The air in the Imperial Sun Court was thick with perfume and poison—lavish colors, soft laughter, and veiled threats passed among nobles like coins in the dark. Beneath golden chandeliers and banners woven with light-thread, the nobles of the four great houses mingled around the central dais.
At its heart stood High Queen Lysandra Solmere, robed in sun-gold and judgment, flanked by silver-robed Sentinels. Her face betrayed no favor.Caelum Solmere entered through the twin mirrored gates, posture tall, new crest glowing faintly beneath his ceremonial armor-robe. Dozens of eyes turned.
> "The boy returns," whispered Lord Halrix Valehart, sharp of tongue and cruel of eye.
> "With fire in his veins and rebellion in his blood," murmured Lady Meryn Thornecrest, sipping nectar wine.
They all remembered the rumors: illegitimate origins, the lowborn mother, the academy scuffle, the loss of Solmere's prestige years ago.
Caelum ascended the marble steps to the Queen's side and knelt.
> "You called, Your Majesty."
> "Your flame has awakened," Lysandra said. "You are no longer a child of heritage but of power. That demands responsibility."
She motioned, and a golden scroll floated to him—bearing the royal sigil and blood-seal of war
> "You are to represent House Solmere at the Celestial Symposium—three moons hence, in the city of Liorael. And you will speak on our stance regarding the Magocratic Reformation Treaty."
Gasps echoed. That treaty was a political firestorm. Most thought he'd never be trusted with such a task.
> "But... I'm still a student," Caelum said.
> "And yet, you're the only Solmere with a Crest of Revelation," Lysandra said coldly. "Our enemies hide their truths behind shining lies. You will burn through them.
Later, in the sunlit rose gardens, Seren Elowen waited beneath a marble arch, fingers dancing over her spell-gloves.
> "You made quite the impression," she said as Caelum approached. "Half the court wants you dead. The other half wants to marry you."
> "Then I suppose I should be careful with both halves.
She smiled faintly. But her eyes drifted to his glowing crest. "That mark… I saw something similar during the mission at Tharvalon. But it was twisted. Thorned."
Caelum frowned. "A rebellion symbol?"
> "Not just rebellion," she said. "Reconstruction. Reversal. Someone is rewriting what should be impossible."
She hesitated.
> "I need to show you something. But not here.
Elsewhere, deep within the Obsidian Chapel of Thorns, the villainous heir of the rebellion—Riven Vale, known only to a few—stood before a table of relics stolen from the Academy's vaults.
Runic crystals, bloodbound keys, a shattered piece of an ancient crest—the very crest Solarian once bore.The Flame Prince moves toward Liorael," said Rebel Lieutenant Valtros.
Good," Riven replied. "The symposium will be chaos. And within it, his truth will burn him."
He held out a hand. One of the shattered crest fragments floated upward.He is flame shows truth. Mine rewrites it. Let's see whose light the world believes.Back in Crescent Academy, Caelum and Seren slipped into the Hall of Veiled Histories, a forbidden wing that only select staff and nobles could access.
The moonlight through stained glass shimmered across mosaic panels—stories from centuries ago. But one panel had been scratched, burned, almost erased.
Seren revealed a hidden sigil beneath her sleeve—the same thorned emblem she'd seen at Tharvalon. When she pressed it to the mosaic, the wall melted away, revealing a hidden chamber.
> "My mother used to work here, before she vanished," she whispered. "She said truth and falsehood share the same face in the court. Inside, Caelum found a manuscript bound in cursed gold.
Its title: "The Unwritten Lineage: Bloodlines of Fire and Thorn."
> "It speaks of a forgotten child of Solarian," Seren said. "Erased, because he threatened the divine order."Caelum opened the manuscript—and saw his own face, and another boy's, side by side. Twins?
> "Who is he?"
Seren shook her head. "The boy who vanished. And whose shadow still burns."
Far beyond, at the edge of the continent of Vorthmyr, the dark continent of Sablemere, Riven stood at a broken altar, staring into a pool of shattered stars.Let the Crown rise. Let its light shine for all to see.He cut his palm, dripping blood into the waters.
> "And I will be the thorn that pierces the sun."