Chris' POV
"Guards," I said, my tone cold and final. "Block the door."
The moment the words left my mouth, the sound of boots echoed on marble. Two elite B.A.M units, stationed outside the chamber, snapped to attention. In one swift motion, they moved—shoulders squared, rifles in hand—barring the entrance.
The heavy door shut behind them with a slow, deliberate thud.
Amara's expression barely flinched, but I saw the flicker in her eyes. That pause. That moment when her mind started calculating every possible outcome.
She folded her arms, calm but defiant. "Is this supposed to intimidate me?"
"No," I replied, walking toward her, "it's to remind you."
"Of what?" she scoffed.
"That this..." I gestured around the royal chamber, the ceiling laced with gold, the Blackwood crest looming above us, "…is still my empire."
She took a breath. Deep. Controlled.
"You locked the door," she said coolly. "Now what? Will you arrest me for running the empire in your absence? Will you punish me for keeping your legacy from collapsing into ash?"
I stepped closer, eye-to-eye. "No," I said. "But I will question your loyalty."
That cut deeper than I expected. Her mask cracked just a little.
"You disappeared," she shot back. "You left without a word. I held the world in my hands—and you doubt my loyalty?"
I leaned forward, lowering my voice like a blade sliding from its sheath. "You weren't supposed to grow comfortable on the throne, Amara. You were supposed to guard it. Not build a second one beside mine."
Her eyes flashed. "So, that's it? Your ego is bruised because your empire didn't fall apart without you?"
I didn't answer.
I couldn't.
Because in that moment, she wasn't wrong.
There was silence for a moment, but it wasn't peace—it was thunder waiting to strike.
Then I said it. Slowly. Deliberately.
"I asked the guards to block the door… because this conversation stays between us. No media. No soldiers. No court. No Classic. No Darius. Not even whispers."
Her breathing slowed, but her stance stayed locked.
"And when it's done?" she asked.
I looked her dead in the eye. "We decide whether we walk out as husband and wife… or ruler and traitor."
The weight of those words crashed between us, thicker than stone.
No one moved. No one dared speak.
And for the first time in a long time, the empire itself held its breath.
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