CROWNED BY BLOOD
And yet here they stood, blades raised, flames licking the bones of the home I had built to protect them.
They never understood your sacrifices, the curse whispered, its voice now indistinguishable from my own thoughts. They see only the monster, never the mother who bled for them.
The curse surged. My skin tore. Claws broke free. The transformation, once tied to the night, now burst forth beneath the daylight that bled through the smoke. Bones lengthened and cracked, muscles swelled and reformed, and my shape gave way to something that belonged in nightmares rather than throne rooms. The change was more violent than ever before, as if the curse was no longer content to wait for darkness to