NOVEL WEB Chapter 20: Ash Beneath the Crown
🌒 Prologue: The Mission
"You want me to do what?" Aaron's voice was low, wary.
Frankfurt leaned forward, tapping a sealed letter with a crimson wax stamp.
> "You'll attend the royal masquerade in two nights."
> "Inside, there will be a man. A traitor. A whisperer. Vern Daskel—Third Adviser to the Crown. He serves the Pale Thorn."
Aaron narrowed his eyes. "You want him dead."
Frankfurt's face remained unreadable. No smile. No hesitation.
> "I want you to burn him quietly."
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🧠Interlude: The Pilgrimage
But before the mission, Aaron requested a day.
> "I need answers. Not orders."
With Ashen at his side, he followed an ancient trail marked in burnt stone and shattered glyphs, leading beyond Gezana's walls… to the Ruins of Synn-Kar—the first temple of the Skyborn flame.
The earth there whispered in ash and flame.
At the heart of the ruin stood a lone altar—simple, worn, yet ancient beyond measure.
Aaron stepped forward. The stone flared with blue fire, dancing like recognition around him.
> "Why me?" he whispered.
A voice echoed from the flame—his own, but deeper, older:
> "Because you remember what others choose to forget."
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🩸 Vision of the Past
He saw:
Skyborn kings burning tyrants' names from stone.
A woman—his mother—standing between him and a blade meant for silence.
Lucien kneeling before the altar, long ago… refusing.
Aaron fell to his knees.
Ashen placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, eyes wide with understanding.
> "You weren't born to obey," the child whispered.
> "You were born to cleanse."
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🎠The Masquerade Begins
That night, Aaron arrived masked in silver and black.
Music echoed. Lies danced. Nobles toasted to peace while planting daggers in backs.
He moved like shadow.
Daskel was there—older, smug, sipping from a sapphire glass.
> "Third Adviser," Aaron whispered, slipping beside him.
> "Do I know you?" the man asked.
> "No," Aaron said. "But your fire knows me."
His hand brushed Daskel's arm—the poison in his veins ignited.
Daskel gasped, then crumpled silently.
No one noticed.
Except one.
Across the room, behind a golden mask, stood Lucien—watching.
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🔚 Final Line
Aaron met his gaze.
Neither moved.
But the fire between them?
It smiled.