afternoon sun. The kingdom's banners fluttered from every tower. Black wolves embroidered in silver thread. The symbol of House Nightshade. My husband's house. The house I had spent five years strengthening. Five years sacrificing for. Five years bleeding for. Five years loving. And now it would become my grave. The crowd murmured below. Thousands of voices blending together. Some curious. Some excited. Some hateful. No one grieving. No one mourning. No one remembering. Perhaps that hurt the most. How easily people forgot. How easily devotion became invisible. How easily loyalty was erased. A trumpet sounded. The crowd immediately fell silent. My gaze slowly lifted. Toward the royal platform. Toward the throne. Toward him. Alpha King Darius Nightshade. My mate. My husband. My executioner. He sat upon the silver throne wearing ceremonial black. As handsome as the day we met. As cold as winter itself. The crown rested upon his dark hair. The same crown I had helped him earn. The same crown I had nearly died protecting. Yet his eyes held nothing when they met mine. Nothing. No anger. No sorrow. No regret. Only indifference. As though I were a stranger. As though I had never mattered. A woman sat beside him. Beautiful. Elegant. Smiling. Celeste Evermoon. The kingdom's beloved princess. The woman who had stolen my life one piece at a time. Her pale fingers rested possessively on Darius's arm. A gesture so intimate it should have enraged me. Instead, I felt strangely numb. Perhaps betrayal exhausted itself eventually. Perhaps there came a point when the wound became too deep to hurt. Or perhaps my heart simply no longer had anything left to break. Then I saw him. My breath caught. Not from pain. Not from surprise. But from a grief so old and familiar that it had become part of my soul. Adrian. My son. He stood beside Celeste. Nine years old. Dark hair. Golden eyes. His father's face. My smile. The child I had carried. The child I nearly died giving birth to. The child whose tiny fingers once wrapped around mine. The child who used to cry whenever I left for battle. The child who had once called me Mama. Now he stood closer to Celeste than he did to me. His small hand held hers. Not mine. Hers. A thousand memories crashed through me. His first steps. His first laugh. The nights I stayed awake beside his bed when fever threatened his life. The lullabies. The stories. The promises. All of it. All of it reduced to this. A stranger looking at me from across a crowd. Adrian noticed my gaze. For one terrible second, hope stirred in me, Just a little. Just enough to hurt. Maybe,just maybe … Maybe he would remember. Maybe he would see me. Maybe … His expression hardened. The hope died instantly. He looked away. As though ashamed to know me. My knees nearly buckled. Not from the chains. Not from exhaustion. But from that look. Because enemies can betray you. Strangers can abandon you. But your child? That wound never heals. Would this wound ever go away? A herald stepped forward. "Former Queen Seraphina Ashbourne." The title struck like a blade. Former. Not Queen. Not mother. Not wife. Former. Erased with a single word. "You stand accused of treason against the Crown, conspiracy against the Alpha King, attempted murder of Princess Celeste Evermoon, and collusion with enemy territories." The charges echoed across the square. You stand accused of treason against the Crown, conspiracy against the Alpha King, attempted murder of Princess Celeste Evermoon, and collusion with enemy territories." The charges echoed across the square. Lies. Every one of them. But lies repeated often enough eventually became truth. I had learned that too late. The herald unfurled a scroll. "The evidence has been reviewed by the royal council." The council. Half of whom owed their positions to me. Interesting. Not one of them had spoken in my defense. Cowards. "The sentence determined by His Majesty” My gaze remained fixed on Darius. Still nothing. Not even a flicker. Did he truly believe I was guilty? Or had he simply stopped caring? Which was worse? I wasn't sure. Perhaps I didn't want to know. The herald's voice rang out. "Death." The crowd erupted. Cheers. Applause. Excitement. As though they were witnessing entertainment. As though a woman was not about to die. I closed my eyes. The sound washed over me. Five years. Five years. How had everything unraveled so quickly? No. Not quickly. Slowly. So slowly I hadn't noticed until it was too late. The whispers. The rumors. The distance. The coldness. The way Darius began consulting Celeste instead of me. The way Adrian spent more time with her. The way servants stopped meeting my eyes. The way council meetings excluded me. The way my own palace became foreign. By the time I realized what was happening, the trap had already closed. "Do you have any final words?"