Selena's POV
The fire had barely faded, the smoke still curling like silver snakes across the stone floor.
But something colder stirred now.
The silence.
It wasn't the peaceful kind — it was heavy. The kind of silence that comes before a prophecy, or a curse… or the end of everything.
A wind swept through the sanctum. The walls trembled, the air thickening like it had swallowed a scream.
Then came her voice.
Not spoken. Whispered through my blood.
> "Selena…"
I turned.
Queen Seraphyne stood where no one had moments ago. She wasn't cloaked in darkness or crowned in flame — she simply was. Pale, radiant, older than time. Her eyes — twin eclipses — locked onto mine.
> "You bear the mark of the lost. The heir they buried, not crowned."
> "You walk with shadows not your own."
> "You wear your power like borrowed skin."
I couldn't breathe. Every word echoed in the marrow of my bones.
Zack stepped forward — barely. Alaïra held her breath. Tovian's hand went to his blade. Even Nyra looked shaken.
But none of them saw her.
Only me.
Only the cursed could hear the curse.
"Why me?" I asked. My voice was a whisper. A prayer. A challenge.
Queen Seraphyne's lips didn't move. But I heard her.
> "Because you were not born to rule. You were born to end."
The room cracked — a soundless shatter that echoed in my head. Visions poured into me.
A throne carved from bone.
A crown of thorns, dripping blood.
My hands — crimson with flame.
Zack, lying motionless.
A sword. My sword. Piercing his chest.
"No," I gasped, staggering back. "That's not— I would never—!"
> "You will," Seraphyne said. "Unless…"
The air froze.
> "Unless you break the Bloodbound Oath before it binds your fate."
Behind me, Zack stirred, sensing my panic. "Selena?" he whispered.
But I couldn't look at him.
> "You were chosen by fate," the Queen said. "But fate lies."
> "The mark on his chest ties his soul to your storm."
> "If you fall, he falls."
> "If you rise… he burns."
Tears pricked my eyes.
"Then what do I do?" I asked.
> "You choose."
The Queen's form flickered like smoke. Her voice was the last thing to remain:
> "All Queens are cursed, child. Yours is only beginning."
And then—she was gone.
Just like that.
No one else saw her. But they saw me. Shaking. Pale. Crumbling.
Zack caught me as I nearly collapsed.
"What happened?" he asked. "Selena, talk to me."
But I couldn't.
Because in the silence that followed, I finally understood the cost of what I was becoming.
And what I might have to lose… to keep him alive.
---
✧
Zack helped me sit on the edge of the stone dais, the ancient flames now dim behind us. His hand never left mine.
"You're freezing," he said gently.
"I'm fine," I lied.
"You always say that when you're breaking."
I didn't answer. The curse still echoed in my head. If you fall, he falls. If you rise, he burns.
I turned to look at him — my best friend, my bloodbound.
His eyes searched mine. "Selena… whatever it is, we'll fight it. Together."
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to hold on.
But the mark on his chest wasn't just a bond — it was a sentence. And I didn't know how long I could shield him from it.
So I said nothing.
I just leaned into his shoulder, listening to the beat of his heart. A steady rhythm in a world unraveling.
He didn't know he might die because of me.
And I didn't know how long I had left before I became the thing the Queen feared most.
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