Seraphina's POV
The dungeon is exactly how I remember it.
Cold. Dark. Smelling of mold and despair.
The guards throw me into a cell and lock the door. I hit the stone floor hard. Pain shoots through my shoulder.
Comfortable, sister?
I look up. Celestia stands outside my cell, smiling.
You won't get away with this, I say.
Won't I? Who's going to stop me? You? You're locked in a dungeon. She laughs. Kael? He's bleeding in the garden. By the time he recovers, you'll already be dead.
You can't just execute me. The people will demand a trial
The people think you're a traitor who faked her death and infiltrated the palace. They won't care what happens to you. Celestia crouches down so we're eye level. I win. Again. Just like five years ago.
You haven't won. I have evidence. Against Marcus. Against you. Everything you've done
Had. You had evidence. She pulls out my phone. But I have it now. All those lovely photos you took of Marcus's files? Gone. Deleted. Along with every contact. Every message. Every trace of your little investigation.
My stomach drops.
And the physical files? Celestia continues. Marcus took them when he fled. So there's no evidence. No proof. Just the word of a dead princess against a sitting queen. She stands. Guess who the kingdom will believe?
People know the truth. Nikolai. The loyalists
Will be arrested by morning. Every single one. Celestia's smile is vicious. Marcus gave me names before he ran. Twenty guards. Fifty servants. A dozen nobles. All of them traitors. All of them will be dealt with.
No
Yes. By dawn, anyone who might help you will be in chains. Or dead. She walks toward the door. Sweet dreams, sister. They'll be your last.
She leaves.
I sit in the darkness, shaking.
This can't be happening. I came back for revenge. For justice. For my crown.
And I'm going to die in the same dungeon where my nightmare began.
Hours pass. Or maybe minutes. Time feels strange down here.
Then I hear footsteps.
Running. Urgent.
A figure appears at my cell door.
Kael.
His face is bruised. His lip bleeding. But his eyes are fierce.
Stand back, he says.
He has keys. He unlocks my cell.
How did you
Doesn't matter. We need to go. Now. He grabs my hand.
We run through the dungeon. Up the stairs. Into the palace hallways.
Everything is chaos. Alarms blaring. Guards running everywhere.
What's happening? I gasp.
I triggered the fire alarm. It'll buy us time. Kael pulls me around a corner. I have horses waiting. We leave tonight. Disappear. Go somewhere Celestia can never find us.
I can't leave
You have to! She's going to kill you!
I know. But I didn't come back to run away again. I stop. Pull my hand from his. I came back to take back my kingdom.
You can't take back anything if you're dead!
Then I'll die trying. But I won't run. Not again.
Kael grabs my shoulders. Listen to me. Celestia has everything. Your evidence is gone. Your allies are being arrested. You have nothing.
I have the truth.
The truth doesn't matter if no one hears it!
Then I'll make them hear it. I meet his eyes. I'll tell everyone. Publicly. Broadcast it across the kingdom. Tell them what Celestia did. What she's still doing.
She'll kill you before you get the chance.
Maybe. But at least I'll die fighting. Not hiding.
We stare at each other.
You're insane, Kael whispers.
Probably.
And stubborn.
Definitely.
And I love you. He cups my face. I love you so much it terrifies me. And I can't lose you again.
You won't lose me.
You can't promise that.
No. But I can promise I'll fight. With everything I have. For us. For the kingdom. For justice.
Kael kisses me. Hard. Desperate.
When we break apart, he rests his forehead against mine.
Then I fight with you.
Kael
No arguments. You're not doing this alone. He pulls back. But we need a plan. A real plan. Not just hoping the truth will save you.
I have a plan.
What is it?
Celestia wants me dead. Quietly. Before anyone realizes I'm alive. I pace the hallway. But what if we announce it? Loudly. Publicly. What if we force her hand?
How?
