Elara's POV
Hello, Elara.
Sera sits in the ruins of my medical wing, smiling like we're having tea.
She looks exactly the same. Perfect blonde hair. Delicate features. The face that pretended to be my best friend while she destroyed my life.
You're supposed to be dead, I say.
So are you. She holds up the vial of medicine the last cure for the plague. Funny how things work out.
Cassian's sword is already drawn. Put down the vial.
Or what? You'll kill me? Sera laughs. Then you'll never get the antidote. And all those people in Lowtown will die slowly. Painfully. She tilts her head at me. Can you live with that, Elara? More deaths on your conscience?
My hands clench. What do you want?
The same thing I've always wanted. To matter. Her smile turns bitter. Do you know what it's like? Being nobody? I was just the merchant's daughter. Pretty enough to be a lady-in-waiting, but never good enough to be a real noble.
So you betrayed me for status?
I betrayed you for survival. She stands slowly. Your mother promised me a title. Land. Wealth. All I had to do was testify that I saw you poison Prince Damian.
I never
I know. Sera's voice is cold. But the truth doesn't matter. Power does. And your mother has it.
Had it, Cassian corrects. She's a fugitive now.
Is she? Sera smiles. Are you sure about that?
The walls explode.
Stone and dust blast inward. I hit the floor, covering my head. Screams echo. Magic crackles.
When I look up, soldiers in royal colors pour through the breach.
Loyalists. Dozens of them.
And walking through the dust, wearing her crown like she never left, is my mother.
Queen Isadora.
Hello, darling, she says to me. Did you miss me?
Chaos erupts.
Cassian's soldiers clash with Mother's forces. Steel rings. Magic explodes. Blood sprays.
Cassian grabs my arm, pulling me behind cover. Stay down!
But Mother's eyes track me across the room. There she is. My precious daughter. Still trying to hide.
You're under arrest, Cassian shouts over the noise. Surrender!
I don't think so. Mother gestures lazily.
A wave of magic slams into Cassian's soldiers, throwing them back. She's using forbidden spells. Dark magic that eats at life force.
We're outnumbered. Outmatched.
Fall back! Darius yells. To the inner sanctum!
Cassian pulls me toward the exit, fighting off attackers. I stumble over bodies. My hands shake. This is too much. Too fast.
We reach the corridor. Cassian slams the heavy door shut, barring it.
That won't hold long, he says, breathing hard.
I know. My mind races. There's another way. A secret passage behind the east wall. I used it as a child.
Show me.
We run through smoke-filled halls. Behind us, Mother's forces batter at the door. It won't hold.
I find the hidden panel, press the mechanism. The wall swings open, revealing a narrow tunnel.
Everyone through! Cassian orders his soldiers.
They pour into the passage. Darius goes first, leading them toward the gardens.
Cassian grabs my hand. Let's go.
But I stop.
Because I hear something.
A child crying.
Wait, I whisper.
Elara, we don't have time
There's a child. I pull free, running back toward the sound.
Elara!
I burst into a side chamber. A little girl maybe six year's old huddles under a table. A servant's daughter, left behind in the chaos.
Come here, I say gently. I'll keep you safe.
She runs to me. I scoop her up.
Then I turn to leave
And freeze.
Mother stands in the doorway.
Alone. No soldiers. Just her and me.
Put the child down, she says calmly.
No.
I'm not here to hurt her. Just you. Mother steps closer. Give her to me, and I'll let her go free.
I don't trust you.
Smart girl. You finally learned. Mother's smile is cold. But you'll do it anyway. Because that's who you are. The kind one. The savior. You'd rather die than let an innocent child suffer.
She's right. And she knows it.
I set the girl down. Run. Find the General.
The child runs past Mother, who doesn't even glance at her.
Now it's just us.
Mother and daughter.
Killer and prey.
Five years, Mother says conversationally. You survived five years in that filthy district. I'm almost impressed.
You tried to kill me.
I tried to eliminate a problem. She circles me slowly. You were always Father's favorite. Too kind. Too moral. When you found my letters, when you discovered I was working with the Empire... She shrugs. You became a liability.
So you murdered Damian and blamed me.
Damian was weak. Like Father. The poison was quick. Painless. She says it without emotion. He didn't suffer.
Rage burns through me. He was your son.
He was an obstacle. Mother stops circling. Just like you. Just like everyone who stands in my way.
You won't win. Cassian has your letters. Proof of your treason.
