The ocean mist rolled in like ghosts.
Thick, salty, and full of rumors.
Selene stood at the edge of the eastern cliffs as the first ship appeared on the horizon, sails black as coal, hull lined with silver-painted bone.
It was not Veredon's design.
Nor any kingdom under her banner.
This was something older.
Something darker.
Ingrid approached slowly, boots crunching gravel beneath her robes.
"Your Majesty," she said. "The vessel hails from the Marrow Empire."
Selene didn't turn.
"Send no greeting."
"But,"
"Let them dock in silence. I want them to feel the weight of our eyes, not our welcome."
The Marrow Empire had not dared cross into Veredon's waters since the last border conflict, a quiet war fought through diplomacy, spies, and coin.
But this ship bore no diplomat's sigil.
Only the crest of Emperor Kael himself, a dragon twisted in chains, its mouth open in silent roar.
By mid-morning, the emissary stood in the throne room.
Alone.
No guards.
No gifts.
No mask of ceremony.
Just a tall, silver-haired figure dressed in a robe of dust-colored silk.
His eyes were black.
Truly black, no whites, no iris. Like he had stared too long into fire and lost the right to reflect light.
He bowed, slow and deliberate.
"Queen of Flame," he said.
"Or should I say… child of the forgotten blood?"
Selene didn't rise from the throne.
She had taken to sitting now with one leg hooked casually over the side, her sword propped beside her instead of the scepter.
She let the insult hover.
Then replied.
"You sailed across kingdoms to throw riddles?"
The emissary smiled.
"To deliver truth."
"And the truth is?"
He reached into his robe.
Withdrawing a scroll bound in green ribbon, Marrow's color for war.
He handed it to Ingrid.
Selene did not reach for it.
Instead, she asked:
"Is this a declaration?"
The man tilted his head.
"It's a warning."
"Then deliver it in your own words."
The emissary's voice dropped.
"Emperor Kael acknowledges your rise. But warns you: every fire feeds on oxygen."
"And?"
"He controls the wind."
A ripple moved through the court.
Elric stiffened.
Even Ingrid's pen stopped scratching.
But Selene?
She smiled.
"You think I haven't prepared for the wind?"
She rose now, slow and controlled.
"Let me tell you something, emissary. You can warn your emperor that I have burned through betrayal. That I have swallowed poison and spat out power. That I wear a crown of my own blood and sit on a throne built from the bones of those who underestimated me."
She descended the steps, eyes locked on his.
"And you think a breeze will stop me?"
The emissary didn't blink.
But Selene could see the pulse in his neck.
He was human, after all.
"Kael respects flame," he said. "But even the fiercest fire dims when it's surrounded."
Selene stepped closer.
"And I intend to surround him with ash."
She turned.
"You may return to your master."
The emissary remained still.
Then said one last thing:
"He was right about one thing."
Selene raised an eyebrow.
"You do look like her."
She froze.
"...Who?"
But the emissary only bowed again.
Then walked out without another word.
The court murmured.
Selene turned to Ingrid, whose face had paled.
Ingrid whispered, "There was only one woman Kael ever bowed to. A blood mage. A queen. A rebel."
"Name?"
Ingrid licked her lips.
"Verenya Arlont."
Selene's heart stilled.
That name.
Her mother's name.
Not spoken aloud in a decade.
Not remembered… except by the shadows.
She left the court in silence.
Retreated to the old war tower.
There, she opened the scroll.
And read:
"If fire forgets its origin, it becomes smoke."
"We remember your lineage, Selene of the Ashline."
"We remember your mother's betrayal."
"We are not here to crush you. We are here to complete you."
"Come to the Ember Sea. Alone. In seven days."
"Or we will come to you."
She let the scroll drop.
And whispered:
"So it wasn't just the Circle."
"It was all of them."
The Circle.
The Silent Throne.
And now… Marrow.
They were not disconnected enemies.
They were pieces of the same design.
A world built on control.
On burning women who refused to kneel.
Selene rose from the tower.
She did not tremble.
She did not panic.
She summoned her mapmaster.
"Give me routes to the Ember Sea. No escorts. No banners."
"My queen?"
"Seven days."
Elric arrived next.
"You're leaving?"
"Yes."
"Alone?"
"That's the condition."
"It's a trap."
"Then I'll burn it."
As night fell, Selene stood before the mirror.
Uncrowned.
Unarmored.
She studied her own face.
Not the queen.
Not the legend.
Just the woman.
And behind her, reflected in the mirror, not in the room, a figure appeared.
Her mother.
Just for a second.
A shadow.
A memory.
A warning.
Selene didn't turn.
She didn't need to.
She only whispered:
"I know what you were."
"But I'm not here to finish your rebellion."
"I'm here to end the world that killed you."
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