The national broadcast. Tomorrow morning. Every screen in the kingdom watches it. I turn to him. What if I appear on it? Tell my story. Show my face. Prove I'm alive.
Celestia controls the broadcast center
Does she? Or does the head of communications control it? I smile. Lord Hartley's son. Who owes his position to my mother. Who might still be loyal.
That's a huge maybe.
It's all we have.
Kael is quiet. Then nods. Okay. But we need to get you somewhere safe until morning.
Where? Celestia controls the palace.
Not all of it. His eyes light up. The old servants' quarters. East wing. Abandoned for years. She doesn't even know they exist.
Lead the way.
We run through dark hallways. Past tapestries. Through hidden doors.
Finally, Kael stops at a section of wall. Pushes a panel. It swings open.
In here.
We slip inside. He closes the panel behind us.
It's a small room. Dusty. Forgotten. But safe.
No one knows about this place, Kael says. I found it when I was a kid. Used to hide here when palace life got too much.
It's perfect.
We sit on the old bed. Dust puffs up around us.
What happens after the broadcast? Kael asks quietly. Assuming we even make it there?
Assuming we do, the kingdom will know I'm alive. They'll demand answers. Demand a trial.
Celestia will refuse.
Then the people will rise up. Like they did tonight when they thought I was being executed unjustly.
That's not a plan. That's hope.
Sometimes hope is all you have.
Kael takes my hand. If this doesn't work
It will work.
But if it doesn't. If tomorrow goes wrong. If we don't make it His voice breaks. I need you to know something.
What?
That night I pulled you from the water. When your eyes opened. You whispered something to me.
My breath catches. What did I say?
'Remember me.' That's all. Then you passed out. Kael's eyes are wet. I've spent five years trying to honor that. To remember you. Every detail. Every moment. Even when everyone said you were gone.
Tears stream down my face. I didn't mean it like that. I meant... I wanted you to remember me after I was dead. I was saying goodbye.
I know. But I refused to say goodbye. He pulls me close. And now you're here. Alive. Real. And I'm not letting you go.
We hold each other in the darkness.
We should rest, Kael finally says. Tomorrow will be hell.
Literally.
Literally.
We lie down. The bed is small. We're pressed close. His arms around me. My head on his chest.
Kael?
Yeah?
Thank you. For believing me. For fighting with me. For loving me.
Always.
I'm almost asleep when I hear it.
A phone buzzing.
Not mine. Celestia has mine.
Kael's.
He pulls it out. Checks it.
His body goes rigid.
What? I ask.
It's from an unknown number. His voice is shaking. There's a video.
What kind of video?
He presses play.
I hear screaming.
Elena.
On screen, she's tied to a chair. Bleeding. Marcus stands behind her with a knife.
Hello, Princess, Marcus's voice says. I believe I have something that belongs to you. Your surrogate mother. Dr. Elena Vasquez. Isn't she precious?
No, I whisper.
If you want her back alive, Marcus continues, you'll come to the old warehouse district. Pier 17. Alone. By dawn. If you bring anyone if Kael comes, if guards come, if anyone comes I'll slit her throat and dump her body in the ocean.
The video ends.
I stare at the phone. Frozen.
It's a trap, Kael says. Obviously a trap.
I know.
You can't go.
I have to.
Seraphina
She's my mother! The only family I have left! I stand. I'm going.
Then I'm coming with you.
You can't. He said
I don't care what he said. I'm not letting you walk into that alone.
We stare at each other.
And I realize: there's no good choice here.
If I go to the broadcast center, I might save the kingdom but Elena dies.
If I go to save Elena, I might lose my only chance to expose Celestia.
Either way, I lose something.
Or someone.
What do I do? I whisper.
Kael pulls me close. We'll figure it out. Together.
But I can hear the lie in his voice.
Because we both know the truth.
By dawn, I have to choose.
Save my mother or save my kingdom.
And whatever I choose, someone I love is going to die.