They came at dawn.
Not armies.
Kneeling rulers.
The gates of Dravenfall Fortress opened to a sight no warlord in history had ever witnessed — monarchs, emissaries, and high priests lining the outer causeway, banners lowered, weapons left behind.
At their head stood Queen Isolde of the Eastern Reach.
She removed her crown.
And knelt.
Gasps rippled through the courtyard.
"I come not as sovereign," Isolde said clearly, voice carrying, "but as witness. The Firmament has erred."
Elira stood beside Kael on the high steps, wind tugging at her dark hair. She felt the weight of it — belief, desperation, terror — crashing toward her like a tide.
Isolde lifted her head.
"You were cast out," the queen continued. "Yet you remain. That makes you something no god has ever been."
Elira swallowed.
"What do you want?" she asked.
Isolde did not hesitate.
"Protection," she said.
"Guidance."
"And if you demand it—my fealty."
The word rang like a bell.
Other rulers followed — one knee touching stone, then another, until the causeway became a field of bowed heads.
Not worship.
Choice.
Kael's hand tightened around Elira's.
She felt it — the instinct to refuse, to flee from another throne.
But the serpent stirred gently.
> Power unused is power claimed by another.
She exhaled.
"Rise," Elira said.
They froze.
"I won't rule you," she continued, voice steady. "I won't be your goddess."
Murmurs spread.
"But I will stand between you and heaven," she finished. "And I will remember who chose me… and who did not."
Silence.
Then cheers — raw, desperate, relieved.
Behind them, Kael turned away.
Because someone had not knelt.
---
The traitor ran.
Too late.
Kael dragged Captain Varos into the central courtyard by the collar, blood already streaking his jaw.
Varos had been Wolf Legion.
Had shared fires. Battles. Trust.
"Speak," Kael said coldly. "Tell them why you flee."
Varos laughed — brittle, panicked. "You think she's salvation? She's a curse! Heaven will burn us all for sheltering her—"
Kael did not draw a blade.
He raised his hand.
Shadow obeyed.
It coiled around Varos's throat and lifted him from the ground.
Elira inhaled sharply.
Kael's voice was iron.
"I built this legion on one law," he said, addressing the watching soldiers. "Betrayal is death."
Varos choked, feet kicking.
"And heaven?" Kael continued. "Heaven already declared war."
His hand clenched.
The shadow snapped.
Varos fell lifeless onto the stones.
Silence followed.
No one looked away.
Kael turned to Elira then, something raw flickering in his eyes.
"This is the world they're forcing on you," he said quietly. "Tell me to stop."
She stepped toward him.
Laid her hand over his heart — still beating, still his.
"No," she said softly. "But don't lose yourself to it."
His breath shuddered.
"For you," he murmured, "I'll try."
Above them, that impossible star pulsed once — brighter.
Not a crown.
A warning.