Selena's POV
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The silence after the First Queen's voice faded was unlike anything I had ever known.
No whispers. No chains. No ghosts.
Only the thrum of my own heartbeat — louder now, stronger.
Her eyes had closed again, the corpse retreating into stillness, but the damage was done.
Her words echoed louder than screams.
> "Daughter of the Dark... Do you know what you've just awakened?"
I didn't. Not fully.
But I would.
---
We left the Vault with more questions than answers, but one thing was certain:
I wasn't just a lost girl anymore.
I was the heir of something ancient.
Not by birth — but by fire, betrayal, and blood.
The throne wasn't given to me.
It was buried beneath lies.
And now I had to dig it out with my own hands.
---
We camped by the dead river that night, beneath a sky too quiet to be trusted.
Zack barely spoke.
He still looked at me like he didn't know who I was anymore.
And maybe he didn't.
Maybe… I didn't either.
> "You've changed," he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper.
> "I had to."
> "You didn't have to become one of them."
I didn't reply.
Because the truth was — I wasn't "one of them."
Not the vampires. Not the royals. Not the ghosts in the dark.
I was something else. Something they hadn't seen coming.
---
When I finally closed my eyes, I dreamt of her.
Queen Seraphyne.
Not in her coffin.
But alive.
Crowned. Bleeding. Standing before a council of masked faces.
> "They feared my truth," she said.
"So they made me a monster."
"And when I would not kneel, they buried my name under centuries of silence."
I asked her in the dream, "What do I do now?"
She smiled — sad, but proud.
> "Remind them that shadows still carry teeth."
"But first... choose who gets close to your throne."
I woke up gasping.
---
The next morning, I stood alone on the ridge overlooking the ruins of a forgotten kingdom.
I knew what my first step had to be.
Not war. Not chaos. Not bloodshed.
Structure.
Power.
Loyalty.
If I was going to wear the crown, I needed a court.
A guard.
A maid who could be trusted — not a spy of the elders.
A voice at my side who knew when silence spoke louder than screams.
I would choose them. One by one.
Not out of tradition.
But because I knew what betrayal looked like now — and I would never let it near my heart again.
---
The people feared me.
I saw it in their bowed heads when we entered the border town that afternoon.
But they also honored me.
Some called me "Daughter Returned."
Others called me "The Flame Who Remembers."
Their faces were a blur of awe and terror.
They didn't know if they should kneel or run.
And I understood that.
I didn't need their worship.
I needed their truth.
Because somewhere among them, the lies that chained my bloodline still whispered.
And I would root them out.
Burn them clean.
Even if it meant becoming the villain in their stories.
----
Selena begins assembling her circle — but in the shadows, an old enemy stirs.
And one of the people she trusts may already be plotting her fall.