SWNOVELXO Chapter 22: Chapter 22 – Let Her Burn
The ashes of the assassin hadn't cooled by morning.
Kaelith's blade still rested at his hip.
And Elara-dressed in mourning black now-walked the palace halls like a storm wrapped in silk.
Gone was the soft-spoken girl who whispered to the stars.
She had tasted peace.
And found blood in its aftertaste.
The High Chamber met again before sunrise.
Emergency session.
This time, Elara did not wait to be introduced.
She stepped to the center of the chamber, voice cutting through the silence.
"There was an attempt on my life last night.
It failed.
But I will not wait for the second attempt."
Lord Aenrik folded his arms smugly. "You walk like royalty but wear no crown."
Kaelith stood. "Then give her one."
Gasps.
The Queen Dowager rose. "You cannot be serious."
"She was once the curse of this court," Aenrik added, "and now you want her to rule it?"
Elara's voice dropped to a deadly calm.
"I don't want your crown.
I want your liars.
Your whisperers.
Your killers."
A pulse of magic rippled from her fingertips-just enough to flicker the torches in their holders.
"I want every name who fed off the divine order's fear, who kept the curse alive for power."
Later that day, four nobles were arrested.
Two confessed under truth-spell.
One slit his throat before the spell was cast.
The fourth? Lady Thirelle-clever, quiet, and far more dangerous than she appeared.
She smiled in her cell.
"The throne doesn't burn, my lady," she whispered when Elara entered.
"But queens do."
Elara stared at her for a moment.
Then knelt.
And whispered back:
"Then I hope it's hot enough."
That night, Elara met Kaelith alone on the balcony of the Eastern Spire.
The moon was high.
The city was quiet.
But something in the air had changed.
"I was never meant for this," she said softly.
"You were meant to survive," Kaelith replied. "And you did."
She shook her head.
"I don't want to rule, Kaelith."
"Then don't."
He took her hand.
"Rule with me."
She looked up at him.
And-for the first time in countless lives-she didn't feel like a ghost of someone else.
She felt present.
Here.
Now.
Real.
But far below, in the dungeons beneath the court…
Lady Thirelle vanished from her cell.
No spell. No lock broken.
Just a folded letter left behind, resting on ash.
"The gods are not gone.
They've simply found a new vessel.
And she is far less kind than Elara."