Chapter 30 Breaking Chains II
"What do you suggest?" I asked quietly.
"We execute Mira. She is guilty. But the others? We offer a choice. Renounce the Purists. Swear loyalty. Or leave the kingdom forever. Exile instead of death."
"That shows weakness."
"It shows mercy. Something we have been lacking lately." His eyes searched mine. "We cannot rule through fear alone. Not if we want to be better than the kings who came before."
I hated that he was right. That was my instinct: violence. That I had to fight what now felt natural.
"Fine. Exile. But Mira dies."
"Agreed."
We returned to the cell. "Mira. You are found guilty of treason. Of conspiracy to murder. Of betraying the crown." Kael's voice echoed. "At dawn, you will be executed. Do you have any final words?"
"Just one. Your child will doom the realm. And when it does, remember that I tried to stop it."
She gave me a look. "I apologize that things must be this way. I wish you could see what I see." I saw a traitor—a woman who tried to kill my child.
That is all I need to see."
We left her there. In the cold. In the dark. Waiting for dawn.
That night, anxiety kept me awake. The child was restless, moving inside me. I sensed its turmoil—emotions flowing through our mysterious connection.
Fear. Anger. Hunger.
The same things I was feeling.
"It knows," I whispered. "The child knows we are in danger."
Kael's arms tightened around me. "How can it know anything? It is barely formed."
"I do not know. But I feel it. Through the bond maybe. Or through something else."
I put my hand to my abdomen. "It is trying to tell me something." "What?" Pain struck before I could answer—sharp and overwhelming, as if I was being torn apart inside.
I let out a yell.
Kael was up instantly. "Sera! What is wrong?"
"The baby. Something is wrong with the baby."
He grabbed me, carrying me to the healing wing. But the pain intensified. My magic exploded—shadows ripped through walls, through furniture.
"Stop!" Kael shouted. "You are going to bring the palace down!"
I couldn't stop. The magic acted on the child's will.
It was showing me something. A vision. A warning.
I saw tomorrow. Dawn. Mira's execution. And something else. Something hidden.
A ritual. Blood magic. Mira had prepared something. A final curse. To be activated when she died.
Targeted at the child.
"Stop the execution!" I gasped, desperation sharpening my voice through the pain. "Do not kill her! It is a trap!" Panic and urgency warred within me. prepared a death curse. To kill the baby when she dies. I saw it. The child showed me."
The pain faded. The magic calmed. I sagged in Kael's arms.
"How did you see that?" he asked.
"The child. It showed me. Through the bond. Through magic I do not understand." I looked at him. "Our baby is conscious. Aware. Powerful."
"That should not be possible."
"Nothing about this child is possible. But it is real." I touched my stomach. "And it is protecting itself. Protecting us."
Lyra burst in. "Your Majesties. Mira is dead."
"What? How? We did not execute her yet."
"She killed herself. Bit through her own tongue. Bled out before anyone could stop her." Lyra's face was pale. "And there was a ritual circle in her cell. Drawn in her own blood. It activated when she died."
"The curse," I breathed. "Did it work? Did it hit the child?"
"We do not know. But magic exploded from the dungeons. Dark magic. Old magic. Shadowborn magic."
I waited. Felt for the child. For any sign that something was wrong.
Instead, I felt strength. Power. The child had not just survived the curse. It had absorbed it.
strengthened it by taking the death magic intended to kill it. I said, "It's okay. "The baby is doing well.
"How is that possible?" Kael asked.
"Because it is ours. Yours and mine. Born of impossibility and fate and ancient magic." I looked at him. "This child is going to be powerful. Maybe more powerful than both of us combined."
"That is terrifying."
"That is survival."
The next morning, we announced Mira's death. Called it suicide. Did not mention the curse or the child's power.
But word spread anyway. Whispers. Rumors. Fear.
The queen's child was under a death curse. The queen's child has power before birth.
The child of the queen is a monster.
Maybe they were right. Maybe this child truly was beyond my control. The thought pulled at something dark inside me—fear? Awe? Responsibility?
Now, giving up was no longer an option.
We got ready to go to the provinces that were in rebellion.
We faced people who wanted us dead, people who would not forgive. We tried to save a realm that might not want saving.
And as I prepared for battle, the child pressed against my awareness—a presence, not just a possibility. Already, it was protecting itself. Already, its power defied reason.
It's already exceeded our expectations.
This child would alter everything, for better or worse.
All I could hope was that we were ready, even if stopping it meant setting the world on fire.