“That ‘nobody’ is a goddess, the highest rank in the realm.” My words rang with finality, and the court inhaled deeply as one. I swept my gaze across the crowd, power brimming in my eyes. “You know I do not lie. We have a goddess walking among us, and she is my true mate, chosen by the Fates. If she were anything less, she could never have broken the bond forced on me by black blood magic.” I turned my icy stare back to my father. “Call her a whore again, father or not, and I will show you why I earned my reputation.”
His face purpled with rage. “You forget yourself, boy!” he thundered. “I am king here!”
“A king who cowered while his son fought an ancient god. A king who would rather forge alliances with Hell than protect his own borders. A king who sold his heir for the high king crown he will never wear.”
“How dare you—” my father began.
“I dare,” I cut him off. “And today, the masks come off. Today, you learn exactly what you’ve been trying to leash. I am the grandson of Hades, the death god who made Olympians tremble. I am the true heir of the Underworld.”
Death magic rolled off me in black waves, turning the air thick and suffocating. Courtiers stumbled back as the taste of ash and moss filled their mouths. The marble beneath my feet cracked with frost.
“You never knew the woman who birthed me was a goddess from another realm, did you?” I continued, savoring the fearblooming in my father’s eyes. “She wasn’t some conquest you discarded but Hades’s daughter. That makes me exactly what you’ve always feared, Father. A demigod. I outrank you by blood, by birthright, by every law that matters.”
His face cycled through emotions—shock, disbelief, realization, regret, and finally fear. I had become his greatest threat.
“Lies!” His voice cracked. “Your mother was nobody! A common whore just like…” He choked on the rest at my expression, wisely swallowing whatever filth he’d planned to spew about Barbie. “Your new pet is no different!”
I tilted my head, a cold smile playing on my lips. “The court knows many things about me, Father. That I’m ruthless. That I’m powerful. That I’m brutal. But a liar?” I laughed, and several courtiers flinched. “Shall I demonstrate my grandfather’s gifts? I don’t mind showing you what death magic truly feels like.”
“Tricks and illusions!” His voice climbed, desperation seeping through. “You think you’re special? More powerful than your rightful king? Your mother abandoned you! Dropped you on my doorstep because she couldn’t be bothered?—”
“Your version of history bores me.” I cut him off with a dismissive snort. “And even your truth changes nothing. I am what I am. And what I am makes you obsolete.”
His face reddened with rage. “Your birthright is what I give you, boy! And today, I strip it all away—your title, your lands, your very name if I choose!”
Everyone held their breath. Even the snakes in Queen Odette’s hair went still.
My father thrust two fingers toward me as if casting out a demon. “Guards! Arrest Prince—arrest this traitor for treason against the crown!”
The royal guards shifted uneasily. Half stepped forward, hands on their sword hilts. The other half didn’t move at all.
Perfect timing.
Cassius materialized from the shadows I’d taught him to wield, his presence turning hesitation into decision. Rock swaggered into view, cracking his knuckles with theatrical flair. Throughout the throne room, my people emerged from their positions—servants who were more than they seemed, guards whose loyalty had been mine for years, nobles who understood which way the wind now blew.
“Guards.” I said, my tone conversational, as if discussing the weather. “Stand down if you value your lives. As for the rest of you, those who stand with the future, not the past, show your colors!”
The response was immediate.
Two-thirds of the room produced banners from beneath cloaks, inside armor, behind masks of feigned loyalty. Red and black fabric unfurled, revealing a dragon and phoenix entwined in an eternal spiral. The dragon’s scales glittered with black and gold thread, wings spread in dominance. The phoenix rose from flames stitched in brilliant gold, its eyes tiny garnets radiating the light.
Me and Barbie. Chaos and flame. Death and rebirth.
“King Killian!” Rock’s roar shook the windows. He unfurled a massive standard, easily twelve feet tall, and planted it with enough force to crack the marble floor. “Long live the Demigod Dragon King!”
The cry echoed from hundreds of throats. My father’s supporters found themselves suddenly, drastically outnumbered.
Then hell broke loose.
Guards turned on guards with the viciousness of civil war. Loyalist met rebel in clashes of steel and magic. Courtiers either fled for exits my people had sealed or chose sides in the mostpermanent way possible. Queen Odette shrieked, her snakes striking at anything within reach, poisoning indiscriminately.
I stood in the eye of the storm, untouched and unmoved.
Cassius flowed through the combatants, his blade finding throats and hearts. Rock simply bulldozed through the resistance, his bulky frame and enhanced strength turning him into a battering ram. Archer’s team secured the eastern entrance, cutting down three loyalists who tried to summon reinforcements.
A guard, either brave or stupid, charged me with a hoarse battle cry, sword raised high.
I caught the blade barehanded. Lightning turned the steel to molten slag that dripped harmlessly from my skin. My other hand found his throat, and death magic unmade him at the molecular level. One moment, a man. The next, ash drifting on the currents of power.
