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The crown had barely touched her head when her skin began to turn gray. / Chapter 17 / 20

Chapter 17 - The Prodigal’s Return

The court drew a collective, sharp breath. Guards immediately stepped forward, crosshairs and swords raising instinctively, but Elara held up a single hand, motioning for them to stand down.

Selene walked slowly down the long aisle, her eyes cast downward, carrying none of the fiery defiance she had displayed during her trial. She stopped a few paces away from the dais, her knees trembling slightly before she sank slowly onto the cold marble floor.

"I didn't come to conquer," Selene whispered, her voice cracking, stripped of all its former arrogance. "I came to warn you."

King Aldric stepped down from the throne, his face hardened by lingering pain. "You led the dark forces to our eastern waters, Selene. You unleashed the whispers of the deep."

"I was blind," Selene wept, hot tears finally spilling over her lashes as she looked up at her family. "When I was cast out, the despair... it whispered to me. It promised me strength so I would never feel weak again. But it lied. It wants to consume Aurelion entirely—me, you, everyone."

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Helena stepped forward, her maternal instinct warring with the memory of betrayal. She knelt beside her younger daughter, looking into eyes that finally held true remorse. "What have you awakened, Selene?"

"The Leviathan of the Sunken Vault," Selene choked out. "And the only way to seal it back away is a sacrifice of blood and light at the ancient altar where the crown was forged."

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Chapter 18 - The March to the Sunken Shore
Chapter 19 - The Final Convergence
Chapter 20 - The Eternal Dawn

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