The moment I whispered those words, everything inside me cracked open.
It felt like my soul split down the middle.
Like a locked door had been ripped off its hinges.
My blood surged violently, hotter than fire, heavier than steel. The crimson crown above my head blazed so brightly that the alley turned red, as if the moon itself had bled into the sky.
I heard Selene gasp.
Not from fear.
From excitement.
Because she could feel it too.
She could feel the Forgotten Queen waking fully inside me.
My body rose slowly without my permission.
My hands lifted.
My spine straightened.
And when I opened my eyes again, the world looked different.
Sharper.
Clearer.
The air itself seemed to tremble, as if it recognized what had returned.
The Queen's voice did not whisper in my mind anymore.
It spoke through me.
Through my lips.
Cold and royal.
"Finally," she said.
I tried to speak.
Tried to fight.
But my voice was gone.
My body was no longer mine.
And yet, I was still aware.
I was trapped inside my own skin, watching as she took over like she had always owned me.
Selene stood across the alley, her serpent crown glowing black, her aura pulsing like poison.
The massive serpent behind her hissed louder, its body coiling above the rooftops like a nightmare.
Selene's lips curled into a smile.
"There you are," she whispered. "The Queen."
The Queen tilted my head slightly.
Her expression was calm.
Bored, even.
She stared at Selene the way a monarch stares at a foolish servant.
"You are not worthy to speak my name," she said.
Selene laughed.
Her laugh echoed strangely, layered with voices that did not belong to her.
"You think you are still untouchable," Selene replied. "But you are inside a weak girl's body."
The Queen smiled.
And it was terrifying.
Because it was not a kind smile.
It was the smile of someone who had ordered executions with a single word.
"This body," the Queen said softly, "is stronger than you will ever be."
Selene's eyes narrowed.
Then she lifted her hand.
The massive serpent behind her roared and lunged forward.
Its jaws opened wide enough to swallow me whole.
The alley shook as it descended.
I felt the air disappear.
I felt death rushing toward me.
But the Queen did not move.
She simply raised my hand.
And snapped her fingers.
The world froze.
The serpent stopped midair.
Its mouth still open.
Its fangs still dripping black venom.
Its eyes widened.
Then the Queen spoke one word.
"Kneel."
The serpent's body convulsed violently.
A crack split across its head like glass.
Selene's eyes widened in shock.
"What…"
The Queen lifted her other hand slowly.
Crimson threads appeared in the air.
Thin.
Almost invisible.
They wrapped around the serpent's body like strings.
And I realized what she was doing.
She was controlling it.
Not with flames.
Not with brute force.
With authority over blood itself.
The serpent began to twist, fighting against the invisible strings.
But the Queen's fingers moved slightly.
And the serpent's head slammed into the ground.
The entire alley exploded with dust and shattered stone.
Selene staggered.
She coughed.
Her black aura flickered.
"No," she hissed.
She raised both hands and screamed.
The serpent surged again, tearing itself free.
It lunged toward the Queen.
Toward me.
The Queen moved for the first time.
She stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
Calmly walking toward the serpent as if she was approaching a pet.
The serpent struck.
Its fangs came down.
And the Queen caught its jaw with one hand.
One hand.
The impact shook the street.
I felt the bones in my arm strain.
But she held it.
She held the serpent's mouth open as if it weighed nothing.
Selene's face twisted.
"That is impossible," she whispered.
The Queen's eyes glowed crimson.
"You built your power on corruption," she said. "I built mine on birthright."
Then she tightened her grip.
A loud crack echoed.
The serpent's jaw snapped in half.
Black blood poured out like oil.
The serpent screamed.
A sound so loud it shattered windows along the street.
Selene screamed too, clutching her chest.
Her knees buckled.
But she did not fall.
Not yet.
Because Selene's bloodline was not normal either.
She gritted her teeth and lifted her head, her eyes glowing red now.
"You think you can break me," she hissed. "But the Blood Council gave me something even you cannot erase."
The Queen released the serpent's broken jaw.
Then she stepped forward again.
Selene's aura exploded outward.
The black serpent crown on her forehead began to spread.
Black markings crawled down her face, across her neck, across her arms like living tattoos.
Her pupils expanded until her eyes turned almost fully black.
Then she whispered something in a language I did not recognize.
A forbidden chant.
The air grew colder.
The ground began to shake.
And the serpent behind her started to change.
It grew larger.
Its body thickened.
Its scales turned darker.
Its eyes became brighter, burning like red lanterns in the dark.
Then another serpent rose behind it.
And another.
And another.
Three massive serpents.
Each one as large as a tower.
Each one dripping black venom onto the ground.
The venom hissed as it touched stone, melting it like acid.
My stomach dropped.
Even the Queen went still for a moment.
Selene laughed, her voice cracked with madness.
"Yes," she whispered. "This is what they gave me. A bloodline that grows the more it feeds."
The Queen's expression darkened.
Then she spoke.
"You have become a parasite."
Selene spread her arms.
"And you have become prey."
The three serpents attacked at once.
They struck from different angles, moving faster than their size should allow. The alley became a storm of shadows and venom.
The Queen raised both hands.
Crimson flames erupted like an ocean.
Not small flames.
Not controlled flames.
A tidal wave of blood fire.
The flames slammed into the serpents.
The air exploded.
Heat swallowed the street.
The ground cracked.
Buildings trembled.
The serpents screamed as the flames burned their scales.
But the black serpents did not die.
They hissed and pushed through, their bodies regenerating.
Selene's laugh echoed.
