Setting: Post-Masquerade aftermath, Velaris palace and dueling grounds.
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[Scene 1 – The Broken Glass Room]
Morning came too early.
Lyra stood at the edge of her chamber, watching the shattered sunlight pour through the stained glass. The colors danced across her skin — violet, rose, and gold — like lies dressed as beauty.
In her hand, the crystal orb still glowed faintly.
> "If we control her, we control the realm…"
The memory of Thorne's voice replayed with cruel clarity.
She should've destroyed it. Thrown it into the sea. Screamed until her voice gave out.
But instead, she had sat in silence all night, letting her heart harden.
A knock came.
Alina.
> "Lyra, the court... they're all talking. There's whispers about Thorne. Kaelrin hasn't spoken to anyone since dawn. And the Queen... she's summoned the council."
> "Let them talk," Lyra whispered. "This time, I will speak louder."
She turned, eyes sharper than steel.
> "Prepare my court attire. No embroidery. No softness. I'm not here to be admired."
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[Scene 2 – Council of Thorns]
The High Council of Velaris gathered under the Queen's command.
The chamber was circular, its domed ceiling painted with ancient stars. Kaelrin stood to the left, expression like carved ice. Thorne stood to the right, leaning casually against a marble pillar, mask gone but smugness intact.
Lyra entered last — dressed in pure onyx velvet, hair braided like a crown, no jewels but her gaze gleaming with intent.
All rose.
Even the Queen blinked.
> "Lady Lyra," the monarch said, "we did not summon you—"
> "But I came," Lyra cut in. "Because I was the one whispered about. And I have no patience left for shadows."
She walked to the center.
> "Last night, someone tried to frame Kaelrin. But the truth slipped from their own lips instead."
She held up the orb.
Kaelrin tensed. Thorne's eyes flickered.
She activated the projection.
Thorne's voice filled the hall:
> "If Kaelrin falls, the throne is ours to split. I don't need her heart. I need her bloodline."
Gasps.
The Queen rose slowly. Her voice, cold and thunderous:
> "Lord Thorne... you dare plot within my walls?"
Thorne didn't deny it. Instead, he stepped forward with mock innocence.
> "That was taken out of context. Every ambitious man is guilty of vision."
Kaelrin finally spoke.
> "Then let's see what vision you have left after you answer me on the field."
A long silence.
The Queen sat.
> "So be it," she said. "A duel. At moonrise. No heir may kill another — but blood may be drawn. The winner… keeps their place beside the throne."
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[Scene 3 – The Hour Before Moonrise]
In the training yard, Kaelrin stood alone, tuning the balance of his twin swords.
Lyra entered. He didn't turn.
> "You should not be here," he said quietly.
> "Then tell me to leave," she challenged.
He sighed. "If I falter tonight, promise me... you won't let him near you again."
She stepped closer.
> "You think this is about me choosing between you?"
> "Isn't it?"
> "No," she whispered. "It's about me choosing myself — for the first time."
Their eyes met — raw, honest.
Then she did something neither expected.
She kissed him.
A brief, broken kiss — not soft, but sharp, desperate, the kind that tasted like goodbye and regret.
Then she left, without another word.
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[Scene 4 – Duel Beneath the Blood Moon]
The dueling ground was silent save for the wind.
The blood moon rose above — rare, ill-omened. The Queen sat high above on her shadowed throne. Nobles lined the periphery, cloaked in fur and suspense.
Kaelrin stepped into the ring.
Thorne entered with a smirk and twin curved daggers.
> "Ready to lose the girl, cousin?"
> "She's not a prize," Kaelrin said.
> "Then why are you trembling?"
> "Because I'm trying not to kill you."
The gong rang.
The fight began.
Steel clashed. Sparks flew. Magic pulsed faintly beneath their feet — the warding runes ensuring neither would die, but pain? Pain was fair game.
Kaelrin was precision.
Thorne was fire.
Every strike was a word unspoken. Every block, a broken vow. The crowd watched, breathless.
Finally — Kaelrin disarmed him with a spin too fast to follow.
His blade at Thorne's throat.
Blood dripped from his shoulder, his lip.
> "Say it," Kaelrin whispered. "Say you were wrong."
Thorne smirked even now.
> "I won't. Because I'm not."
Kaelrin turned to the Queen.
> "The duel is done."
> "And the verdict?" she asked.
Kaelrin dropped his blade.
> "He's not worthy of her. Or this court."
The Queen nodded. "So ruled. Lord Thorne is exiled from Velaris — until the court calls him back."
A roar of mixed voices followed.
But Lyra didn't cheer.
She just stood, clutching the balustrade, as the man she once considered a storm — was led away in silence.
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[Scene 5 – Aftershocks]
Later, Kaelrin found her alone in the eastern wing.
> "He's gone," he said.
> "And yet... I don't feel lighter."
> "Because weight isn't always in the enemy. Sometimes it's in what we were willing to risk."
> "You risked everything tonight."
> "No," Kaelrin said. "I gained something instead."
> "What?"
> "The clarity to stop chasing your heart… and just be there when it finds me."
Her breath hitched.
She didn't reply.
But her eyes shimmered — not with tears, but with understanding.
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[Closing Scene – The Letter He Never Sent]
In his chamber, Kaelrin stared at a parchment he had once written, never sent.
> Lyra,
If I lose this duel, know this — loving you was never a strategy. It was surrender. And it was worth it.
He folded the letter.
Burned it.
Then looked to the night sky.
> "Let fate decide now."
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To Be Continued…
In Chapter 17: "The Queen's Gambit"
A royal proposal that shocks everyone
Lyra caught in a political marriage plot
Kaelrin forced into retreat
And a return of an old flame… who was thought dead