Kael's POV
The walls of the Grand Tribunal echoed with ancient judgment.
The High Council sat cloaked in silver and shadows, their expressions unreadable, their power cloaked in centuries of fear and tradition. Kael stood alone in the center of the chamber—no crown, no title, only the weight of his defiance wrapped around his shoulders like a shroud.
"You were warned, Kael Draven," Councilor Mathias began. "You were told what your loyalty to the witch would cost."
"She is not a witch," Kael said coldly. "She is my mate. She is the daughter of a bloodline you've feared since the first flame. And she's stronger than any of you."
That earned him murmurs. Displeasure. Disgust.
One voice spoke louder than the rest. "Then let her prove it."
Kael stiffened. "What do you mean?"
Councilor Nyra, whose magic was as old as the mountains, leaned forward with eyes that glowed like the full moon. "There is a trial. Set by her mother before her death. Hidden in the ruins of the Eclipse Temple. If the girl is what you say she is… she will survive."
"And if she doesn't?"
"She dies."
Kael's fists clenched. "I won't let you use her like this."
"You have no choice," Nyra said. "Refuse—and we declare war on the Eclipse heir and all who protect her."
Kael's breath caught.
They were cornering him.
And Aria was the price.
---
Aria's POV
The Eclipse Temple was silent.
Long-abandoned and overgrown, it lay beyond the Whispering Vale—a cursed valley that twisted sound and memory. No one had crossed its threshold in twenty years. Not since the last blood daughter walked into the flame and never returned.
Aria stood at the threshold now, wind tugging at her cloak, magic pulsing beneath her skin.
She could feel it.
Her mother had been here.
Kael stood beside her, jaw clenched.
"You don't have to do this."
"Yes," she said quietly. "I do."
He turned her to face him. "They're using this trial as an excuse. If you die in there, they win."
"I'm not going in to die."
"Then what are you going in for?"
She reached up, brushing his cheek with her fingertips. "For answers. For power. For you."
Kael's breath hitched.
He stepped closer. His hands gripped her waist, rough with desperation.
"I can't lose you."
"You won't."
"Aria—"
She kissed him.
There, beneath the dying sun, in the shadow of her legacy, she kissed him like it was the first and last time. Fire bloomed between them. Magic laced their bond, pulsing with golden light.
And when they broke apart, her eyes glowed.
"Wait for me," she whispered.
Then she stepped into the ruins.
And the doors closed behind her.
---
Inside the Temple — Aria's POV
The air changed the moment she entered.
Warmth faded. Shadows stretched long. The air tasted like old blood and forgotten promises.
A voice echoed in the silence.
"Daughter of flame… prove yourself."
Then the ground split beneath her feet.
She fell—down, down, into a chamber of mirrors and bone.
And the trial began.
---
First Trial: Memory
Flashes of her past.
Her father's rage.
The night her mother died.
The flames she couldn't control.
The people she hurt.
You are a curse, the voice whispered. They will never accept you.
She dropped to her knees.
But then—Kael's voice in her mind.
You're not alone in this.
She stood.
And the shadows recoiled.
---
Second Trial: Power
A room of silver blades and wolves made of fire.
They charged.
She screamed—and her magic exploded.
Golden fire met cursed steel.
Pain lanced through her side.
But she kept moving.
Faster. Stronger. Wilder.
Until the last wolf fell.
And the blades melted in her fire.
---
Third Trial: Truth
A mirror.
Her mother's face.
"You must choose, Aria," it said. "Love… or the throne. You cannot have both."
"No," Aria said, voice breaking. "I won't choose."
"Then you will lose everything."
"I'd rather die myself," she whispered, "than lose him."
The mirror cracked.
And light poured from the walls.
The temple shook.
And the trial ended.
---
Outside — Kael's POV
The ground trembled.
The sky split with golden fire.
And the temple doors burst open.
Aria stepped out.
Wounded, glowing, changed.
She looked like a goddess reborn.
Kael ran to her, catching her as she staggered.
"Aria—"
"I passed."
"You're bleeding—"
"I'm alive."
Then she handed him something.
A crown.
But not his.
Hers.
---
Later — Unknown POV
"She survived."
"She passed."
"She must be eliminated before the full moon."
"Then let the traitor deliver the blade."
The cloaked figure bowed.
And vanished into the night.