Ember Crown of Promise
“I know how to stay when things are uncomfortable. I know how to choose what is right, even when it costs me.”
Her breath shuddered. She let it.
“I know how to serve.”
The silence deepened.
Alina lifted her head. Tears blurred her vision. “If that is enough,” she whispered, “then show me. And if it is not, let me walk away without shame.”
For a long moment, nothing happened.
The candles held their light. The shadows did not shift. The Crown did not blaze.
Waiting pressed in.
Then the stone beneath her palms warmed.
Not with heat that burned, but with warmth that spread slowly, steadily, like sunlight reaching through cloud. The ember stone glowed a little brighter, its light soft but unmista
Hot Chapters