Isabella's POV
The battlefield smelled of iron and smoke.
From the cliff's edge, I could see the Black Crest's banners rippling in the wind sharp, crimson, arrogant.
They thought I'd come to parley.
I came to end them.
Dominic stood beside me, armor dark as obsidian, his blade drawn.
"You sure about this?" he asked.
"No," I said. "But I'm certain I won't die begging."
He smirked. "That's my queen."
The army surged behind us loyalists, rebels turned faithful, and even old enemies who had bent the knee when they realized who they were dealing with.
A cursed queen.
A broken king.
And a child waiting for the kind of future only blood could buy.
I gave the signal.
And war answered.
Steel clashed. Arrows screamed. Magic tore through the sky like vengeful thunder.
I fought like I'd already died once and maybe I had.
I found Lord Garven, the Black Crest's general, in the heart of the chaos.
"You wear a crown of sin," he spat.
"I am sin," I answered and drove my sword through his gut.
He fell gasping.
And with him, the tide shifted.
But the battle didn't end until I saw her.
The High Priestess.
The one who cursed me at birth.
She stood alone among the ruins, untouched by blade or time.
"Why?" I asked. "Why curse a child?"
Her voice was calm. "Because a girl like you would've destroyed the world if left unchecked."
"Too late," I said.
And with all the power the gods buried inside me, I unmade her.
Light. Heat. Screams swallowed by wind.
When the dust cleared, she was gone.
And the curse lifted.
I knew it not by sight, but by the silence in my blood. The magic still pulsed… but it was mine now.
Untwisted. Unbound. Unforgiving.
After the battle, the field was quiet.
Dominic found me kneeling in the blood-wet grass.
"You did it," he said.
"No," I whispered. "We did."
He took my face in his hands. "Then let's rule. Not for vengeance. For peace."
I smiled. For the first time in what felt like centuries.
"For our child," I said. "And for every daughter they tried to burn."
Epilogue – One Year Later
The kingdom rebuilt slowly but fiercely.
The people no longer whispered "cursed queen" like a warning.
Now, they shouted it like a prayer.
Dominic ruled beside me not behind me.
And our daughter, with eyes like twilight and a laugh that cracked thunder, already tried to steal my crown twice.
She would wear it someday.
And gods help anyone who tried to stop her.