elf had bowed before the queen's will. The long crimson banners still hung from vaulted ceilings. The polished marble floor reflected twis

wed like ink, her gown a cascade of black silk laced with living veins. Her crown-an antl

His armor bore the scars of a hundred fights, cracked and charred. The urn at his side p

moment, si

h

he said, voice as smooth as glass

. You killed what I was-and I r

rned hollow sockets toward him. Once-princes, poets, lords, lovers.

ya s

the stairs like mist sliding down glass. "I offer

owled. "I saw what you did to the oth

ping inches from him

hat-she to

-

to Lysarion's mouth, an entire battlefield resurrected in screaming silence, a child burned in a cradle of blue flame-and El

held the

whis

ke

-

n spli

p-felt rather than heard. They wrapped around Elirya's limbs like coils of cold breath

asped. "The

ours," Kael growle

mned s

ed out as if trying to break free from their bondage. The throne pulsed and cracked, black blood oozing

ya f

hand-and Kael's

a br

tarted

-

roken blade in

t and white, writhing like flame. Sh

the only thing th

u killed her. I'm just fi

ted the

he souls surged into her, around her, through her. Her scream became many, her beauty unraveling

fe

one sha

it, Velmo

-

began to

spered thanks to Kael as they dissolved. The light in the chan

alone in

kneel. Di

tur

ugh the ruin, leavi

-

log

y. Others say Kael vanished into the western wastes, carrying the urn-seale

en the wind carries whispers and old ba

gle v

scre

mour

sa

emembe

rememb