Chapter 5 7,8

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Chapter Seventeen: Blood in the Garden

The tunnels beneath Caer Thorne stank of mildew and secrets. Alaric led the rebels through the catacombs once used to bury kings-now used to overthrow one.

Above them, the palace gardens stood silent in the moonlight.

They surfaced beneath the rose arbor, the same place where Alaric's mother used to read to him. Now it was a battlefield.

Steel clashed. Alaric fought alongside Seraphine, blades flashing in perfect rhythm. He watched her move-wild, graceful, unyielding. The prophecy hadn't been wrong: she was fire.

A scream split the air.

Dain had fallen.

Seraphine turned just in time to see him impaled by a palace guard. His eyes met hers, wide with shock... and regret.

"I was wrong..." he whispered, blood bubbling on his lips. "Make it mean something."

She pressed his hand, tears falling freely. "I will."

Then he was gone.

The cost of the crown had begun.

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Chapter Eighteen: The Throne Room Burns

The last of the palace gates crashed open.

Alaric and Seraphine entered the throne room together-bloodied, breathless, unbowed. Queen Maerra stood at its center, cloaked in violet, her hands glowing with dark magic.

"You would destroy your kingdom for a girl?" she sneered.

"No," Alaric said. "For the truth."

Maerra raised her hands. The room exploded with light and pain. Shadows twisted. Flames rose.

But Seraphine stood tall, eyes blazing. "You killed my family. You tried to erase us. But I carry their fire."

She unleashed her magic-not with hate, but with purpose. Flames wrapped around her arms, golden and white. They met Maerra's darkness in a thunderous clash.

Alaric shielded her flank, cutting through guards with every ounce of royal training he had once used to oppress.

Then-Maerra faltered.

Seraphine stepped forward. "You feared the prophecy. But you never understood it."

She pressed her palm to Maerra's chest. "The fire doesn't destroy the kingdom. It rebirths it."

With a cry, she released the spell-and the queen collapsed in a burst of ash and wind.

Silence.

Then... dawn broke through the shattered windows.

The war was over.

But the story of the new kingdom was just beginning.