Chapter 11 - THE CROWN THAT ATE A PRINCE’S NAME
Kael awakened inside a chamber without windows.
His wrists were chained to a stone chair, and a crown of black iron hovered above his head.
Every time he struggled, the crown descended a little farther.
“Mother!”
His voice echoed through the empty chamber.
The door opened.
Seraphine entered carrying a silver cup.
For one foolish moment, Kael felt relief.
Then he saw her trembling hands.
“What have you done?”
The Queen placed the cup beside him.
“Drink.”
“No.”
“Kael, please.”
He looked toward the crown.
“Is that what Malrec promised you? A way to make your son obedient?”
Seraphine flinched.
“He says it will protect you.”
Kael laughed bitterly.
“From whom?”
She avoided his eyes.
“From death.”
For several seconds, Kael stared at her.
Then his anger gave way to something worse.
Pity.
“Mother,” he whispered, “everybody dies.”
Seraphine’s face tightened.
“Not if we possess the power of the First King.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
The question silenced her.
Kael continued.
“You’ve spent your whole reign killing people who frighten you. You killed Elara’s family. You imprisoned her mother. You lied about Father.”
Seraphine stepped backward.
“Do not speak of him.”
“He was trying to stop you.”
“He was going to abandon us!”
Kael stared.
“What?”
Seraphine sank into a chair.
For the first time, she spoke about King Edric without the rehearsed sorrow she used at public ceremonies.
“He discovered the bargain with Malrec. He told me that if I continued, he would take you away.”
Kael felt his stomach turn.
“So you killed him.”
Tears streamed down the Queen’s face.
“I ordered him imprisoned.”
“And Malrec murdered him.”
She nodded.
Kael closed his eyes.
His father hadn’t died of plague.
He had died trying to save his son.
Seraphine reached toward Kael.
“Everything I’ve done was so I would never lose you.”
He pulled away.
“You lost me when you decided my life belonged to you.”
The words struck her harder than any blade.
Suddenly, Malrec entered.
“How touching.”
Seraphine rose.
“You promised the ritual would not hurt him.”
Malrec smiled beneath his hood.
“Pain is temporary.”
Kael struggled as the crown descended.
Black metal touched his forehead.
A terrible sensation flooded his mind.
He forgot the smell of the palace gardens.
Then his first horse.
Then the sound of his father’s laughter.
Memories vanished one by one.
Kael screamed.
Seraphine grabbed Malrec’s arm.
“Stop!”
The sorcerer pushed her aside.
“Do not interfere.”
Kael fought desperately to remember something.
Anything.
Then he saw Elara.
Not as a princess.
Not surrounded by golden fire.
He remembered her sitting behind the palace kitchens, feeding a hungry stray dog from the bread she had been given for supper.
He had asked why she gave away food she needed herself.
She answered, “Because being hungry is miserable, and I don’t want him to feel it.”
Kael clung to that memory.
The Shadow Crown tightened.
Forget her.
He resisted.
Forget yourself.
Black flames swallowed him.
Then silence.
When Kael opened his eyes, they were violet.
Malrec stepped forward.
“Your name?”
The Prince stared blankly.
“I am the Crown’s servant.”
Seraphine collapsed to her knees.
“My son…”
Kael looked toward her.
There was no recognition in his face.
Malrec smiled.
“The Prince is ready.”
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And for the first time in her life, Seraphine understood that she had not saved her child.
She had helped destroy him.
