Chapter 17 - The Echo of Memory
Elara did not raise her sword to strike her husband. Instead, she drove her sun-blade deep into the black crystal floor, anchoring herself in place.
"I will not fight you, Aurelian," Elara said softly, tears streaming down her soot-stained cheeks. "Seven years ago, you gave your life to push the dark back so our child could live. You held my hand in the gardens. You told me that love is stronger than any curse."
Aurelian paused, his broadsword trembling in his hand. The black tendrils connected to his back pulsed furiously, pumping necrotic energy into his body to override his thoughts.
"Lies..." Aurelian growled, clutching his head with one hand. "The light... abandoned me in the dark!"
"It never left you!" Lyra stepped forward, stepping out from behind Elara.
The young princess pulled out the worn, folded drawing she had kept in her pocket for years—the crude picture of her parents holding hands beneath the firebird. She held it high, her small Sun-Mark blazing with a golden warmth that illuminated the dark glass city.
"I drew this for you, Father!" Lyra cried out, her voice clear and pure. "Mother never stopped loving you! I never stopped looking for you!"
Aurelian looked down at the tiny girl. When his burning eyes fell upon the paper drawing, the obsidian helmet covering his face cracked in two, shattering into dust and falling away.
May you like
Beneath the helmet was King Aurelian’s true face—bearded, pale, and worn by seven years of torment, but unmistakably the man Elara loved.
A single golden tear fell from Aurelian’s eye, cutting through the dark veins on his skin. "Lyra... my... daughter..."
