THORNS OF THE FORGOTTEN CROWN

CHAPTER TEN: OATHS AND SHADOWS

After the Duel

Silence clung to the arena like a second skin. The roar of the crowd had died, leaving only the crackle of torches and the hiss of fractured sigils. Kael stood at the center of the chaos, sword drawn, breathing heavily.

Liora knelt behind him, her lip bleeding, her fire flickering low. The twins from House Serenth had withdrawn—barely conscious from the backlash of broken blood wards—but it wasn’t over.

Above them, the Regent rose slowly from his throne.

“Kael Virell,” his voice echoed cold and smooth, “you stand accused of violating sacred combat protocol. For this, you forfeit your place in the tournament.”

Kael sheathed his sword, not blinking. “Then I forfeit with pride.”

A murmur rippled through the nobles. Some in outrage. Some… in admiration.

“And the girl?” the Regent added, eyes narrowing on Liora.

“She was attacked under false conditions,” Kael growled. “You changed the rules. She was never meant to survive.”

The Regent said nothing for a long moment. Then, smiling faintly, he nodded to the guards.

“Escort them both to the House of Chains. We’ll determine truth… through the old ways.”

Chains? Liora’s jaw tensed. That wasn’t trial. That was punishment.

As the guards advanced, Thalen stood in the shadows of the colonnade, eyes locked on the sigils still glowing in the cracked stone.

“Something is changing,” he whispered to himself. “And we’re running out of time.”

---

In the Walls of Power

Far from the arena, deep within the western archive halls, Nyra moved swiftly past sealed scroll vaults and rusted memory locks. The scent of old magic and mold clung to the air.

She paused before a gilded door engraved with thorned lilies. Whispering a phrase in the lost tongue, she placed her hand on the seal.

The door clicked open.

Inside, maps of the ancient palace covered the walls—beneath them, diagrams of magical wells, leyline fractures, and red-scribed warnings about "Blood Root Systems" and “Gate Resonance Points.”

All of it… under the tournament arena.

She froze as a page fluttered off the desk. She picked it up and saw it: a sketch of Liora’s face, with the word “Catalyst” etched in red beneath.

Behind her, the shadows shifted.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Nyra spun, blade drawn—but it was Riven, stepping from the darkness, his gray cloak hiding him like smoke.

“I was hoping you’d come here,” he said calmly.

“Why?”

“Because I’ve found the rest of it.”

He handed her a sealed scrollcase marked with the Regent’s signet.

Nyra cracked the wax, unrolling the scroll.

Her blood ran cold.

A ritual schedule. Not for the tournament.

For the Gate.

The Regent planned to sacrifice the top three winners… to fully open it.

---

Two Paths Collide

Nyra paced, fury in her eyes. “He’s using the duels to thin the bloodlines, to empower the Gate with royal essence.”

Riven nodded. “And if Liora’s the catalyst, then her death or awakening… will complete the seal break.”

Nyra clenched the scroll. “We need to get her out of the House of Chains. Kael too.”

“We’ll need help,” Riven said. “And fast. Before the final rite begins.”