Seina didn’t sleep. She sat beside the opened tomb, her back against the altar, fingers still tingling from the touch of the Bone Crown. The island groaned beneath her feet, as if the earth itself could feel her doubt.
Kaydence hadn’t spoken since she uttered the last word in the tomb.
My mother.
It wasn’t just the revelation that stunned him—it was the weight of it. The woman who had once held Seina as a baby had crafted the most dangerous artifact the world had ever seen. Not inherited. Not stolen. Created.
Kaydence finally broke the silence.
“You think she planned this? That she… wanted you to wear it?”
Seina didn’t look up. “Not to wear it. To destroy it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because the crown didn’t try to possess me. It showed me everything. Its pain. Its creation. Its thirst. But not as a seduction.” Her voice cracked. “As a warning.”
Kaydence sat beside her, legs stretched out, eyes on the now-quiet tomb.
“So what now? We take it back to the mainland? Bury it deeper?”
Seina pulled the crown from the cloth it was wrapped in.
“We end it. Here.”
The Final Bond
They returned to the ruins at dusk. The sky bled crimson. The altar still pulsed softly, like a dying heartbeat. The wraith waited by the cliff’s edge, the ocean raging beneath him.
“You know what must be done,” he said, not turning.
Seina nodded. “The crown has to be unmade.”
“It will cost you.”
She stepped forward, gripping the crown with both hands. “I’ve paid more than enough.”
The wraith turned then, revealing hollow sockets where eyes once lived. “Not you. Him.”
Kaydence froze. “Me?”
“The crown was forged in the blood of betrayal. To undo it, the one who loves her must break his oath.”
Seina spun toward Kaydence.
“Don’t listen to him.”
But Kaydence had already drawn his blade.
 “What oath?”
The wraith pointed to the triangle mark on Kaydence’s arm.
“You swore to protect her. To stand beside her always. To love her even at the edge of the void. If you break that vow now—if you betray her with your blade—you sever the crown’s binding.”
Seina stepped back.
“No. There’s another way.”
“There isn’t,” the wraith said. “This is the sacrifice.”
Kaydence met her gaze. “I’d rather die.”
Seina’s voice broke. “I just found you. We just started.”
“I swore to protect you, Sei. Even from this.”
He stepped forward. Lifted his blade. And pressed it to her heart.
“I’m sorry.”
The Breaking of the Crown
His blade never pierced her skin.
A single drop of blood—one Seina had shed earlier in the fight—had landed on the crown.
It screamed.
The ground split.
The Bone Crown erupted in a shriek of wind, shadow, and fire. It cracked along its obsidian surface, light spilling through the gaps like molten gold.
The wraith staggered back.
“It’s rejecting its fate. She—she isn’t like the others.”
Seina dropped to her knees, the crown clutched in her shaking hands.
 “I’m not the heir. I’m the end.”
The crown shattered.
A wave of force knocked them to the ground. The altar collapsed. The island shook.
And then— silence.
They awoke to find the Isle of Veils bathed in morning light.
The Bone Crown was gone.
The wraith had vanished.
The sea was still.
Kaydence helped Seina to her feet, his hand trembling as it reached for hers.
“You okay?” he whispered.
“No,” she said honestly. “But I will be.”
They turned to the rising sun.
The war was over.
The past was ash.
And ahead of them, a future untouched by thrones, crowns, or lies.
But as they walked away from the ruins, a single raven watched from the cliffs.
It blinked.
And flew east.
Toward a kingdom still waking.
Seina had always thought freedom would taste like sweet air and open sky.
But back on the mainland, walking through the shattered gates of what used to be the Veritas Circle’s northern compound, all she could taste was dust.
It had been days since they left the Isle of Veils. Since the Bone Crown was destroyed. Since the island stopped whispering her mother’s name.
And still, the world felt just as dangerous.
Kaydence hadn’t said much. He was healing, but the silence between them had grown into something thick—unspoken, reverent, almost reverent. Neither knew what the rules were anymore. No crown. No prophecy. No path.
Just two people.
Trying to remember who they were without the war.
They entered the old chamber where the Circle once met in secret. The stone table was split. Runes were carved into the walls—some smudged with blood, others scorched from fire.
“Vultures didn’t leave much,” Seina muttered, dragging her fingers along the wall.
Kaydence’s eyes were sharp. “They didn’t just raid this place. They wanted it erased.”
“And what about us?” Seina asked. “What’s left of us now?”
His silence said enough.
She turned to him fully. “Do you regret it?”
“No.”
“But?”
He walked toward her, stopping close enough that she could smell the iron still on his skin.
“I regret we didn’t have more time. Before it all fell apart.”
Her throat tightened. “Maybe now we do.”
Before he could respond, a low crack echoed through the chamber. Then another.
Seina spun toward the sound, instincts honed.
A child stood in the doorway. No older than ten. Hair as white as frost. Eyes pitch-black.
Kaydence reached for his weapon, but the child simply smiled.
"You ended the crown," the child said, voice unnatural. “Now you must face what comes after.”
Seina stepped forward. “Who are you?”
The child tilted his head. “The crown was never the only artifact. It was just the first.”
Behind him, the shadows coiled like vipers.
The silence was broken.
The storm was coming back.
 
 Author's note : Thank you for reading this story everyone! I hope you love it and I'll make sure to get you an interesting chapters every update ! Just please don't forget to follow , like , comment and of course share it to your friends! Love lots everyone: C.V. Rose 🍓