Proof means nothing without a witness. Mother pulls a dagger from her sleeve. And dead girls can't testify.
She lunges.
I dodge left. The blade slashes my arm. Pain explodes. Blood flows.
I grab a broken chair leg, swing it at her head. She blocks it easily.
We're evenly matched. Both trained. Both desperate.
But she's stronger. Faster. More ruthless.
She kicks my legs out. I hit the floor hard. Air rushes from my lungs.
Mother stands over me, dagger raised. You should have stayed hidden, Elara. You should have stayed dead.
Maybe. I gasp for breath. But then who would stop you?
No one. She smiles. That's the point.
The dagger descends
An arrow slams into Mother's shoulder.
She screams, stumbling back.
Cassian stands in the doorway, bow raised. Get away from her.
Mother clutches her shoulder, blood seeping through her fingers. You'll pay for that.
Get in line. Cassian nocks another arrow.
Mother backs toward the window. This isn't over, daughter. I'll come for you again. And again. Until one of us is dead.
She throws herself through the window.
Glass shatters. Then silence.
Cassian runs to the window, looking down. She's gone. Escaped into the gardens.
I try to stand. My legs won't work. Blood soaks my sleeve.
Cassian is beside me instantly. You're hurt.
It's nothing.
It's not nothing. He examines the cut. Deep but not fatal. Why did you come back? I told you to run!
There was a child.
There's always a child with you! His voice is angry, but his hands are gentle as he wraps my wound. You can't save everyone, Elara.
I can try.
He looks at me then. Really looks at me. And something shifts in his expression.
You're going to get yourself killed, he says quietly.
Probably.
I won't let that happen.
You can't stop me from doing what's right.
I know. His gray eyes hold mine. That's what terrifies me.
Footsteps echo. Darius appears, breathing hard. General, we secured the tunnels. But there's a problem.
What now?
The child. The one the princess saved. Darius's face is grim. She's not breathing. She collapsed in the tunnel. We think He stops. We think she was poisoned.
My blood turns to ice. What?
The plague. She has symptoms. Black veins. Fever.
I push past Cassian, running to the tunnel despite my bleeding arm.
The little girl lies on the ground, soldiers surrounding her. Her skin is gray. Black veins spread from her chest.
No. No no no.
I drop beside her, pressing my hands to her chest. My magic is almost gone, drained from healing Cassian earlier. But I pour what's left into her.
Gold-red light flickers weakly.
It's not enough.
The poison is too strong. My magic too weak.
Please, I whisper. Please don't die.
Her eyes flutter open once. She looks at me and smiles.
Then she's gone.
I sit back, shaking. Another death. Another life I couldn't save.
Cassian kneels beside me. Elara
She used her. My voice breaks. My mother poisoned that child. Left her there as bait. Knowing I'd come back. Knowing I'd try to save her.
It's not your fault.
Yes it is. Tears finally break free. Everyone around me dies. Everyone I try to help ends up
Stop. Cassian grips my shoulders. Your mother is the monster. Not you.
But I can't hear him over the roaring in my ears.
Because I finally understand.
Mother didn't just escape. She made a point.
She showed me that anyone I save, she'll destroy.
Anyone I care about will die.
As long as I'm alive, everyone around me is in danger.
I look up at Cassian. This man who conquered kingdoms. Who saved my life Who keeps protecting me despite the cost
He'll die because of me too.
Unless I end this.
I need to see Sera, I say.
What?
She has the medicine. The cure. I stand on shaking legs. And she wants to make a deal.
Absolutely not. Whatever she wants
She wants me. I meet his eyes. She wants me to trade myself for the cure. For everyone in Lowtown.
Cassian's face goes hard. No.
It's the only way.
I said no.
You don't get to decide! My voice echoes. Those are my people dying. My responsibility.
Your mother will kill you.
I know. I wipe my tears. But maybe that's what needs to happen. Maybe that's the only way this ends.
Silence.
Then Cassian says quietly, If you do this, I'm coming with you.
Cassian
I didn't spend five years finding you just to watch you die. His jaw is set. Stubborn. Final. Where you go, I go.
Before I can argue, a soldier runs in.
General! We found Sera. She left a message.
What message?
The soldier hands over a piece of paper.
I read it aloud: Meet me at dawn. The old execution grounds. Come alone with the princess, or I destroy the medicine and let Lowtown burn. You have one hour.
I look out the window.
The sky is already turning gray.
Dawn is coming.
And with it, my reckoning.