Chapter 100 Hundred and three
"Say it, Sienna. Say what the realm needs to hear."
Elder Theron’s voice cut through the courtyard like a blade dipped in ice. Sienna didn’t answer him immediately. Her gaze stayed locked on Ryder, on the man trembling against the pillar, fighting visions that tore at his mind until he seemed half-ghost, half-wolf, barely anchored in his own skin.
Ryder’s lips moved as if forming her name, but no sound came. She saw it anyway. Felt it. The bond between them was stretched so thin she feared it would snap.
"Sienna," Elder Theron said again, louder this time. "This is not the moment for hesitation. The realm expects an answer."
A murmur rippled through the gathered wolves, fear, curiosity, hunger for direction. They were ready to believe anything, ready to follow whichever voice was strongest. And Renna had been loud. Too loud.
"Your Majesty," another council member urged. "Look at him. Look at what he becomes when he sees you."
She didn’t need to look. She felt Ryder’s pain echoing in her bones even from across the courtyard. She felt the curse pulse through him like a wounded heartbeat. She felt his desperation, his terror, his breaking.
"Sienna," another voice snapped. "Speak."
She inhaled slowly. Her chest felt tight, as if someone had threaded iron wire around her lungs.
Ryder dragged a breath, his fingers clawing at the ground. "Don’t listen to them."
She stiffened. His voice was low, hoarse, but steady enough to reach her. For a few seconds the visions seemed to loosen their grip. He lifted his face toward her, the exhaustion etched into his features made him look older, more worn, as though he had lived several lifetimes in the span of a few hours.
"You know me," Ryder said softly. "You know what I am when I’m myself. Don’t let them, "
He collapsed forward as another vision hit. His body jerked as though pierced by invisible spears.
The crowd recoiled.
Sienna’s breath caught. Her fingers curled involuntarily, as if she could hold him from a distance. As if wanting it enough could save him.
Theron spoke again, his voice dripping with false solemnity. "The evidence is clear. The curse has consumed him. His presence endangers you, the throne, and the entire kingdom."
"Evidence?" Sienna whispered.
Renna stepped into view with the forged documents still in her hand. Her expression was calm, her eyes bright with triumph.
"Everything leads to one conclusion," Renna said. "He is unstable. Dangerous. He should never come near you again."
Sienna stared at her. "You would fasten chains around every throat if it served your ambition."
Renna smiled politely. "I only want what keeps our queen alive."
"Alive?" Sienna scoffed. "You want me alone. Weak. Easy."
Renna did not deny it. That was the most dangerous part of her, the woman never hid the truth when she believed she had already won.
Elder Theron took a step forward, leaning heavily on his staff. His pale robes pooled around him like smoke. His face, carved with sharp lines and colder intentions, revealed not a trace of empathy.
"Sienna," he said, lowering his voice. "You are queen. But a queen cannot rule while bound to a threat."
Her jaw clenched.
"You must denounce him," Theron continued. "For the safety of the realm."
Ryder shook as the curse tightened again, his fingers digging into the stone floor. He kept his gaze on her even through the agony. She saw the truth there. He didn’t want her to speak. He didn’t want her to choose him. Or choose the realm. He didn’t want her hurt. That was the brutal tragedy of it.
"Sienna," he whispered. "Don’t do this."
Something in her chest cracked, but she didn’t look away.
Theron stepped closer to her. Close enough that she sensed the cold confidence radiating from him, the certainty that he was cornering her into a cage he could lock behind her.
"The time has come," he said. "We require your ruling. Is Ryder Thorn a threat to the realm?"
She said nothing.
"Is he a danger to your throne?"
Silence.
"Is he a danger to you?"
Still nothing.
The crowd leaned forward. Even the wind quieted across the courtyard, as if the world itself waited for her breath.
Theron lowered his voice, so only she and those closest could hear.
"Choose your heart," he murmured, "and you will lose your crown."
Sienna’s stomach twisted.
"Choose your crown," he whispered again, "and you will save your people."
She stared at him.
"Choose him… and you doom him."
That struck her deeper than he intended.
Her mind spun with everything happening at once:
Ryder’s trembling body.
His visions of her dying.
Renna’s lies turning the crowd against him.
The curse tightening every time he moved closer.
The council ready to dethrone her.
Her kingdom feeling like sand slipping through her fingers.
"Your Majesty," Theron said sharply. "Answer."
She still didn’t speak.
"Answer," Renna echoed mockingly. "Or he will die for your silence."
Sienna looked at Ryder.
He shook his head weakly. "Don’t protect me. I can handle, "
He didn’t finish. His body jerked violently as another vision struck him down. His scream was raw and desperate enough to silence even Renna.
"No!" Sienna took a step forward, then stopped herself before crossing the invisible line that would kill him.
Ryder slumped, chest heaving, palms bloody from digging into the stone. His eyes fluttered open again, silver and tortured.
"If you speak what they want," he rasped, "I lose you. Forever."
She swallowed. "If I don’t… you die."
He looked away then, for the first time since she arrived. And she saw his expression from the side, the acceptance. The resignation. The pain he didn’t want her to carry.
He thought he deserved death.
He thought he was already dead.
She couldn’t breathe.
Theron’s voice rose. "Queen Sienna. The realm demands your decree. Speak it."
The crowd leaned in as if one shared creature.
Ryder forced himself upright, using the pillar for support. Sweat dripped down his temples. His breathing was ragged. But he made himself meet her eyes again, even though the act triggered fresh agony.
"Sienna," he whispered, voice cracking. "Do not give up on me."
"You’ll die," she whispered back. "If I don’t."
"I’ll die," he said with a faint, broken smile, "if you do."
Her throat tightened.
Theron lifted his staff. "Your Majesty. Now."
She opened her mouth, only for air to escape. Her chest felt too tight, her throat too dry, her mind torn in two, neither path offering salvation.
The crowd watched.
Ryder waited.
Renna smirked.
Theron scowled.
Sienna closed her eyes for a moment, forcing her breath to steady.
When she opened them again, the tears in her gaze glimmered like fractured moonlight.
"I…" she began, voice trembling.
Ryder’s eyes widened. Her whisper reached him even through the haze of visions.
"Sienna, don’t you say it, "
"I must," she whispered, shaking her head. "If I don’t, they’ll kill you. And I can’t watch that."
"Don’t protect me," he pleaded. "Not like this."
Her voice trembled again.
"I’m sorry."
Theron leaned closer.
"Your answer, Queen Sienna."
She drew one breath.
Then another.
And just before she spoke, before the words tore her heart apart, she looked at Ryder one last time.
Her lips parted.
Her voice rose.
Her verdict began.