Chapter Summary:
Echo may have survived the council's vote, but Liora's presence lingers like frost on glass. As Kael dives into old archives in search of answers, Echo uncovers a prophecy buried in Frostbound lore — one that speaks of a child born of fire and frost, destined to either unite the world…
chapter 106: The Frostbound Prophecy
The storm began at midnight.
A soft whisper of wind that wound through the marble corridors of the palace. Unnatural. Too cold for the season. Too still.
Echo stood at the edge of the balcony, cloak clutched around her shoulders, staring at the stars that refused to shine.
"She's doing something," she whispered. "I can feel it."
Kael emerged from the shadows behind her, holding a scroll so old its edges crackled as it moved.
"You were right."
Echo turned. "What is that?"
He laid it out across the stone table.
"A prophecy. One only shared among Frostbound bloodlines. My father buried it beneath the old library before he died. I swore I'd never read it."
"And now?"
Kael's expression darkened. "Liora's return changes everything."
The scroll was scrawled in Frostglyphs, a language older than either of their nations.
Kael translated aloud, slowly, painfully.
When fire and frost entwine in flesh, the Heart shall break, and the world shall bleed.
Born of war, child of crown and exile, one shall rise.
They shall either forge peace eternal… or bring frost's final sleep.
Echo's voice was barely a whisper. "You think this is about us?"
"I didn't. Until now."
Kael's hands trembled. "They called it The Breakborn Prophecy. The idea that unity between fire and frost wasn't salvation — but apocalypse."
Echo sat down, breath leaving her in a rush.
"Why now?" she asked. "Why would Liora resurface just as this becomes relevant again?"
Kael didn't hesitate. "Because she knows."
"About us?"
"No. About what you might carry."
The silence between them deepened, heavy and thick.
"You think I'm pregnant."
"I think she thinks you are."
Echo placed a hand against her abdomen, unsure whether the tremble in her fingers came from fear or something deeper.
Later that night, Echo walked alone to the Heartflame chamber — the sacred vault beneath the palace where the twin flames had once been kept divided.
Now, they danced together.
A delicate balance of red and blue fire, swirling in unity, pulsing with a strange warmth.
She touched the stone altar, and it glowed beneath her fingertips.
Born of war…
She'd bled for peace. Sacrificed her inheritance. Risked everything.
Child of crown and exile…
She was royalty. Kael was a fugitive prince.
It matched.
They shall either forge peace… or bring frost's final sleep…
The flames shivered.
Echo didn't sleep.
At dawn, she summoned her most trusted spies.
"I want eyes on Liora," she ordered. "Every whisper, every move, every breath."
One of them — an old Flameborn assassin named Merek — nodded grimly.
"We've heard rumor," he said. "Liora's been meeting with known Frostbound separatists. Those who want the old ways back."
"She's building a power base," Echo muttered. "Underground. Away from the council."
"And," Merek added, "she's asking questions."
Echo looked up.
"What kind of questions?"
He hesitated. "About your bloodline. About… your fertility."
Echo paced the council chamber, hands behind her back.
"She's playing a longer game," she said. "One where I'm not just the obstacle. I'm the source."
Kael stood at the map table, staring at the borders marked in frost-blue ink.
"She believes the prophecy is real," he said. "And if she convinces enough people it is…"
"She'll paint me as the end of this world."
They looked at each other — two rulers who had built everything on the hope that their love, their unity, could heal an old world.
And now, that very love had become the weapon used against them.
That evening, the council was called again.
This time, it was Liora who stood in the center.
She held no scroll. No blade.
Only a story.
"There is a prophecy," she said, voice calm, clear. "One my people have kept hidden. A warning. Of a child born of fire and frost."
The room hushed.
"A child," she continued, "who will tear the world apart."
Echo didn't flinch.
Prophecies are tools," she said coldly. "Used to control those too afraid to shape their own future."
Liora smiled faintly. "And what if this one is true?"
Echo stepped forward.
"Then I will defy fate," she said. "As I always have."
Outside the chamber, Kael waited.
"You know this won't go away," he said. "She's planting seeds. And some are already growing."
Echo met his eyes.
"Then we dig deeper. Find the root. And pull her out before she poisons everything."
He touched her cheek. "And if you are carrying a child?"
She was quiet for a moment.
"Then we raise them to unite the world. Not end it."
He smiled — barely.
"And if the world tries to take them from us?"
Echo's voice was like steel. "Then we burn the world down."