Princess zetulah viridian POV;
(House Moriba – The Hidden Catacombs, Midnight)
Footsteps. Too close. Too loud.
I didn't look back—couldn't. The air pressed in, thick with damp stone and ancient magic, bitter on my tongue. Shadows stretched like clawed hands as we tore through the tunnels. One misstep, and Moriba's marble would drink our blood.
Kaelith stumbled. I caught him. His weight nearly sent us both crashing to the ground. Blood pattered onto the stone. His blood.
"Move," I hissed.
He coughed, grip slipping. "Not… exactly… peak condition here."
Torchlight carved deep hollows under his eyes. That red-gold gaze—dulling, dimming. Guilt coiled tight in my gut, but I crushed it beneath urgency.
A single clap sliced through the dark.
I froze.
Syrene materialized, smile sharper than her guards' blades. "Scurrying away, little mouse?"
My dagger felt miles away.
Trapped. The city lights blinked far below, taunting stars in the abyss. Kaelith sagged against the rail, breath hitching. Wet. Ragged. Dying.
Syrene swirled her wine, amused. "Why run," she crooned, "when we could rule?"
I bared my teeth. "Spit it out."
She drifted closer, silk whispering against the cold night air. "Moriba bows to no one. Neither do you." A nail tinked against her goblet. "Join me. Tear Emberclaw's throat out… together."
Kaelith snarled. "Zetulah—don't—"
My pulse roared. Trust a viper? Or die here, leaving the rebellion in ash?
"Your price?" I bit out.
"Loyalty." Her grin widened. "Or kaelith gets new toys for his dungeon."
---
(Viridian Encampment – Dawn)
Solric stood statue-still. Dawn bled across Moriba's sealed scroll.
Three lines:
Don't come.
Not yet.
Trust me.
"Damn you." His voice cracked.
The ground trembled. Fire bloomed on the horizon—Moriba's banner curling to cinders.
Solric's laughter broke, jagged. "Too late."
---
(House Emberclaw – War Council Chamber, Noon)
Ragnis' claw scorched the map. "Neutral?" Smoke curled from his fist. "Lies."
The messenger trembled. "T-their words, Your Grace—"
A laugh. Low. Crackling like kindling.
General Vornar stepped forward. "Orders?"
Ragnis' smile burned brighter than the map. "Let Moriba burn first."
---
(House Moriba – Syrene's Chambers)
Gold cuffs chafed my wrists. Kaelith's glare could melt stone.
Syrene tilted her head. "Regrets?"
"Had a choice?" I spat.
She laughed. Outside, the sky bled orange. Emberclaw's flames.
"Feel that?" She pressed closer, breath hot against my skin. "The world breaking."
Her eyes weren't just hungry. They were ravenous.
I closed my eyes. Let the firelight sting.
Wolves at the gate.
And the only shield against annihilation?
A viper's promise… and my own damn lies.
—----------------------------
The chains didn't just bite. They seethed. Forged with cruelty, alive with a magic that hissed against my skin, sending curses through my veins. Every movement was a whisper of power, the metal a constant reminder: I was bound, not just by iron, but by fate itself.
Kaelith paced. Slow, deliberate, the sound of his boots grinding against marble like the countdown to something inevitable. He moved like a storm, circling the calm before it shattered.
"You're really considering her deal?" His voice cracked like stone under pressure—sharp, fragile. Not anger. No, something worse. Something I didn't want to name.
I exhaled, watching my breath shudder in the air. The chains flexed as I leaned forward. "Considering? No. I've already decided."
Kaelith stopped. His shadow engulfed me, dark enough to swallow whole. "They'll kill you the second you're useless."
"Then I'll make myself so useful it terrifies them."
Silence. It hung heavy between us, thick with the weight of unsaid things. Finally, a dry scoff, like the sound of dead leaves caught in the wind. "You're not this stupid."
"No?" My gaze held his, unflinching. "What's the alternative? Die here? Let Emberclaw grind the rebellion into dust?"
His jaw tightened, his red-gold eyes flickering with something I couldn't place—was it panic? Fear? For me? The thought made my stomach twist.
