Page 105 of Claimed By Flame

Vaela’s chin rose, eyes sharp. “To death, then.”

Seraphine shook her head. “No. Death would be mercy.”

The air grew still.

“You will be returned to the Hollow,” Seraphine said. “You craved its power. Fed it. Hid inside it. Now you can live with it.”

A gasp. A ripple of disbelief.

Vaela’s eyes went wide. “You can’t?—”

“I can,” Seraphine whispered. “And I will. Let it see what you really are.”

Vaela screamed as the guards dragged her away. But Seraphine didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink. She turned back to the crowd.

“Bloodlines don’t define worth. Magic doesn’t buy loyalty. And love is not weakness. From this day forward, no law will stand that condemns who a soul chooses. We’ve bled too much for silence.”

The room didn’t erupt in applause. It didn’t need to. The fire in their eyes was enough.

Cassian stepped forward, just enough that their shoulders brushed.

“You know,” he murmured, “you’re kind of terrifying when you do that.”

She smiled without looking at him. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“I like terrifying,” he said. “Especially when it’s you.”

Toreen cleared his throat obnoxiously behind them. “Can we get on with it? Some of us haven’t slept in four godsdamned days.”

Seraphine shot him a look. “Then sit.”

He muttered something about disrespectful monarchs but stepped back anyway, arms crossed and smirking like a proud, grumpy father.

The crown was brought forth—simple, dark, forged from the melted remains of a dozen fallen crests.

She didn’t kneel. She bowed her head only briefly, then turned back to her people.

The light through the hall struck her in full then—gold and fire and shadow and storm.

Beside her, Cassian, her storm, her fury, her calm in the chaos.

She finally let herself breathe. Not just inhale. But really breathe.

He was here. They were still standing. And the kingdom was healing.

Cassian leaned in just enough to whisper, “So what now, Dragon Queen?”

She turned to him, eyes blazing. “Now?”

A smirk curved her mouth.

“Now we rebuild the damn world.”

FORTY-FOUR

CASSIAN

Cassian hadn’t ever known peace.

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