Chapter 4 - THE WITCH QUEEN'S LEGACY
Mara choked for air as Lord Vane’s steel gauntlet squeezed her neck. The dark magic emanating from his broadsword was like an anti-element—a pitch-black mist that drank her golden fire and turned her heat into icy paralysis.
“What... what did you say?” Mara gasped, her fingers frantically clawing at his iron wrist.
“Your mother, Queen Eleanor!” Vane laughed, a cold, mocking sound. “The kingdom thought she was a saint! They thought she died trying to save you from the fire! But she was a dark sorceress who tried to trade your royal blood for eternal youth! I didn't set the fire to kill you, girl—I set the fire to STOP HER!”
King Arthur, chained to the pillar, screamed out in agony. “Lies! Do not listen to him, Aurelia! He murdered your mother in cold blood!”
“Is it a lie, Arthur?” Vane sneered, turning his head slightly while keeping Mara pinned against the wall. “Tell her about the basement beneath the queen’s rose garden! Tell her about the blood altars! Tell her why you stayed silent for seventeen years!”
Mara looked at the King. Arthur lowered his head, tears streaming down his face, unable to deny the truth. The silence in the room was deafening.
Mara’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Her entire life—her identity as a pathetic servant, her sudden rise as a fire princess—was built on a foundation of horrific royal lies. She wasn't just the heir to the throne; she was the product of a monstrous dark ritual.
“You see?” Vane smirked, tightening his grip on her throat. “You are not a savior, Aurelia. You are an abomination. And your magic belongs to the darkness.”
The dark magic from Vane’s sword began to creep up Mara’s arms, turning her skin black and purple, leeching away her strength. Her vision began to dim.
No... Mara thought, as the darkness threatened to swallow her mind. I don't care who my mother was. I don't care what dark secrets are in my blood. I am the girl who survived seventeen years in the cold! I am Mara!
Instead of fighting the dark magic, Mara opened her mind and absorbed it.
She embraced the cold, bitter dark that Vane cast upon her, mixing it with the furious golden flame of the Sun Royal line inside her heart. The golden mark on her collarbone swirled with black veins, creating a terrifying new element—Black Sun Fire.
Vane’s eyes widened in sudden horror as his sword began to vibrate violently in his hand. “What... what are you doing? Stop!”
“You wanted a monster?” Mara whispered, her voice sounding like thunder. “Here she is.”
EXPLOSION!
A terrifying wave of black and gold flames burst from Mara’s chest, shattering Vane’s enchanted broadsword into a thousand sharp flying fragments! The blast blew Lord Vane out the high tower window, sending him falling hundreds of feet down into the jagged rocks of the moat below!
Mara collapsed to the floor, panting, as the dark flames faded from her hands. She dragged herself over to the King and used a sharp piece of Vane’s broken blade to slice through his heavy iron chains.
“Aurelia...” Arthur sobbed, pulling her into a tight, desperate embrace. “I am so sorry... I kept the secret to protect you from her dark legacy...”
“We don't have time, Father,” Mara said softly, using the word Father for the first time. “Vane is gone, but Celeste still has the royal guard. We need to reach the main square before she crowns herself.”
Suddenly, the heavy alarm bells of the palace began to toll—not once, not twice, but three times.
The War Alarm.
Arthur’s face went pale. “That isn't a coronation bell. That’s an invasion signal.”
Mara ran to the balcony and looked out over the city gates. The night sky was painted crimson. Surrounding the city was an army of thousands of dark, shadowy soldiers—an undead legion summoned by the dark magic Lord Vane had unleashed before his fall!
And riding at the head of the shadow army, wearing a crown made of obsidian and bone, was none other than Lady Celeste.
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HOOOK / CLIFFHANGER:
Celeste raised her sword toward the high tower, her voice echoing across the entire city through dark sorcery: “People of the Realm! King Arthur is dead, and the fake princess has unleashed the shadow plague! Surrender the city to me, or my dark army will burn every child in their beds by sunrise!”
