Chapter 31. The Flame That Knows No Master

The crown hovered above the altar, suspended by nothing but the mountain’s will. It spun slowly, ash trailing from its edges, threads of smoke curling like whispering spirits.

No one moved.

Then Selene stepped forward.

As she reached for it, the mountain groaned—not in warning, but in recognition. The crown dipped toward her fingers.

But before she could touch it, the ground cracked.

The chasm split wider.

From the stone behind the first altar, a second emerged—twinned, but darker. Not obsidian and heartwood, but something older. Bone. And beneath it pulsed a red light—the color of dying stars.

A second crown.

And someone else.

Mairead g