Chapter 5 Beneath the Thorned Crown

The Grand Hall of Accord was silent-its vaulted ceilings and marble pillars echoing with the tension that weighed heavy between the kingdoms. A long oval table sits at the center, lined with nobles from both the magical and human kingdoms.

Kael stood tall near the table, cloaked in the muted silvers of the magical realm. His eyes, ever sharp, scanned the room. He was no stranger to political negotiations, but today, the air felt different-heavier. Charged.

Then she walked in.

Elara.

Princess of Virelia. Daughter of Queen Seraphine. Shielded flame of the human kingdom.

She wore her title like armor, wrapped in a gown of royal blue with threads of gold shimmering like sunlight on the sea. Her chin held high, her eyes-those eyes-locked onto Kael the moment she entered.

He remembered them from the ball. And long before.

But she was not the girl in the shadows now.

Elara moved with precision, her guards trailing behind like loyal shadows.

The meeting commenced with ceremonial words and polite greetings exchanged between delegates. But every glance between Kael and Elara was another thread woven into the invisible tension growing between them.

Duke Rethos, the magical kingdom noble proceeds, "We begin this counsel not with pleasantries, but with truth. A blade was drawn at the ball–a blade meant for our warrior. We demand to know who sent it."

"The Queen of the Human kingdom does not send assassins, she sends invitations. Perhaps the Eldoria's should investigate between its own shadows." Lord Thorne, the Human kingdom General replied coldly.

Voice calm, but intense, Kael spoke, "He died with the Queen's name in his mouth. Oh you said she sends invitations? That reminds me because he said the Queen sends her regards."

Elara, sitting elegantly, keeping her voice steady, replied. "Accusations do not make facts. Besides, sending invitations and sending regards are not the same thing."

A murmur runs through the chamber, Kael's eyes meet Elara's, fierce and unreadable.

"How noble. The daughter speaks with fire while her kingdom hides behind veils." Duke Rethos mocks.

"Enough, we are here for diplomacy, let us not turn this into a battlefield of words." Lord Thorne said gently.

"This meeting is pointless. I shall take my leave." Kael stood up and everybody felt the coldness in those words.

Lady Mirena, a Human noble, signaled Elara to go after him.

Lord Rethos declared the meeting was over.

When the formalities ended, they shaked hands-a symbolic gesture of peace and partnership.

It felt anything but.

---

Elara caught up with Kael, he wasn't walking fast.

They walked in silence at first, through a maze of silverleaf hedges and flowering moon blossoms. Neither of them said anything, but the air between them brimmed with unspoken words.

Finally, Elara broke the silence.

"You sat silent, yet every glance screamed accusations."

"I don't scream. I don't need to. You know why he died with your mother's name on his lips."

"I don't defend her, but I won't condemn her either...not in front of them. You know nothing about what it means to carry loyalty and doubt under the same breath." She replied with a flicker of pain in her eyes.

"You're wrong" Kael looked at her "I was raised among those who saw me as filth. I've carried blade and silence longer than you've worn that crown"

"Then maybe...you do know." She replied quietly.

"I do"

"You believe everything my mother does is evil, don't you?"

Kael didn't hesitate. "She sent a man to kill me. That leaves little room for interpretation."

She turned her face toward him, sharply. "And you think I'm like her?"

"No," he said. "But I don't know what you are."

She scoffed. "You think because you're the darling of prophecy, you get to speak in riddles now?"

"I think," Kael said, stepping closer, "that I've seen enough bloodshed to know how kingdoms fall. And enough pride to know how they hide it."

Elara's eyes narrowed. "You talk of pride like you don't bleed with it."

"I don't need pride to fight for what I am," he said. "I had to earn my name. My place. You were born with yours."

"You think that makes it easier?" she snapped. "You think standing beside a queen who values power over her own daughter's soul is a privilege?"

Kael paused.

The fire in her voice-he wasn't ready for it.

Elara's voice dropped. "I don't agree with her choices. But I'm not here to debate my mother's heart. I'm here to speak for my people. To protect them. Even if that means standing against you."

Kael's jaw tightened. "Then we're already enemies."

"No," she said, stepping close, her voice a whisper. "We're something worse. We could have been something else."

He stared at her.

What did that mean?

---

They stopped beneath a flowering tree, pale petals drifting around them like whispers. Kael folded his arms. "You're different than I expected."

She raised a brow. "How so?"

"Stronger. Smarter. And far more irritating."

That drew a small, reluctant smile from her.

"I expected you to be ruthless," she said. "More brute than brain."

"And?"

"You are ruthless. But there's something else."

Kael tilted his head. "What?"

She hesitated. "You carry loneliness like a sword. Like if you let go of it, you'd fall apart."

His chest tightened. No one had ever said something like that to him. Not even close.

He masked the reaction with a shrug. "Everyone carries something."

She nodded. "Some of us carry kingdoms."

A pause.

Then she added, "And others carry truths they're afraid to say."

Their eyes met.

The tension shifted, heavier now. Not from anger-but something unnamed. Something that tugged at the lines they'd drawn between them.

He took a breath. "What are you afraid to say, Elara? Stop speaking in riddles."

She looked away quickly. "That you don't feel as much as I do."

Kael's heart stuttered.

She started to walk away, but he caught her wrist gently-not harshly, not like a warrior. Like a man unsure if he had a right to reach for what he couldn't name.

"Elara."

She turned, slowly.

"I don't know what this is," he said, voice low. "But I don't hate you."

Silence stretched.

"I don't want to hate you either," she admitted. "But it would be so much easier."

Their hands lingered in contact, the moment thick with everything they weren't saying.

But then-

Footsteps echoed nearby.

An aide called from the archway. "Princess Elara! The carriage is ready. The Queen awaits your return."

The spell broke.

She pulled her hand back, but something stayed in her eyes.

Regret. Want. Confusion.

"I should go," she said quietly.

Kael only nodded, though everything in him screamed otherwise.

As she turned to leave, she paused. "Tell me something, Kael."

"Yes?"

"If this were a different world... would you have danced with me by choice?"

He answered without hesitation. "I still would."

She blinked, startled.

Then she left.

Kael stood beneath the falling blossoms, the warmth of her fingers still clinging to his skin like a brand.

He didn't know what would come next.

But for the first time, he feared it wouldn't be war that undid them.

It would be this.

Whatever this was.

---