ELARA POV
The black flames on Vex's swords burn like holes in reality.
I barely raise my blade in time to block his first real strike. The impact jolts through my arms, nearly knocking me off my feet. He's strong—so much stronger than Cassian was during training.
"Is that all?" Vex laughs, circling me like a predator. "Your mother lasted longer than this."
Rage floods through me. Silver fire blazes brighter along my sword.
I swing at him with everything I have.
He blocks easily, his blades crossing to catch mine. The black and silver flames clash, crackling with opposing energies. Heat washes over my face.
"Ah, there's the Starcrown temper." He shoves me backward. "Your mother had it too. Right before I cut her throat."
Don't listen. Focus. Watch for weakness.
But all I can see is his grinning face. All I can hear is my mother screaming.
I attack again, wild and uncontrolled. He dodges, moving with practiced ease. His blade slices across my arm, drawing first blood.
Pain lances through me. The crowd gasps.
"First cut," Vex announces to the audience. "How many more before she falls, do you think? Ten? Five?"
I press my hand against the wound. Blood seeps between my fingers. My magic flickers, weakening from the pain and fear.
Get up. Move. Don't die like this.
I force myself upright, raising my sword in a shaky guard.
Vex attacks in a blur of black steel. I barely manage to deflect his strikes, each impact driving me backward. My feet tangle. I fall.
He's on me instantly, sword point at my throat.
"Pathetic," he sneers. "Twenty-three years we searched for you. For this?"
The crowd is silent. Watching me fail. Watching their fate sealed because I'm too weak.
Through the press of people, I see Cassian. His face is stone, but his eyes burn with something desperate. Belief. Hope.
He thinks I can win.
I grab a handful of dirt and throw it in Vex's eyes.
He recoils, cursing. I roll away and scramble to my feet.
"Cheating?" he snarls, wiping at his face. "How appropriate for Starcrown scum."
"You killed my family," I say, voice shaking but clear. "I'll use every dirty trick I know."
I attack while he's still blinking dirt from his eyes. Not with skill, but with surprise. My blade catches his shoulder—not deep, but it draws blood.
He stares at the cut, genuinely shocked. Then his expression twists into pure fury.
"You little—"
He comes at me with everything. No more playing. No more taunting. Just murder.
I block. Dodge. Barely stay alive as his blades become a storm of black death. Each impact rattles my bones. My arms go numb.
I can't keep this up.
Need magic. Need something to turn the tide.
I reach for the power inside me, trying to channel it like Cassian taught. But fear makes it slippery. Panic makes it wild.
Silver flames burst from my free hand, shooting toward Vex.
He cuts through them with his black fire. The magics cancel each other out.
"Did you think you were special?" he taunts. "The King gave me Starborn power too! Stolen from better warriors than you!"
He's right. His magic is controlled, refined. Mine is raw chaos.
I'm going to lose.
A sword appears in the corner of my vision—Vex's second blade, coming for my neck.
I drop flat. The sword whistles over my head.
While I'm down, I sweep his legs.
It's a move I learned watching palace guards train. Crude. Basic. But it works.
Vex crashes onto his back with a grunt of surprise.
I don't think. Don't hesitate.
I drive my sword down at his chest.
He rolls. My blade bites into dirt instead of flesh.
We both scramble up, breathing hard now. He's bleeding from my lucky hit. I'm bleeding from a dozen cuts.
"Not bad," he admits. "For a servant girl playing princess."
"I am a princess," I say. The words feel strange in my mouth, but true. "My mother was Princess Aria Starcrown. My father was Prince Daemon. And you murdered them."
"Yes. I remember them well." He grins. "Your mother begged for your life as she burned. Did you know that? Her last words were 'save my daughter.'"
Something breaks inside me.
Not fear. Not panic.
Pure, focused rage.
Magic erupts from my core, but this time I don't try to control it. I let it out in one massive burst.
Silver fire explodes across the arena like a tidal wave.
Vex raises his black flames to counter, but mine is too strong, too furious. The stolen magic in his swords shatters against my pure Starborn power.
His blades melt in his hands.
He stares at the dripping metal, eyes wide with shock.
I'm on him before he can draw another weapon. My sword finds his throat.
