The tide had taken their breath.
Now, the truth threatened to take their balance.
Kael sat at the edge of the ship, the ember shard pulsing in his palm like a second heartbeat. The revelation from the Tidevault churned in him — not just power, but blood, history, sacrifice. His mother wasn't just a casualty of war. She was a vault. A key. A warning.
"I used to think I was chasing a crown," he whispered. "Now I'm running from it."
"Maybe that's what makes you worthy of it," Thalia replied, setting a hand on his shoulder.
"Or maybe that's what makes him dangerous," Lyss added, not unkindly.
---
Footsteps in Ash
Following clues left in the feather's vision, the trio traveled inland to the Ashlands — scorched ruins where the Ember King once scorched traitors into glass.
Only shadows remained now: statues melted into slag, sand turned black, and whispers of betrayal on the wind. This was where The Crownless were exiled — those who renounced the King, yet still bore his mark.
"They say the Crownless still live in the smoke," Thalia murmured. "Waiting for a flame to follow."
Kael stepped onto blackened ground — and the earth glowed under his feet.
A welcome.
---
The Crownless
From the ash rose figures in bone-and-char armor. Their leader, Riven, wore no helm, his face a maze of scars.
"We knew the heir would return," he said. "Not to rule. But to decide."
They led Kael to a hidden chamber beneath a dead volcano — where a mirror of obsidian revealed not reflections, but lineage.
Kael saw every ancestor: warriors, tyrants, dreamers — and the Ember King himself, younger than legend, hollow-eyed and afraid.
"He wasn't trying to rule," Kael said quietly. "He was trying to contain the shadow."
"And now it moves again," Riven said. "Through you."
---
Trial of the Crownless
To earn the Crownless' trust, Kael faced the Ash Rite — a mental and magical test that forced him to confront his worst fears.
He relived:
The burning of Emberreach
His first moment of shadow-flame
A future where he wore the Ember Crown… and became a tyrant like the last King.
When he emerged, eyes glowing but grounded, Riven bowed.
"You are not your blood," he said. "But your blood is watching."
Kael was given a sigil of the Crownless, shaped like a phoenix with broken wings.
"You walk a path no crown can follow."
---
The Heir's Choice
That night, Kael stood at the edge of the ash-lands.
"Every step forward now changes everything," he said.
"So stop stepping alone," Thalia replied.
"We're with you," Lyss said. "To the fire or the throne — we choose you."
Kael closed his hand around the ember shard.
"Then let's make our own crown."
---