The throne creaked.
It was a soft sound, a whisper of wood under weight, but in the Flame Hall, it rang like a bell.
No one noticed at first.
The guards were used to the stillness.
The courtiers had long since learned to watch without looking.
But the Ember Veil noticed.
They always did.
Ingrid arrived at dawn.
She had not slept.
Had not eaten.
Not since the first flame lily bloomed beneath the throne.
She stepped into the hall, past the guards, past the ministers, past the silence.
And Selene's fingers moved again.
This time, not a twitch.
A slow flex.
As if testing gravity.
The throne room held its breath.
Ingrid stepped closer.
"Your Majesty…"
No reply.
But her eyes were no longer staring through the air.
They blinked.
Once.
Twice.
The pupils dilated.
And a line of heat shimmered down her cheek, not a tear, not sweat, but something in between.
"She's in there," Ingrid whispered.
"She's trying."
Elric came running.
They cleared the hall.
Not by command.
By instinct.
The ministers excused themselves.
The guards backed away.
Even the Ember Veil agents remained outside the door.
Because they all felt it.
Something sacred was happening.
Cassian arrived last.
He had sworn not to return.
Not until he saw her.
Not it.
Not the throne.
Not the echo.
But when he entered the hall, the flames bowed slightly.
They bent toward the throne.
Toward her.
He approached in silence.
Kneeled again.
And for the first time in what felt like eternity.
Selene's lips parted.
"Cassian…"
Barely a breath.
But his name.
His name.
Tears hit the marble before her voice could vanish again.
"I'm here," he whispered.
"You never left me."
Inside Selene's mind, the war was silent.
Not swords.
Not screams.
Just two wills pressed against each other like tectonic plates.
The Mirror sat across a table made of memory.
Still smiling.
Still patient.
"You're late," the Mirror said.
Selene narrowed her eyes.
"I'm awake."
"For now."
Selene stood.
"You wore me."
"I preserved you."
"You silenced me."
"I gave them strength."
"You gave them fear."
The Mirror stood too.
Her shape flickered.
Not solid anymore.
The fire inside her struggled to hold.
Because Selene's presence.
Her truth.
Had returned.
And the flame didn't know what to do with two queens.
Selene extended her hand.
"I'm taking it back."
"You never lost it."
"Then move."
"I can't."
"Why?"
The Mirror's smile cracked.
"Because you made me."
Outside, the Flame Hall began to heat.
Not wildly.
Not dangerously.
But every torch flared.
Every candle doubled.
Every ember leaned.
Ingrid dropped to one knee, breathless.
"She's fighting."
Elric gripped the edge of the doorframe.
"She's burning inward."
Selene faced the Mirror across the broken memory chamber.
"You're not needed anymore."
"I am everything you cast away."
"And now I want it back."
"You can't hold all of it."
"Watch me."
The Mirror's form surged.
Became flame.
Became teeth.
Became doubt.
"You are not strong enough."
"I was strong enough to rise."
"You'll die if you absorb me."
"Then I'll burn dying."
The memory chamber cracked.
The table shattered.
Selene opened her arms.
And took it all in.
Outside, the palace shook.
A wave of heat rolled across Veredon.
Every torch flared blue.
Every hearthstone rang like a bell.
Every citizen woke from sleep at the exact same moment.
Gasping.
Eyes wide.
Hearts racing.
Because they felt it.
Their queen was screaming.
And then,
Silence.
A cold, perfect silence.
Not empty.
Full.
And in the throne room, Selene exhaled.
Her head dropped forward.
Her braid loosened.
Her crown tilted.
Her fingers relaxed.
Cassian ran to her.
"Elric!"
The general caught her before she fell.
She didn't faint.
She landed.
Kneeling.
Not in weakness.
In arrival.
She looked up.
Eyes gold again.
Alive.
Wide.
She saw them.
Really saw them.
And spoke.
"It's me."
"I'm back."
The throne behind her cracked.
Not destroyed.
But altered.
As if accepting that it could no longer hold only fire.
It needed a soul again.
The Ember Veil agents wept.
Ingrid collapsed against the wall.
Cassian kissed Selene's forehead and didn't care who saw.
And the guards outside stood taller.
Because they knew.
The Queen of Flame had returned.
But not as before.
No longer just fire.
Now, fire with memory.
Now, flame with name.
Now, Selene.
-----------------------------
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