The vaulted ceiling is a cathedral of black stone and flame—lanterns hung from chains, braziers burning along the walls, the Great Flame roaring bright and steady in its hearth.
The smell is a riot.
Roasted meats crackle over enchanted spits, basted with fire lily oil and dripping fat.
Trays of ember bread steam as they’re torn open, soft insides glossy with melted salt butter.
Bowls overflow with spiced root mash, charred peppers, and sweet ember fruit glazed in honey.
Children run between the benches, chasing one another with glowing sugar-crystals on sticks, leaving trails of harmless sparkles that fizzle in their wake.
Ashfell has never looked less like a fortress and more like a home.
I stand on the dais beside the Great Flame, watching my people eat.
My people.
They bear new scars now—burns seared to glossy red, bandaged arms, limps where there were none before—but they sit upright.
Their eyes are tired, but they are open.
Alive.
We still paid in blood. Too much.
Funeral pyres have burned for days in the courtyard, each one lit from the Great Flame itself, each name called aloud as fire took their bodies and sent their souls toward whatever waits beyond Nightfall.
I can still hear the mourning cries.
I can still smell the ash.
But tonight, we let them rest.
Tonight, we honor the ones who remain.
“Ready?” Delia murmurs at my side.
I look down.
My Shula stands next to me in a pure white gown, her hair loose around her shoulders in dark waves that catch the firelight.
The gold torc at her throat marks her as Lady of Ashfell, as viyella to the Lord of Fire, but she wears it like she does everything else—without apology. Without pretense.
Her hand seeks mine.
I take it.
The hall quiets as I step forward. One by one, conversations die down, the scrape of cutlery slows, chairs creak as bodies shift toward the dais.
Hundreds of eyes turn to me.
Firelight paints them all in shades of copper and gold.
I clear my throat, feeling every gaze like a weight.
Once, I would have met that weight with a snarl. With distance. With a show of power meant to keep them at bay.
Tonight, I stand with my mate at my side and let them see me.
