"In every empire, there are those who are born into power…
and those who rip it from the hands of the undeserving."
– The Scrolls of Saphir, Book of Silent Kings
---
I
They brought him no feast.
No banner. No welcome.
Only a narrow cell in the lower barracks of Gravemount Citadel, carved from mountain stone, its walls damp with the breath of past failures. A single torch flickered above a cot that looked more suited for prisoners than princes.
Reginal J. Lopez sat on the edge of that cot, hands clasped, gaze fixed on the small iron window above — too narrow to escape, just wide enough to remind you that the outside world existed.
He had not been offered armor.
He had not been offered training.
They had not even assigned him a Warden yet.
To the academy, he did not exist.
> And yet, the stone beneath him trembled.
Not from earthquakes. Not from war drills.
But from the shifting of something older.
Something waking beneath the foundations of Gravemount.
Something that knew his name.
---
II
On the morning of the third day, the bell of Iron Ascension rang across the cliffs.
Students were summoned to the Crucible Court — an arena of jagged obsidian and broken weapons where alliances were formed, tested… and destroyed.
Reginal walked alone.
The others arrived in clusters: cloaks fluttering, weapons gleaming, their Bloodmarks burning like promises. House banners hung from their backs — Skyflame, Emberhold, Sable Crown. Each with their heirs. Each with their pride.
Kammy stood near the edge of the court, her arms folded, lips unreadable. Her eyes, however, found him as he entered. They held no warmth.
Only warning.
Milo was surrounded by Emberhold initiates, his chains coiled like vipers. He grinned when he saw Reginal and made a subtle gesture — hand over heart, fist to sky.
The Old Brotherhood Salute.
They had never fought together.
But Milo already recognized a fellow storm.
---
"Let them come to you," Milo had told him in the barracks the night before. "Let them whisper. Let them laugh. Just don't let them forget."
> And Reginal didn't intend to.
---
III
The Headmaster returned, this time flanked by Warpriests of the Mark — tall, faceless judges who carried black books and cruel blades.
"To those who have no House," she said, her voice cold as stone, "you will now choose — submission or exile. Kneel to a banner… or leave Gravemount forever."
Two boys knelt immediately, scrambling for the colors of House Skyflame. One girl dropped her blade and begged to join Sable Crown. Her tears were noted. Her name was not.
Then they called his name.
"Reginal J. Lopez."
The world hushed.
He stepped forward.
And did not kneel.
---
The murmurs turned to tension. Even the wind dared not speak.
"You refuse allegiance?" the Headmaster asked.
"I refuse weakness," Reginal replied.
"You insult the rite."
"I rewrite the rite."
A warpriest stepped forward, blade half-drawn. "You will kneel," he said. "Or you will bleed."
Reginal raised his head, locs falling behind like a dark mane.
> "Let me make this clear.
I do not kneel. Not to banners I don't believe in.
Not to names I do not fear.
And not to bloodlines born from privilege, not pain."
He stepped past the warpriest, straight to the stone altar where Houses were sworn, and did what none had done in over a hundred years.
He placed his hand on the altar… and declared a House of his own.
> "My name is Reginal J. Lopez.
And I claim the name of my blood.
I call upon the forgotten.
I raise the banner of House RÆGN."
---
Nothing happened.
At first.
Then the altar cracked.
Lightning struck the tip of the Crucible Tower. The sky darkened. The wind began to scream.
The earth beneath the students' feet shook — and from the old runes carved into the courtyard stones, a forgotten sigil burned into the ground.
A black sun.
Encircled by seven jagged blades.
And one crown — cracked, but unfallen.
House RÆGN had returned.
---
IV
Later that night, in the torchlit corridors, Kammy appeared behind him.
"You just declared war," she said.
Reginal didn't turn. "I know."
"They'll come for you now."
"They already have."
She stepped beside him, close enough that her voice was a whisper in his ear.
> "I hope you're not doing this to impress me."
He looked her dead in the eye.
> "No. I'm doing it so one day…
when they speak of kings,
they know my name came first."
For a brief moment, she said nothing.
Then:
> "I've never wanted to belong to anyone's house."
He raised an eyebrow.
> "Then don't. Help me build one no one can touch."
Kammy smiled.
And somewhere in the shadows, Milo watched with crossed arms and the smirk of a brother who already saw the empire coming.
---
V
Back in his cell, Reginal lit a single candle. The flame danced wildly — like it recognized him.
On the wall, scratched by some unknown hand — maybe ancient, maybe his own in another life — were the words:
> "He who walks without a banner... becomes one."
Reginal J. Lopez touched the wall and whispered only once:
> "Then let them follow the fire."
---
[END OF CHAPTER II]