The Lost Queen Is Back

ith it the scent of rain and something far older-ash, blood, and

ir

e. The last royal blood of House Velarion. The girl who vanished the night the palace burned and the throne was seized. Some

gotten. The magic hadn'

her family's rule. Cloaked in black and mud, Elira leaned low over the mare's neck, her face hidden beneath a dark hood. Her hands, calloused and scarred, g

eyes still burned

arion, the castle had long since fallen to time and fire. Moss dripped from shattered stone, vines curled around broke

heart thudding in her chest. It had been twenty years since she stood on this soil. She'd been five, bare

like parchment. And the cold hand that had dragged her from the burning throne room into the tunnel

e lost child, but the wo

sing just beyond the threshold. Her finger

ill know me,"

the silence. Not ev

ed walls, and shards of stained glass littered the marble floor. But in the center, a pedestal remained, cracked bu

ng time. The crown of her m

red take it.

Sigils long dormant ignited across the floor, spiraling outward in a pattern only the blood of Velari

waited. The l

not lost

tilled as the ancient flame atop the Obsidian Spire roared to life without warning-an event that had

oor, his lips set in a grim line. He had served the usurpers for years. B

en had

d down her cheeks-not of sorrow, but of fury. The world had taken everything from

ld make them

echoed b

dn't f

d me," she s

e a voice-low, rou

ked to the bone, his dark cloak clinging to his broad shoulder

n't be here

urrecting a fallen kingdom. I thi

It's not resurrectio

in his expression. "Then reclaim it. But you'll

ve a

me. Now you n

own still in hand. "

aces-of a silver flame in the ruins of Asthore, of a girl with silver eyes and the blood of Velarion who'd awakene

re loyal. Some had wa

rebellion gathered in secret. Raven banners were unfurled

e had return

night, watching the stars blink through the parting clouds.

ady for war

"But I am ready

hey'll try to kill you before

he said, lifting her

silence. "What do

oice steady. "Your sword.

I give y

"Then I might forget I

s, and for the first time in twenty years, the

as no longer los

me, she wou