Setting: Velaris Healing Quarters, Eastern Citadel Grounds, and Royal Archives.
---
[Scene 1 – After the Fire]
The ballroom lay in smoldering ruin. The moonlight filtering through the broken dome revealed scorch marks, blood trails, and fallen velvet banners.
Lyra stood barefoot in the ash, her shattered mask clutched in one hand. The other was still bloodied — not from her own wound, but from dragging Kaelrin to safety.
He was breathing… barely.
> "Get a healer!" she screamed. "Now!"
Alina rushed in, hair tangled, her gown half-burned. Behind her, Cassian limped — supported by a silver staff gifted by the Oracle before his betrayal.
> "Is he—?" Alina gasped.
> "Alive. But not for long if we waste time!"
---
[Scene 2 – The Healing Quarters]
Within the marble silence of Velaris' Healing Quarters, Kaelrin lay unconscious. Magic-infused runes glowed around his chest. His blood still soaked through linen wrappings.
Lyra refused to leave his side.
> "You should rest," Alina said gently.
> "I can't."
> "You haven't blinked in hours."
Lyra's voice cracked. "If I look away… I'll lose him."
Cassian stood at the door.
> "You won't," he said hoarsely. "He's not going to break."
Lyra turned slowly. "You were under her curse."
> "That doesn't make what I did… forgivable."
> "No," she agreed. "But maybe… survivable."
---
[Scene 3 – Thorne's Letter]
In the East Tower, Lord Thorne sat in a dark study, his shirt stained with wine and dried blood. A single candle lit the parchment before him.
He wrote slowly, the words ugly in his throat:
> "To the Lady I failed to win…
I did not come to Velaris to fall in love.
I came to take something that was mine.
But you… you undid me.
And I fear I liked it."
He folded the letter, sealed it with his crest, and placed it in the flames.
> "Let her wonder," he muttered.
But his eyes were wet.
---
[Scene 4 – The Royal Decree]
By morning, the queen's black-robed emissaries arrived at the citadel gate.
A Royal Decree was unrolled on gold parchment and nailed to the palace gates:
> "Lady Lyra of House Norwyn is hereby summoned for formal inquest.
She stands accused of inciting rebellion, consorting with cursed bloodlines,
and obstructing the throne's divine will."
Alina read it aloud, her voice shaking.
> "She's going to kill you legally now."
> "Let her try," Lyra replied, drawing her cloak. "I'm not hiding."
Cassian stepped forward. "Then neither am I."
---
[Scene 5 – Choices in Candlelight]
That night, Kaelrin stirred. His eyes opened slowly, the ceiling unfamiliar.
Then he saw her.
> "You stayed."
> "I never left," Lyra whispered.
> "Did… we win?"
> "No. But we didn't die. That's something."
> "Where's Thorne?"
> "Gone. But not defeated."
He reached for her hand. Their fingers touched — trembling, warm, hesitant.
> "There's a line I never thought I'd cross," Kaelrin said softly. "But when I saw you step between me and her…"
> "You crossed it."
> "Yes."
> "And now?"
> "Now… I'm ready to burn for you."
She didn't cry.
But she did kiss him.
---
[Scene 6 – The Archive's Secret]
Deep below the palace, Alina crept into the forbidden wing of the Royal Archives.
She carried an old book bound in scales — the Codex of Binding, stolen from the Queen's personal shelf during the chaos.
Inside were records of cursed bloodlines.
And on the last page — the truth about Lyra.
Not just noble.
Descended from the Silent Flame — an ancient power feared by monarchs and kings.
Alina's breath caught.
> "She's not just important… she's vital."
---
[Scene 7 – The Pact]
Lyra, Cassian, Kaelrin, and Alina met in a sealed chamber beneath House Norwyn.
The city was watching. The court was shifting. Time was short.
> "We can't run," Lyra said. "And we can't win alone."
> "So what do we do?" Cassian asked.
Kaelrin leaned forward. "We make a pact. Us four. Loyalty not to crown or coin — but to each other."
Alina nodded. "I'm in."
Cassian paused… then nodded too.
> "To the flame, the blade, the fox, and the storm," Kaelrin whispered.
Their hands touched in the center.
The pact was sealed.
---
[Scene 8 – The Queen's Mirror]
Far away, in a tower lined with obsidian glass, the Queen stood before her mirror.
She saw their gathering. Their unity.
She smiled.
> "Good. Let them gather. Let them hope.
The higher the fire rises, the easier it is to smother."
She turned to a masked servant behind her.
> "Prepare the Execution Rite. Let the people watch their darling girl fall."
---
To Be Continued…
In Chapter 22: "A Flame on Trial"
Lyra faces public trial and magical interrogation
Kaelrin defies the court
A secret alliance with another House
Alina's magic awakens
Thorne returns — with a warning, not a threat