"Burn them all you want," she taunted. "They will keep returning. Just like you returned."
The Queen's eyes narrowed.
Then she moved again.
Fast.
So fast my vision blurred.
She appeared in front of Selene instantly.
Selene's eyes widened.
Too late.
The Queen grabbed Selene's throat.
Selene choked.
Her hands clawed at the Queen's wrist.
The Queen leaned close.
Her voice dropped into a whisper.
"You stole my vessel's blood," she said. "You stole her life."
Selene's lips trembled.
"You were going to kill me anyway," she gasped.
The Queen's grip tightened.
"You are correct," she whispered.
Then she raised her free hand.
A crimson spear formed instantly.
Sharp.
Elegant.
Deadly.
The spear pointed at Selene's heart.
Selene's eyes widened in terror.
But then her lips curved into a smile.
A smile filled with evil.
"You cannot kill me," she whispered.
The Queen paused.
Selene whispered again, softer.
"Because if I die…"
Her serpent crown glowed violently.
"…the curse transfers."
The Queen's eyes widened slightly.
My heart stopped.
Transfers.
To who
Selene's smile widened.
"To you."
The Queen's hand trembled for the first time.
The serpents behind Selene roared.
The ground shook again.
The curse was real.
The Blood Council had trapped Selene with something that could not simply be destroyed.
If Selene died, the corrupted serpent bloodline would attach itself to the nearest royal blood.
To me.
To the Queen.
To Elara.
Selene's voice was almost gentle now.
"So go on," she whispered. "Kill me. And let the serpent enter you. Let it eat you from the inside."
My entire body froze.
The Queen released Selene's throat instantly.
Selene stumbled backward, coughing, laughing through the pain.
"You see," Selene whispered. "You cannot end me."
The Queen's expression turned colder than death.
She raised her hand again.
Crimson chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around Selene's limbs, pinning her to the wall.
Selene struggled.
But the chains tightened.
The Queen walked toward her slowly.
"If I cannot kill you," she said, "then I will seal you."
Selene's eyes widened.
"Seal me," she repeated, voice shaking now.
The Queen raised both hands.
The crimson crown above my head flared brighter.
Ancient runes filled the air.
The alley began to glow with a blood circle, similar to the execution circle.
But this circle felt older.
More powerful.
More royal.
Selene screamed as the runes began to wrap around her like burning rope.
"No," she cried. "No. Stop. You cannot do this to me"
The Queen did not stop.
The runes tightened.
Selene's black aura fought back violently, but it was being crushed.
The three serpents behind her roared and began to dissolve.
Their bodies turned into smoke.
Their venom evaporated.
Selene's serpent crown flickered.
Cracked.
Then shattered.
Selene screamed again.
A scream filled with terror.
"Please," she gasped. "Elara. Elara please. It is me. It is Selene. Your friend."
The words hit me like a punch.
Friend.
The Queen hesitated for a split second.
And I felt it.
I felt the Queen's control weakening.
Because my emotions were bleeding through.
My hatred.
My pain.
My memories.
Selene saw the hesitation and smiled through her tears.
"Yes," she whispered. "That is right. You are still in there."
The Queen's voice snapped.
Silence.
The runes tightened again.
Selene screamed as the blood seal formed around her like a coffin.
The air trembled.
Then suddenly, a loud crack echoed from above.
A rooftop shattered.
A figure landed in the alley like a falling blade.
My heart stopped.
Lucien.
He stood between us, his cloak torn, his silver eyes glowing bright.
His chest rose and fell as if he had run through the entire city.
His gaze swept over the destroyed street.
The melted stone.
The blood flames.
The dead hunters.
The runes.
And Selene, bound and screaming.
His eyes widened.
"What… is this," he whispered.
Then his gaze locked onto me.
On the crown symbol.
On the crimson aura.
On the power radiating from my body.
His voice shook.
"Elara," he whispered.
He took a slow step forward.
"That power…"
His eyes narrowed.
"I have seen it before."
The Queen turned my head toward him.
And for the first time, Lucien's face changed completely.
His expression was no longer confusion.
No longer suspicion.
It was recognition.
Fearful recognition.
Lucien's lips parted.
And he whispered words that made my blood freeze.
"That is the Queen's bloodline."
The alley fell silent.
Even Selene stopped screaming.
Lucien stared at me like he was staring at a ghost.
And then he whispered again, voice trembling.
"But the Queen is dead."
The Queen's voice spoke through my lips, calm and terrifying.
"Am I"
Lucien stumbled backward.
His eyes widened as if his entire world had just shattered.
Selene laughed weakly through her chains.
"You see," she whispered. "Now he knows."
The Queen's crimson flames rose higher.
The runes around Selene pulsed.
And the Queen spoke again, her voice echoing with royal authority.
"Kneel, Lucien Valemont."
Lucien froze.
His knees trembled.
He tried to resist.
But the pressure in the air grew heavier.
His body fought against it.
His pride fought against it.
But his blood responded.
Because blood recognized royalty.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Lucien's knees bent.
And he dropped to one knee.
My breath caught.
Lucien was kneeling.
Kneeling to me.
Kneeling to the Queen inside me.
Lucien's voice was hoarse.
"What are you," he whispered.
The Queen smiled.
And her answer was simple.
"I am what your kingdom buried."
The runes flared violently.
Selene screamed as the seal tightened around her.
Lucien looked up at me, his silver eyes filled with horror.
And in that moment, I realized the truth.
This was no longer just revenge.
This was war.
And the first person to fall to their knees…
was the man who once watched me burn.