LOGINThe sand was cold beneath my boots as we circled the center of the Great Arena. The silence of the crowd was a suffocating weight of expectation. I could feel Maxwell’s gaze from the stands—burning with a mixture of pity and spite. He expected the girl he broke to crumble under the weight of a Dragon’s aura.
Then, the King’s hand dropped. "Begin!" The air exploded. Instead of the standard pairing, I veered left, my speed blurring into a silver streak as I interceSol POVSometimes I surprised even myself.Honestly, I should have seen this coming.All this time I had been terrified of being corrupted by power, of losing myself to the frozen flame, the Monarch authority, the void, the responsibility, the crowns forced upon my head one after another.Turns out—It was not the power I should have feared.It was blood.I carried Elias’ blood in my veins.The realization hollowed me out from the inside.The sanctuary around me blurred strangely while everyone continued speaking. I could see their mouths moving, could see Marcus pacing furiously, Hunter looking deeply uncomfortable, Pamela crying softly near Aurora and Leo.But all I heard was white noise.Static.Like my mind had simply stopped translating sound properly.Aella’s hand remained wrapped tightly around mine.I could feel her worry through the Bond, warm and constant and terrified for me, but even that felt distant somehow.Muted beneath the storm ripping through my head.I could not sp
Aella POVSol was frozen beside me.Not physically.Spiritually.I could feel the confusion and despair tearing through him across the Bond while he tried to process everything at once.The betrayal.The lies.The possibility that the man who raised him had never truly been his father.The frozen flame inside him churned violently beneath the surface, unstable in a way I had never felt before.I tightened my hold on his hands instinctively.Grounding him.Reminding him he was not alone.Marcus, on the other hand, exploded.“Say something else!”His voice echoed violently through the sanctuary halls.“There has to be more than that!”The rage rolling off him made the air itself feel heavier.His shadows lashed wildly around his feet while Leo and Aurora stared at their mother in complete shock.But I barely heard him.Because Queen Samantha’s words kept circling through my head.I met Elias when I was twenty years old.Twenty years old.Twenty-five years ago.Back when my mother Aurora
Aella POVThe slap echoed through the sanctuary halls like a thunderclap.For one horrifying second, nobody moved.Nobody breathed.Then Hunter stepped forward instantly, placing himself partially between the Queens and Sol’s mother.“Okay,” he said slowly, hands raised carefully. “Maybe we all calm down before the immortal magical royalty starts assaulting people—”Queen Genoviva lifted her hand slightly.And the world stopped.Literally.Everything froze.Marcus halted mid-step.Pamela stopped breathing.Chaos remained stuck with his mouth half open in what was probably going to become an incredibly inappropriate joke.Even the air itself seemed suspended.Only Sol and I remained capable of moving.I felt the sanctuary recognize us instantly.Its monarchs.Its rulers.Its equals.Cold spread through my body.Not fear.Instinct.Because Queen Genoviva did not look angry.She looked betrayed.The younger Queen slowly walked toward Sol’s mother while the rest of the world remained froz
Aella POVWe stayed wrapped around each other for a long time.Long enough that eventually even Chaos stopped making comments.Sol refused to let go of my hand afterward, keeping his fingers intertwined with mine like he thought I might disappear if he loosened his grip even slightly.Honestly?I understood the feeling.We sat together in the throne room while everyone slowly settled around us, and for the first time since this nightmare began, the void castle felt almost alive again.Warmer.Balanced.The shadows no longer writhed aggressively through the halls now that sunlight moved among them.They danced instead.Curious.Peaceful.Like the void itself had relaxed now that Sol returned.I leaned against him while he explained everything that had happened.The prison.The chains.Elias trying to compel him.The way Elias saw into mis mind and discovered we were having more than one child.By the time Sol explained how Elias entered his mind and learned about the triplets, Marcus l
Aella POV Sol was back. I felt it before anyone told me. Before the castle reacted. Before Chaos started laughing somewhere in the distance. The shadows screamed. Not in fear. In shock. There was light in the void. Warmth. Sunlight. Balance. And suddenly— I understood. Sol truly was my opposite. My balance. Where I carried darkness that glittered like stars, Sol carried sunlight capable of piercing the void itself. The realization filled my chest painfully. He was alive. Alive. I wasted no time. The moment the bond strengthened fully again, I opened a portal directly into the void castle. The shadows parted instantly around me as if guiding me home. Or toward him. Voices echoed through the halls as I moved quickly through the corridors. Well— As quickly as someone days away from giving birth to magical triplets could move. Honestly, it felt less like running and more like aggressively waddling with determination. I could hear Leo speaking animatedly from t
Sol POVThe path of sunlight finally reached the edge of the corridor.The corrupted shadows hissed violently as the golden light carved a narrow opening through the darkness, just wide enough for us to pass.Not enough to destroy the shadows entirely.Just enough to survive.I exhaled slowly.“Okay,” I murmured.The sunlight trembled faintly beneath my control.“Everyone stay close.”Aurora immediately grabbed my arm while Leo positioned himself protectively beside our mother again.Marcus glanced between the shadows and me.“You can hold this long enough?”“Probably.”Hunter snorted.“That is not reassuring.”Honestly?Fair.The suppressants, the constant healing, Elias trying repeatedly to beat me to death—it had all drained more power than I wanted to admit.But I only needed seconds.I stepped forward first.The shadows recoiled violently from the sunlight coating my skin while the narrow golden pathway held steady beneath our feet.One step.Two.Three.The corrupted darkness lu
Maxwell was gone. Truly gone.For a flickering second, a memory I had tried to bury surfaced. I remembered his laughter as a pup, high and bright. I remembered him rolling around in the dirt with Caleb and Jax, four children making a mess of the world. He used to help me in ways no one else dared,
The announcement arrived via a royal scroll at breakfast: a Medieval Masquerade Gala. Attendance was mandatory for all towers. The King’s decree was clear—this wasn't just a party; it was a showcase of the hierarchy. "A group entrance," Marcus proposed, leaning back with a grin that was all sharp
Two months had passed since the cafeteria incident, and the hierarchy of the Imperial Tower had shifted permanently. Amelie had leaned fully into her "victim" persona, limping through the halls and wearing silk scarves to hide bruises that had long since healed. She whispered to anyone who would li
The arena was a theater of carnage. Maxwell stood on the sands, his chest heaving, his wolf pushing so hard against his skin that his eyes were a constant, unstable amber. Sol stood opposite him, calm and immovable. Before the first blow was struck, Pamela stepped onto the lower ridge of the stand







