Third person's POV
Camila forced herself to breathe.
Forced herself to steady her racing heart.
"Then we fight now," she said.
She touched the bump beneath her robes—the tiny life inside her—and swore she would burn the heavens before letting anything take it from her.
By noon, the truth came out.
The council—cowards to the last—had already struck a secret deal.
With a dark emissary from the Deep Ones.
They thought offering Camila—offering the Flameborn—would buy their survival.
Their messenger arrived at the palace gates, cloaked in shadow, with an army of silver-eyed wraiths.
And a message.
"Give us the child," the creature hissed, voice scraping like dry bone. "And your kingdom shall stand."
The council agreed.
They sent the emissary into the palace… with secret maps to Camila's chambers.
But they didn't count on Cassie.
She overheard the plotting.
And she ran.
