The throne room felt colder than the mountain winds outside. Shadows clung to the gilded walls, wrapping around Kael's boots as though the darkness itself wanted to pull him back.
The Elders stood in a half-circle, their faces unreadable, yet their eyes sharp with the weight of judgment. The Blood Crown rested on its stand, a twisted circlet of obsidian and crimson veins pulsing faintly, as if it were alive.
"You came back," Elder Varun's voice rumbled, low and cautious. "But the price for leaving once is not so easily forgiven."
Kael's gaze flicked to Arwen, who stood at the far end of the room, her hands bound in silver chains. Her eyes met his defiant, though fear trembled behind them.
He stepped forward, his voice steady but his heart pounding. "If this council wishes to punish someone, punish me. She is here because of me."
A murmur rippled among the Elders. One of them, an old woman with hair like silver threads, leaned forward. "You speak as if the bond between you and the girl runs deeper than duty."
Kael didn't look away. "It does."
The old woman's smile was faint, almost mocking. "And yet, you wear no crown. Tell me, Kael… will you claim it now?"
The question hung in the air like a blade.
Arwen's lips parted, a silent warning in her eyes. The Blood Crown was more than a symbol, it was a curse, a burden that could twist even the purest heart.
Kael turned toward the stand, every step echoing like a drumbeat of fate. The moment his hand hovered above the crown, a faint whisper slithered into his mind.
Take me… and they will all kneel.
His fingers brushed the cold metal, and the world bled red. A flood of visions crashed into him: battles won and lost, cities burning, his own hands drenched in blood that was not his.
When he blinked, he was back in the throne room, the Elders watching, Arwen struggling against her chains.
Kael closed his fist.
And then… he stepped away.
"I will not take the crown," he said, voice low. "Not until I know whose blood it truly demands."
The Elders exchanged glances. Some looked displeased. Others… intrigued.
But as Kael turned toward Arwen, a voice echoed from the shadows behind the throne.
"You may not want it, Kael… but it already wants you."