Chapter 48 – Throne of Embers
Crimson Castle stood quiet in the early morning light. For the first time since Liam had entered this world of fangs, contracts, and blood-bound destinies, there was peace—not the fragile quiet of fear, but the silence after a storm has passed and the survivors catch their breath.
Liam wandered the outer garden walls with Ella beside him, her fingers laced through his. It felt… real. Solid. As if the nightmare of Neretha's return had finally lifted. The crypt was gone, reduced to memory and dust, and with it, the last echo of the old vampire tyrannies.
"You did something impossible," Ella said, her voice softer than he had ever heard it. "You overpowered the Echo Crown's memory command. Not even I could've imagined it."
He didn't answer immediately. His gaze lingered on the remnants of sigils carved into the stone—the last traces of the glyph that had nearly devoured him.
"I didn't overpower it," he murmured. "I rewrote it. Using what we have—what we are."
Ella nodded. "It was your soul, not your blood, that decided the outcome."
Althaea joined them moments later, holding a scroll sealed in crimson wax. "The Council has sent word. The vampire territories are in chaos. Word of Neretha's death has spread. They're rallying. Some want to crown Ella as queen of all vampirekind. Others…" Her eyes narrowed. "Want revenge."
Liam raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. They think I'm the threat."
"You are," Althaea said. "To the old world. That makes you dangerous."
Ella's expression hardened. "Let them come. I'm done hiding."
The rest of the day passed in preparation. The royal court reconvened. Lords and mistresses who had once feared Ella's reclusive nature now approached her with reverence—and caution. They had all felt the pulse of power from the castle the night before. Magic that old didn't die quietly.
Liam was measured for formal robes, stood through ceremony rehearsals, and by evening, found himself standing on the castle's highest balcony, staring out over the vampire territories. Dozens of watchfires burned across the horizon, signals of coming envoys or enemies.
"You ready to sit the throne?" Ella asked from behind him.
"No," he admitted. "But I'm ready to stand beside you."
"That's enough."
They sat together in the Great Hall that night—Ella on the throne, Liam at her side. Althaea presented the Crown Sigil, now modified by Liam's changes. It pulsed with warm red-gold light, a blend of blood magic and memory magic forged by love, not fear.
Ella rose, placing it upon her head. The hall went silent.
"I am Queen Ella, Daughter of the Night Veil, Keeper of Crimson Flame," she declared. "And beside me stands Liam, bearer of the living glyph, breaker of the Echo Crown. He is my consort, my equal, and the protector of this realm."
There was silence.
Then, a thunder of cloaks hitting the stone floor as the entire court bent the knee.
That night, Liam stood alone on the castle ramparts.
A whisper curled at his ear.
"You think it's over?"
He turned. No one was there.
But the glyph on his chest pulsed faintly.
A reminder: history always echoes.
End of Chapter 48 – Throne of Embers