Fantasy

Drip… Drip… Drip… Blood. I scream until my throat burns. I can’t die. Not today. Not while the kingdom still breathes. I press my hand to the stone, feeling the ground pulse beneath me. If it lives, I must live too. I force my body forward, dragging myself through ash and ruin. They thought this was the end. They were wrong. Then I see him. Felix stands at the edge of the shattered courtyard, carved from shadow and firelight. My brother. Dead for two winters. Alive now. The same eyes. The same smile I once trusted. “You saw what I wanted you to see,” he says. “This war wasn’t chance. I started it.” The truth hits harder than any blade. He didn’t betray the kingdom. He burned it on purpose. To rebuild it. And he needs me alive, beside him, so the people will follow. I choose to walk. Not for him—but to learn who struck the first match. Steel answers my choice. The courtyard explodes into battle. Blood, screams, fire. I fight until my arms shake, until pain blurs everything. I wound Felix. He nearly kills me. Reeve saves me. Dies for it. The bell rings. Reinforcements come. Felix runs. We win. And still, we lose. The city mourns in smoke and silence. At Reeve’s pyre, I don’t look away. That night, I find her letter. She knew. She planned for this. The seal at the bottom isn’t royal. It belongs to the Elder Council. The archives confirm it. My father was guilty—but not alone. Felix didn’t destroy the kingdom to rule it. He did it to expose the truth. Now the people watch me. Waiting. “This war won’t be fought in shadows,” I tell them. “No more secrets. No more unseen rulers.” Some cheer. Some turn away. Felix was right about one thing. This was never about survival. It was always about choice. And I have made mine