Black blood sizzled as the heir withdrew Mara's dagger from his chest and dropped it to the ground.
He sighed as the wound closed itself with threads of shadow.
"You always stab me first," he said. "It's getting predictable."
Faces, screams, and last gasps filled the ruins as the memories of the vault mixed into a storm behind him.
The smell of burnt sugar and copper filled the air.
When Jarek pounced, the heir flicked a hand, and the memories complied, pinning him in midair with chains.
"Don't struggle, ancestor," the heir hummed. "You're just the appetizer."
…..
The visions of the crown continued.
But the thorns had sunk too deep, and Ethan kept seeing her as he clawed at his temples.
As a child, Mara was burying a body that was too big to be her own.
Mara was impaled on a blade of living shadow while fighting as a warrior.
As an elderly woman, Mara whispered to the clay cup before having her throat cut.
The thirteenth child, swinging their legs, observed him from the limbs of a glass tree.
"Seven deaths," they sang. "Seven threads. One left to snap."
…..
Remembering, she took the heir's wrist.
She learned how to use a dagger from his hands.
In a dead star language, his voice sings lullabies.
His face was not Jarek's; rather, it was hers, twisted and old, grinning as she passed away the first time.
"You—" Mara choked.
The heir stroked her hair.
"Took you long enough, little knife."
….
The chains of memory tightened, whispering truths.
Originally, the Ravenscroft line was a line of protectors rather than thieves.
The vault was constructed to preserve the children that the Thirsty King was unable to eat, not to conceal crimes.
And the heir...
A final confession was inked onto Jarek's skin by a burning tattoo.
"The heir is the first Ravenscroft. The one who chose to forget."
…..
Just as the thirteenth child cut Mara's lifeline, Ethan's hands closed around the last piece of intact thread.
However, the thread reforged and stitched itself into his palm rather than fading.
The forest of glass screamed.
On Ethan's head, the crown broke.
And a glimpse of the 13th child's hollow eyes and bark-skin appeared as their form wavered.
"Veyra?" Ethan took a sharp breath.
The child grinned with too many teeth.
"Took you long enough, Watcher."
….
Mara's dagger lingered at the throat of the heir.
"Why?" she demanded.
For a moment, he resembled her exactly when he smiled.
"Because a new bearer is needed for the cup," he muttered. "And the only person who has ever been worthy is you."
The memories of the vault merged behind them into one figure.
A child holding the black cup.
Waiting.
…..
The last shard of the clay cup melted, creating a new shape that caused the sky to split.
A key.
The heir laughed, and Mara's fingers closed around it.
"Open the door, little knife. Let's finally end this."