They buried the fallen riders beneath the wildflowers.
Elaria said nothing as Kael lit a small fire, burning the Sun Throne seal one had carried. The gold insignia curled in the flame like paper, its power gone the moment it turned to ash.
"You could have let them live," she said softly.
Kael glanced at her. "They would've returned with an army."
"I know." Her voice was tight. "It still doesn't make it easier."
He didn't argue.
They traveled in silence until twilight, when the land dipped into a valley of white mist and broken statues—giant figures half-sunken in earth and vine.
"The ruins of Lunaris," Kael said. "Your mother's birthright. Your ancestors ruled here… before the Sun Throne erased them."
Elaria stepped carefully over shattered stone, drawn to a crumbling fountain at the center. Inside it, moonlight shimmered where water should've been.
She knelt.
Visions flashed—crowns passed from mother to daughter, a silver temple, a baby wailing under the eclipse.
Then a voice:
"Blood of Lunaris… claim your name."
The moon above turned red.
Elaria gasped and staggered back.
"What happened?" Kael asked.
"I saw them," she said. "The queens. The bloodline. They called to me."
Kael stepped closer. "The world's beginning to remember who you are."
She looked up at him, something fierce in her eyes now.
"I'm not just cursed. I'm heir to a throne of light that was buried in shadow."
Kael smiled faintly. "Then maybe it's time we dig it up."