the timid bride

# Chapter 90 – Fire in the Veins

The days following the eclipse were a storm of reformation.

With the Ashborn's failed attack still echoing across the kingdom, Zara knew their remnants would scatter—but not die. Not yet.

So she moved first.

---

It began with a decree: all borderlands would be placed under direct crown supervision. Loyal wardens were dispatched to every highland stronghold. Markets once controlled by corrupt lords were nationalized, their profits redirected to restore razed villages.

And most importantly—the education halls reopened.

Zara stood before a hall of orphans, children of war, and whispered, "You are not forgotten. You are the next fire to rise."

---

But change was not welcomed by all.

The High Table—a secret coalition of noble families who had once supported Corshal—met in the ancient ruins of Greyspire. They were silent, bitter, fearful of Zara's power.

"She has rewritten the realm," one of them hissed.

"She has reforged the throne," another said.

"What she has done," said a third with a sneer, "is light the match. And we will be the storm that follows."

---

Back in the palace, Kael received news that made his jaw clench.

"They've started recruiting again," he said to Zara. "Not just warriors. Scholars. Mages. And they call themselves the 'Veilborn.'"

Zara frowned. "Another cult?"

"Not exactly. They believe the world behind the Veil—the land of spirits and shadow—is the true kingdom. That we're living in an illusion."

Zara sat back. "So we've dealt with flame-worshippers, blood rebels, and now… spirit fanatics."

Kael smiled grimly. "Welcome to the crown."

---

Damon arrived with a message sealed in obsidian wax.

"It was left on the grave of the Ashborn priest you killed," he said.

Zara opened it.

**'You've only slain the fire's shadow. The true flame still burns. – V.'**

"V?" Zara asked.

Thorne paled. "There was one Ashborn founder unaccounted for. Name lost to records. Only initial—V."

Zara stood.

"Then I will find V. And this time, the fire won't flicker."

---

Three nights later, Zara rode with Kael and a covert unit into the Hollow Peaks—a place said to bleed light when cut. The map led to a chamber carved inside the mountain, a hall of mirrors and smoke.

There, they found a shrine.

The walls were covered in flame-script. Zara read aloud:

"'The Phoenix shall shatter its cage. The queen shall burn the sky.'"

A voice spoke from the shadows.

"You read well for someone who denied the prophecy."

A cloaked figure stepped forward—tall, silver-eyed, face veiled in fire-marked silk.

"I am V," they said. "And you are the flame reborn. But you still don't understand your fire."

Kael moved to strike, but Zara held him back.

"What is it I don't understand?" she asked.

V tilted their head. "You think your strength is your crown. But your true strength is your scar."

They pointed at the faint mark on Zara's chest—where Elias once struck her with a cursed blade.

"That wound binds you to the Veil. You are not just queen of this world. You can walk between worlds."

Zara's breath caught.

Kael whispered, "It's not possible…"

V raised a mirror.

Zara's reflection flickered. For a heartbeat, it showed her with wings of fire—eyes glowing, voice silent.

She blinked.

Normal again.

"I'm done with riddles," Zara said. "Tell me your plan."

V replied calmly, "To burn away the illusion. So only the truth remains."

Zara stepped forward. "Then I'll show you the truth of steel."

She attacked.

But V vanished in smoke.

---

Back in the palace, Zara locked herself in the chamber of flames.

She stared into the fire, willing it to speak, to reveal what her blood truly held.

And the fire answered.

Visions danced—of queens long dead, of cities crumbling, of Zara rising again and again in different forms.

Each time, she bore fire.

Each time, she died.

And yet always returned.

Kael found her hours later, silent, eyes glowing faintly.

"Are you still with me?" he asked.

Zara turned.

"I am not just queen," she whispered. "I am the cycle. And the cycle ends with me."

---

The next morning, she summoned every warden, every captain, every court mage.

"We are entering the final age," she said. "Of shadow. Of veil. Of fire. The next war won't just be for land. It will be for reality itself."

They looked at her with fear—and devotion.

And as the fires around her flared, Zara knew one truth above all:

She had fire in her veins.

And nothing would extinguish it.