No one knew exactly when she changed.
Not the moment.
Not the breath.
Not the blink where flame turned to something else.
But they all felt it.
The Queen of Flame still walked the halls.
Still issued decrees.
Still stood before the banners and burned her enemies alive with a flick of her wrist.
But her flame…
Felt cold.
Ingrid noticed first.
She always noticed first.
Selene used to ask before approving executions.
Now, she didn't pause.
She used to read letters aloud.
Now she asked Ingrid to summarize and never followed up.
And she never, ever touched her tea anymore.
Selene used to take it strong.
Bitter.
Three drops of bloodroot. No more.
Now it sat untouched.
Cup full.
Steam gone.
Ignored.
Ingrid brought the scroll from the Ember Veil personally.
"We lost a scout in Marrow."
Selene didn't look up.
"Accidents happen."
"They left a message."
Still nothing.
Ingrid placed the scroll on the desk.
Selene didn't move.
So Ingrid read aloud:
"The fire watches itself now."
"Two eyes burn, but only one sees."
Selene looked up. Finally.
Smiling.
"A riddle?"
"A warning."
Selene folded her hands.
"Then let them keep warning."
Later, Ingrid found Elric in the old flame tower.
"She's not asking questions."
"She doesn't need to," Elric said.
"She's never stopped asking before."
Elric looked up from his blade sharpening.
"Have you looked into her eyes lately?"
Ingrid's voice dropped to a whisper.
"I'm afraid to."
The city noticed next.
The Queen no longer walked the public square.
She no longer gave fire blessings at births or offered coin to orphans in her weekly procession.
Now she stood on balconies only.
Distant.
Statuesque.
And when she waved, her hand trembled just slightly too long in the air, like she was waiting to remember how.
One night, a man shouted from the crowd:
"Where is the Queen who burned the traitors?"
Selene didn't answer.
She smiled.
Raised her hand.
And the man caught fire.
The people cheered.
But they didn't sleep that night.
Cassian approached Ingrid in the strategy room.
"She's different."
"Yes."
"I know her. That is not her."
"And yet…"
Ingrid handed him a parchment.
It was Selene's signature.
Perfect. Precise. Real.
"But that's her hand," Ingrid whispered. "Exactly."
Cassian stared at it.
And for the first time in months, fear crept into his bones.
Selene sat alone in the mirrorless chamber.
She no longer bled in private.
She no longer dreamt.
The Mirror had stopped appearing physically.
Because it no longer needed to.
It had moved inward.
"You speak as me," Selene whispered.
No reply.
"You act as me."
Still silence.
"You are not me."
Then a voice in her mind:
"And yet, they believe me more than they believe you."
That night, a palace maid was found dead.
Burned, yes, but not entirely.
Half her body remained.
One side charred black.
The other untouched.
As if fire had been selective.
And carved a warning.
Into the unburned flesh: "I see both."
Cassian and Elric locked the room down.
Selene ordered it reopened before dawn.
Cassian confronted her.
"We need to talk."
Selene tilted her head.
"I'm listening."
"Do you remember our wedding?"
She smiled.
"Of course."
"The flowers?"
"White orchids."
"The words I whispered at the altar?"
"…You said you loved me."
"I never said that."
Selene blinked.
Cassian didn't smile.
"I said, 'We will build something terrible together.'"
Her smile didn't fade.
But something behind her eyes cracked.
Later, Elric found Ingrid by the torch stands.
"She's slipping."
"She's already gone."
"Then who rules?"
Ingrid whispered:
"The fire that lies."
That night, Selene stood before her war council.
She wore her crown again.
The one she hadn't touched in weeks.
She gave a speech.
It was powerful.
It was sharp.
It sounded like Selene.
But not once did she mention herself.
Not "I."
Not "me."
Only "The Flame."
Only "The Throne."
Only "The Crown."
Ingrid wrote a note to herself:
"When a fire speaks without a name, it no longer belongs to the one who lit it."
Selene summoned a new law into existence.
All Veil agents must now swear an oath directly to The Flame.
Not to Selene.
Not to Veredon.
To the fire itself.
Ingrid watched as dozens obeyed.
Elric hesitated.
So did Cassian.
But Selene didn't demand.
She only watched.
And smiled.
And waited.
And behind her eyes,
A second heartbeat pulsed.
---------------------
This chapter was just the cut.
The next one twists the knife.
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