The glade was silent, save for the rustle of trees older than kings.Elara knelt before the stone—unmarked, unnamed, yet pulsing with a memory older than her bloodline. The soil beneath her palms was soft and fragrant, laced with the roots of forgotten things. This was where her mother had made her final stand. Not with weapons, but with choice. A choice that had cost her everything.And now Elara had returned, not as a daughter—but as a queen with no crown, no throne, and no need for either.She drew a small blade, not the Crownslayer, but one her mother had once used to cut herbs, to whisper protection spells, to slice through the bindings of fate when no one was watching.With it, Elara sliced her palm, letting the blood drip into the earth.“I don’t know if you’re here,” she whispered. “But if you are… I broke the cycle.”A wind stirred, lifting the hair from her shoulders. It was not magic, not exactly. But something responded.“I won’t be the kind of queen they wanted. I won’t b
Last Updated : 2025-05-22 Read more