His Bride, Her Revenge

Chapter 125: The Queen Who Dared

The war drums echoed beneath the castle like the heartbeat of a dying world.

Cambria stood at the edge of the balcony overlooking the southern barracks of Blackwood Fortress. Her armor was laced in gold and midnight, a fusion of regal elegance and unrelenting steel. The crest of the Vale line blazed upon her chest: the phoenix rising from a throne of ash.

Below her, the battalions shifted into formations. Every soldier wore her sigil now, every sword was sharpened in her name.

But the silence between heartbeats belonged to her fear.

"What are you thinking?" Maddox’s voice drifted to her like a whisper of flame in a frozen world. He stood at her side, still bearing the wounds from the siege on Mount Drayven. His eyes were tired but alert, studying her with something between loyalty and longing. noveldrama

Cambria didn’t turn to him. "I’m thinking about what comes next."

He tilted his head. "You’ve reclaimed the fortress. You’ve broken Knox’s front line. You’ve sent Sophia Drake into hiding. You’ve exposed Project Pandora’s corruption. What more is left?"

"Power," she said, voice quiet but resolute. "We’ve stolen their stage. Now we burn their script."

Behind them, the war council stirred restlessly in the throne room. Generals argued over the best way to march into the eastern kingdoms, but Cambria wasn’t ready to move yet. There were two final pieces left on the board.

One was the crown.

The other was Evelyn.

She turned to Maddox now, her gaze hard. "You’re certain she’s in the Eastern Highlands?"

"She’s been seen near the border under an alias. Rumor says she’s building her own court. Half of Knox’s abandoned commanders have sworn loyalty to her."

Cambria exhaled, the air cold in her lungs. "Then we’re running out of time."

A shadow stepped through the balcony archway. It was Knox.

Or rather, what remained of him.

Scarred from their last encounter, his left arm wrapped in bandages, a limp tugging at his gait but his eyes were no less sharp. No longer Cambria’s enemy, and certainly not her friend, he walked the fragile line of uneasy alliance.

"You summoned me, Queen," he said, the word dripping with sarcasm.

Cambria didn’t flinch. "I need information."

He raised a brow. "And what makes you think I’ll give it?"

"Because if Evelyn rises, she’ll destroy everything. And unlike me, she doesn’t believe in second chances."

Knox laughed once a dry, bitter sound. "Neither did you, once."

Cambria turned fully to face him. "I’ve learned that survival requires more than vengeance. It requires vision."

He stepped closer, his voice low. "She’s building something, Cambria. Not just a kingdom. A mythology. A story in which she is the betrayed heir, and you are the usurper. People love stories more than facts. And she... she’s rewriting history in real time."

The words sank like iron into her stomach.

Rewriting history.

That had always been Evelyn’s strength. She didn’t need weapons she needed believers.

Knox continued. "I can get you close. One meeting. But if she senses a trap, she’ll turn you into a martyr."

Cambria nodded slowly. "Good. Because this time, I want her to see the fire coming."

Three Days Later Eastern Highlands

The wind here smelled different like wild thyme, stone, and secrets.

Cambria rode alone through the valley, the mountains towering like gods carved from dusk. Her cloak billowed behind her, marked only with the faded crest of the Blackwood, no colors, no signal flags.

A figure stood waiting at the summit pass, beside a silver horse.

Evelyn Vale.

Alive, unbothered, and wrapped in regal grace.

She wore white always white. A long flowing gown embroidered with threads of starlight, her blonde hair braided with crystals. A queen in exile, untouched by war yet born from its ashes.

Cambria dismounted and approached on foot.

Neither woman spoke at first.

Then Evelyn smiled, slow and dangerous. "Sister."

Cambria’s throat tightened. "I am not your sister."

"But we were once. And that cannot be undone."

"Neither can betrayal."

Evelyn’s smile didn’t waver. "You think I betrayed you, but I freed you. You were shackled to a bloodline that would have burned you alive. I gave you the flames to burn them back."

Cambria’s voice was steel. "You faked your death. You watched me bleed and did nothing. You let me believe I was alone while you built your kingdom in the shadows."

"And you built yours in the spotlight," Evelyn countered. "You let them worship you. You became everything our mother warned us not to be."

They stared at each other across a line drawn by memory.

Cambria stepped forward. "You’re gathering forces. You want the throne."

Evelyn shrugged. "It was mine to begin with."

"No," Cambria said. "It never belonged to either of us. It belongs to the people. And they have chosen."

Evelyn’s eyes darkened. "Then let them choose again."

Cambria didn’t blink. "You’ll burn this world to prove a point."

"No," Evelyn said. "I’ll burn it to build a better one."

The wind picked up, carrying with it the howl of wolves. A signal. Evelyn’s army was near.

Cambria didn’t look back.

"If you start this war," she said, voice ice, "I will finish it."

"And if you don’t?" Evelyn asked.

Cambria didn’t answer.

She turned and walked away.

That Night Blackwood Fortress War Room

The council reconvened under a moonless sky. Maps were spread. Strategic points highlighted. Letters burned. The decision had been made.

Maddox stood beside her, solemn.

"She won’t stop, will she?" he asked.

"No," Cambria said. "She believes she’s the last heir to a kingdom built on ruins. And in a way, she is."

Knox approached, tossing a sealed scroll onto the war table.

"A list of her known generals," he said. "She’s copying your command structure. A mirror kingdom designed to fracture yours."

Cambria’s jaw tightened. "Then I’ll show her what happens to mirrors when they face fire."

She stared down at the map, fingers tracing the final red circle.

It wasn’t just war anymore.

It was blood against blood.

Crown against crown.

She straightened, voice rising above the murmurs.

"Prepare the eastern battalion. Lock down the northern border. I want the God Engine tested again by sunrise. And ready my armor."

Maddox glanced at her. "You’re going to war?"

"No," Cambria said.

"I’m going to end one."

Two Weeks Later The Fields of Emberfall

The sun never rose on the battlefield.

Darkness rolled across the horizon like a funeral shroud as the first armies clashed in the valley. Steel sang. Magic shattered through the sky like lightning. Banners were torn, and blood soaked the soil like ink on an unfinished story.

Cambria stood at the front, her power radiating like a sun caged in ice.

Beside her, Subject One knelt no longer a weapon, but a willing knight.

And across the ridge, Evelyn emerged atop a throne of crystal, floating above the battlefield like a goddess reborn.

They locked eyes.

One would rise.

One would fall.

The wind stilled.

And then

The earth cracked open.