Ashes of the crown

POV: Ariya 🔥❄️🌀

Pain licked along her spine like a second heartbeat.

Not the pain of injury — but of memory, returning too fast, too raw.

Ariya lay curled in Kael's arms near the fire, her breath uneven, her mark glowing brighter than ever. Twin flames—orange and icy blue—wrapped around her collarbone like a burning crown.

"She's burning up," Kael muttered, cradling her tighter. "Jax, more water—now!"

"I got it, I got it!" Jax fumbled with the flask, his voice unusually serious.

"What's happening to her?" Lyra asked, kneeling beside them.

"The dreams are taking over," Kael said. "She's breaking."

"Or waking," Lyra whispered, eyes wide with fear.

Somewhere inside the storm of pain, Ariya saw it all:

A cradle made of frostglass.A woman cloaked in shadows.A man with glowing blue eyes whispering,"She must never know. The world will fear her."

And then: fire. Chains. A seal carved into her mind.

A choice stolen before she ever had a voice.

"No…" she gasped. "That wasn't my beginning. That was my prison."

Suddenly, footsteps thundered down the hill.

Blades were drawn.

Kael turned protectively as Lyra stood to shield Ariya.

Then—

"Wait—don't attack!" a voice cried. "I'm not your enemy!"

Everyone froze.

A woman emerged from the shadows, dressed in travel-worn silver, a flickering flame orb in her palm. Her hair was silver-blonde, braided tight. Her eyes—sharp, royal.

Lira.

"Who the hell—" Jax started.

"Princess Lira of the Frost Court," Lyra said slowly, recognition dawning.

Kael narrowed his eyes. "Ruvan's sister?"

Lira raised both hands. "Yes. And I came alone. I'm not here to hurt her."

"You're his blood," Kael growled. "You don't get to speak like a friend."

"Then speak to me like her only warning," Lira said. "Because she's waking up to a truth your prince would kill to keep buried."

Ariya stirred.

The blue glow flared again.

She sat up slowly, her voice hoarse.

"You… I saw you in a dream."

Lira blinked. "You did?"

Ariya nodded, pain flickering in her eyes. "You were the one who tried to stop him."

"I still am."

She knelt before her.

"You were taken from your real family. Your power was sealed with frost because it terrified them. Because you are both—Flame and Frost. The one thing our world fears."

"A weapon?" Ariya whispered.

Lira shook her head. "A balance. You're not destruction. You're possibility."

Ariya's breath hitched.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Lira looked away. "Because power like yours doesn't just shift kingdoms. It ends them."

Silence blanketed the camp.

Even the fire crackled softly, as if waiting.

Then Ariya stood, swaying slightly. Kael steadied her.

Her eyes glowed faintly—one orange, one pale blue.

"If this is true… then I'm done running."

Kael's expression tightened. "Ariya—"

"No. No more hiding. No more secrets. I'll find every piece of who I was, and I'll decide who I'll become."

"And if Ruvan comes for you?" Lira asked.

Ariya met her gaze.

"Then he'll find out I'm not afraid of him anymore."

Far away, in the citadel, Ruvan stood before the frostglass mirror, watching it shatter into dust.

He felt it — the moment her mark fully awakened.

The moment the seal broke.

He whispered to himself:

"Now she remembers."

He didn't smile.

Not this time.

He turned to the shadows behind him.

"Ready the next move. It's time to break her heart… before it becomes strong enough to resist me."