Chapter 31

The room she left behind.

Edenfall wasn’t exactly a palace. It felt more like a tomb, dressed up in silk and stone.

As I walked through the corridor, the hush of secrets seemed to echo around me. Each step I took felt like I was being watched by hidden eyes behind those ancient masks and heavy velvet curtains.

The halls dripped with history. This place was built on blood oaths, betrayals, and the illusion of order.

I followed Damian in silence, my injured palm wrapped in silk. The dagger ceremony was over, but the real game was just starting.

A tall woman in a robe approached us, flanked by two silent guards wearing bone masks.

“You’ve been assigned quarters,” she said, barely glancing at us. “During your stay, you’ll be under surveillance. One mistake, one misstep, and Edenfall will become your tomb.”

I didn’t flinch. They’d need more than just stone to bury me.

She tilted her head slightly, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “We’ll see.”

Our quarters were in the East wing. It was a lofty suite with windows that stretched from floor to ceiling, curving into the mountain face.

It was luxurious, sure, but also cold and sterile. Like a gilded cage.

Damian started searching the room for listening devices. They didn’t even bother to hide them.

“They want us to talk,” he muttered. “So they can judge how serious your claim is.”

Then we’ll give them something worth hearing.

I walked over to the fireplace and noticed the faintest mark on the stone.

A red phoenix, carved into the surface.I knelt down, brushing away layers of dust.

“Maria,” I whispered.

That night, while the guards switched shifts outside our door, I waited.

At exactly 3:00 a.m., a shadow slipped through the vent behind the bed.

It was Lennox.

“Nice room,” he whispered, pulling off his mask. “Your mother once slept here.”

My breath caught. What?

“Maria Duarte was offered the crown too,” he continued, leaning against the window ledge. “But she turned it down, said it was tainted.”

Then why did she die?

“Because she tried to destroy the court from inside. Just like you.”

He handed me a small object,a black key, old and engraved.

“She left something behind,” Lennox said. “A chamber, buried beneath the East wing. Only her blood can open it.”

I glanced down at my bandaged palm.

“I’ll take you there.”

Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves wandering through an ancient wine cellar deep within the east wing. Damian hung back, making sure no one followed us.

“This is the original foundation,” Lennox whispered. “Before Edenfall transformed into what it is now, some folks claimed it was a fortress for saints. Others? They said it’s always been hell.”

We approached a door.

It was made of stone. No handle. Just a small round indentation in the center.

I pressed my palm against it. Nothing happened.

“Maybe it needs a little more,” Lennox suggested.

I unwrapped the silk and sliced across the same wound again. Blood oozed out, darker this time.

I pressed harder. The stone groaned beneath my hand.

Then, with a shudder that echoed like a scream through the empty walls, the door slid open.

Inside was pitch black. I stepped into the cold air.

The room was tiny,maybe ten by ten feet. There were stone walls and dust-covered relics everywhere. A melted candle sat on a corner table.

And right in the middle, there was a chest.

I knelt beside it and lifted the lid. Inside were old letters, maps, a journal.

And a pendant I recognized from my childhood: my mother’s bloodstone crest.

My hands trembled as I opened the journal.

“They’ve offered me the throne. They think that making me one of them will silence me. But I’ve seen the truth behind their ceremony. Children sacrificed for power, cities starved to control trade, and kings driven mad by their greed. I won’t wear this crown. I’ll burn it first.”

I flipped ahead, my eyes narrowing.

“If you’re reading this, it means I failed. But you didn’t. You were the storm I never got to unleash. Finish what I started, Claire.”

Tears blurred my vision, but I held them back. Instead, I took the pendant, fastened it around my neck, and stood tall.

I’m not her,I whispered. But I’m enough.

By dawn, I stood once again before the court. This time, my voice was strong. It resonated through the stone, power, and legacy.

“You summoned me to see if I’m fit to rule,” I said, facing the six masked figures. “But I’ve read your true laws. I know the rituals. The sacrifices. The children who never made it past your gates.”

A heavy silence fell.

Then a voice broke through. “Be careful what ghost you summon, child.”

I smiled. They’re already here. I held up my mother’s pendant.

“This belonged to Maria Durate. She turned you down, and you killed her for it.”

The watcher stood. “She refused power.”

She refused damnation. I won’t.

They leaned forward, intrigued. “So you accept the crown?”

“I do, but not your leash.” My hand tightened around the pendant.

“I’ll wear the title. But I’ll burn the throne. From the inside out.”

As I walked out of the chamber, Damian fell into step beside me.

“You just declared war on the oldest power in the underworld,” he said.

I kept my gaze steady ahead.

“Then it’s time for the world to have a new queen.”