The Crown Of Ash and Silver
Everything would happen again if she allowed it, the banquet, the fall, the dungeon.
But not this time.
She would learn their lies, one by one. She would build her strength quietly, in the shadows, until the day came when the entire kingdom would bow before the silver-haired woman they once condemned.
For now, she smiled.
“Shall we prepare for tonight?”
Elysia beamed, unaware of the storm she had just awakened. “Of course, sister. It will be perfect.”
“Yes,” Seraphina murmured. “It will.”
Outside, the morning bells rang, bright and harmless. Inside her chest, the mark on her palm burned like a promise.