We freeze.
The entire arena holds its breath.
I could kill him. Right now. End this.
"Do it," he rasps. "Finish what your mother couldn't."
My sword shakes. Every part of me wants his blood.
But I look at the crowd. At the children watching. At the Free Cities people who took us in.
If I kill him now, I become exactly what the King says I am—a monster with too much power.
"No," I say quietly. "I'm not like you. I'm not like him."
I lower my sword and step back.
"The trial is won," Elder Finn calls out. "Lady Elara is victorious!"
The Free Cities erupt in cheers.
But I'm watching the King.
Aldric sits on his white horse, face twisted with rage. Our eyes meet across the battlefield.
He smiles.
It's not a defeated smile. It's knowing. Triumphant.
Why is he—
Vex moves.
Too fast for a defeated man. His hand snaps to a hidden dagger at his belt.
I see it happening but can't react in time.
The blade flies toward me.
Then Cassian is there, pushing me aside.
The dagger meant for my heart buries itself in his chest instead.
"No!" I scream.
Cassian staggers, blood blooming across his shirt. His eyes meet mine, shocked and pained.
"Elara," he gasps. "Run—"
He collapses.
Everything stops.
The cheering dies. The world narrows to Cassian's body on the ground, blood pooling beneath him.
I drop beside him, hands pressed against the wound. "No, no, no. Stay with me!"
His eyes flutter. "The dagger... poisoned..."
Horror crashes over me. Not just a wound. Poison.
"Help him!" I scream at the crowd. "Someone help him!"
Healers rush forward, but I can see it in their faces. They don't think he'll survive.
Vex laughs from where he lies. "Nightshade poison. Ancient and deadly. He has maybe an hour before his heart stops."
"There must be an antidote!"
"Oh, there is." Vex's grin is vicious. "The King has it. Only him. If you want to save your precious Commander, you'll have to trade yourself."
I look at King Aldric. He's still smiling that terrible smile.
This was the plan all along. He didn't care if Vex won or lost. He just needed to force my hand.
Cassian or my freedom.
"Elara, don't," Cassian gasps, reading my face. "Don't you dare—"
"Take me to the King," I say to Vex.
"No!" Seren grabs my arm. "He'll kill you!"
"And if I don't go, Cassian dies." I look at her, tears streaming down my face. "I can't let that happen."
"The Commander would rather die than see you enslaved!"
"I know. That's why I'm not asking his permission."
I stand, facing King Aldric across the field. "I'll come willingly. Give him the antidote."
Aldric's smile widens. "Come to me, child. Kneel before your King. Then we'll discuss terms."
This is it. The moment I lose everything I just fought for.
But Cassian is dying. His breathing is getting shallower, his skin turning gray.
I start walking toward the King.
"Elara, please," Cassian whispers behind me. "Don't do this..."
I don't look back. If I look back, I'll lose my courage.
I cross the arena. Cross the line between the Free Cities and the King's army.
Soldiers surround me immediately, weapons drawn.
I keep walking until I stand before Aldric's horse.
Up close, the King is both beautiful and terrible. Ageless face, cold eyes, power radiating from him like heat.
"Kneel," he commands.
I kneel in the dirt.
"Good girl. Now swear your loyalty to me. Swear it on your mother's grave."
The words taste like poison, but I speak them. "I swear."
"And you'll come peacefully? No fighting, no magic?"
"Give him the antidote first."
Aldric considers, then tosses a small vial toward the Free Cities. "There. Your warrior lives. Now come."
A soldier pulls me to my feet and chains my wrists. The metal is cold, heavy.
As they drag me away, I finally look back.
Seren is pouring the antidote down Cassian's throat. His color is already returning. He'll live.
Our eyes meet one last time across the distance.
I see heartbreak. Rage. Desperation.
Then the soldiers throw me into a cage on a wagon, and the King's army begins its march back to Ironhold Palace.
Back to the place where I was nothing.
Where I'll die with my magic drained and my body broken.
But Cassian lives.
That's all that matters.
As we ride away
, I hear him screaming my name.
I close my eyes and let the tears fall.
I saved him.
Now I just have to figure out how to save myself.