Seraphina Nightwing's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Seraphina did not place the crown on her head. Three seats still stood against her, marked by three dark wands twisted like serpents, each driven into the soil of a hill she could see from her tower. She knew now who held them. She would not wait another season. She sent a shimmering orb to each rival, a swirling thing of color and light that spoke her terms without ink. Pledge loyalty, or face her army. The orbs glowed on their tables for one full night. By dawn, two messengers rode in with bent heads. The third holder refused. Seraphina led her Pegasus and soldiers to his gate, and his banners came down before noon. The serpent wands were pulled from the ground one by one. She built a tall seat at the base of a mountain wrapped in yellow mist. There the two who chose loyalty knelt and swore. Six seats were hers. The seventh, the one she had taken by force, sat empty beside her — and somewhere beyond the mist, Lord Casven had not yet answered at all.