Kaelith looked away, turning from the truth between us.
"You'll get us both killed," he muttered.
I smiled. Cold. Sharp. "Then what's life without a little fire?"
He didn't laugh. Didn't even flinch. He stared at me like he was already seeing the pyre I was preparing for us both.
Syrene's throne wasn't just a seat. It was a declaration. Carved from bone, veins of gold slithering through it like poisoned blood. The flickering torches bathed it in a cold glow, a predator waiting in the dark.
She lounged like a queen in her den, spinning a dagger between her fingers. "Loyalty," she purred, eyes gleaming. "It's a dance, darling. Let's see your steps."
The blade stopped, its tip cold and precise, aimed straight for my heart.
"Azzuri's army," she said, voice thick with venom. "Crush them."
The command struck like a blade to my ribs. Kallan's face flashed in my mind, the image of his steely resolve—the way he had gripped my shoulder months ago: "We don't kneel." And now here I was, a weapon turned against him.
Syrene tilted her head, her smile predatory. "Problem?"
Yes. A hundred problems, but I forced them down. My voice remained steady, flat. "I'll do it."
Her laughter slithered across the room, low and dangerous. "Oh, I know you will. The question is… will you hesitate?"
The air crackled. Her words weighed heavy in my chest, the chains of my own soul tightening with the weight of her demand. Would I hesitate? Could I? The answer gnawed at me, gnashing its teeth.
---
(House Moriba – The Hidden Tunnels, Midnight)
The tunnels smelled of rot and damp earth. Kaelith's torch flickered, the shadows stretching like fingers, grasping at me, pulling me deeper into the darkness.
"This is suicide," he growled, voice laced with fear.
"You've mentioned." My boots slipped, finding purchase on the slick stone beneath us. "Got a better plan?"
"Stay alive."
"This is staying alive."
His hand shot out, seizing my arm, yanking me to a stop. "No. This is you bargaining with death. Again."
His fingers burned, his grip tightening like a vice. His eyes... his eyes—something in them made me want to break. Scream. Tell him I wasn't the same girl anymore. But the words got lost, tangled in something too fragile to voice.
For a moment, I swore I saw him hesitate. His thumb brushed my wrist—a soft, fleeting touch. An accident.
I yanked my arm away. "Keep up, Kaelith."
He cursed under his breath, but followed. Like he always did.
---
(House Azzuri – The Ice Fortress, Dawn)
Kallan's fortress wasn't cold—it hated you. The wind howled, slicing through armor and flesh, sinking deep into bone.
He stood on the battlements, back straight, as unmoving as the fortress itself. His gaze cut through me like a winter storm.
"You betrayed us," his voice was pure ice.
I closed the distance between us, the air so frigid it stole my breath. "No." I took another step, my voice unwavering. "I'm saving us."
He laughed. The sound was jagged, like glass breaking in the wind. "By siding with Moriba?"
"By surviving." The words slipped through the cracks of the wind. "Emberclaw is coming. Moriba's a snake. But Azzuri? You're stubborn. You're the only ones who—"
"Who what?" He turned to face me, his glacier eyes burning with cold fury. "Trusted you?"
The truth lodged between us, sharp, unforgiving.
I unsheathed my dagger, offering it hilt-first. "Then kill me. Or fight."
His eyes narrowed, the storm in his gaze becoming a blizzard. For a moment, the dagger wavered in my hand, my pulse thundering in my ears.
Finally, he took it. His fingers closed around the hilt, and for the first time, I felt his grip as cold as the fortress we stood in.
"Make it worth it."
---
(House Emberclaw – War Room, Noon.)
Ragnis didn't pace. He burned. His fingers hovered over the war map, and where they touched, the parchment blackened, curling into cinders as if the very touch of his skin could incinerate it.
"Azzuri marches?"
A general nodded, beads of sweat clinging to h
is forehead.
Ragnis smiled, the flames in his eyes brightening. His voice was a whisper, but it carried the promise of inferno. "Good." He leaned closer, and the map burned brighter. "Let them taste true fire."