Dominic's POV
I should've stopped her.
But something in me wanted her to see it—to understand what this kingdom really was. Not the silks. Not the thrones. The bones. The silence. The rot. And now… I'd opened a door I couldn't close.
We stood there, Isabella and I, between the past and something worse. She hadn't flinched at the tomb. Hadn't recoiled from the truth.
She'd looked at death and asked it for answers.
Dangerous woman.
I remembered what they used to say about queens like her.
If she survives the crown, she'll change the kingdom.
If the kingdom survives her, it will never be the same. "You're thinking too loud," Isabella said behind me. I smirked without humor. "You're too quiet. That worries me."
She traced the cracked crown on the lid again. "Who was she, really?"
"The Queen of Ashes," I answered. "Or so the stories say. Her name was burned from the records. Forbidden to be spoken."
"Why?"
"She defied the Seers. Married a king they didn't approve of. Fell in love with a man cursed by fate."
She tilted her head. "And what happened?". "She burned the palace to the ground trying to protect him. The gods silenced her. Sealed her magic. Buried her here."
Her hand stilled. "Is that a myth, or a warning?". "Both."
I stepped toward her, and for the first time in years, I felt unarmed. Not without a weapon, no, that was always on me but stripped of the armor I'd spent my life building.
She didn't look afraid. Not of the dead. Not of me. That made her the most dangerous threat of all. "You came down here looking for truth," I said. "But you don't want the real truth." "I want to know what they're so afraid of."
I leaned in, lowering my voice. "They're afraid of power that doesn't ask permission." She met my gaze evenly. "Then they should be very afraid of me." I didn't smile. I wanted to. But all I could think about was the way her voice echoed in the crypt.
As if something had been listening.
As if something had woken up.