All Chapters of The Shattered Crown: Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
81 chapters
Chapter 30 – Elias Stands Firm
Smoke clung to the capital like mourning cloth. Ash drifted through the streets in lazy spirals, and the air reeked of burned grain and sweat. The palace gates loomed open, beyond them, the market still hissed with dying embers.Elias rode through the haze on horseback, flanked by soldiers whose armor was smeared with soot. The people watched from shuttered doorways eyes dull with hunger, anger, and something worse: disappointment.“Your Majesty,” Captain Varric muttered, “the fires are under control. But the crowd scattered before we could find who started them.”Elias nodded absently. His gaze swept across blackened stalls and broken barrels. “They burned their own food,” he murmured. “Desperation makes fools of us all.”At the far edge of the square, Rynna knelt beside a wounded boy. Her cloak was torn, her cheeks streaked with soot, but her voice was steady as she pressed a rag to the boy’s bleeding arm. She looked up when Elias approached.“They weren’t rioting for coin,
Chapter 31 – Blood in the Dust
The city still smelled of smoke. The ashes from the burned market floated like dark snow over the palace courtyard, where soldiers hosed down the charred remains of what had once been a thriving heart of trade. The morning after the riot was unnervingly quiet too quiet for a city that had always buzzed with chatter and barter.From the palace balcony, Elias watched the broken skyline. Half the city’s banners had been ripped down overnight, replaced by crude cloth marked with a black sun the symbol Alaric’s followers had begun to use.“Your Majesty,” Captain Rhys said behind him, his voice low and tight. “The crowd gathers at the old market. They’re demanding you speak.”Elias didn’t turn immediately. “Demanding, not requesting.”Rhys nodded grimly. “They’ve turned their anger into a weapon. If you don’t speak, they’ll believe you’re hiding. If you do… well, they might not like what they hear.”Elias took a slow breath. “Then they’ll hear it anyway.”He descended the palace steps alone
Chapter 32 – Rhys’s Reproach
The cries had not stopped.They bled through the castle’s stone walls faint, broken, sometimes angry, sometimes hollow. Elias stood by the window of his council chamber, staring down at the dim orange glow flickering in the distance. The capital burned in pockets; the smoke rose in slow, deliberate columns, as if the city itself exhaled its fury.Seren had urged him to rest. Mara had demanded he send soldiers again to “restore order.”But Elias couldn’t move. His hands still bore faint streaks of dried blood not his, not even his soldiers’. Civilians. The ones who had died when panic turned the marketplace into a slaughter ground.Behind him, the heavy door creaked open.He didn’t turn. “If you’ve come to tell me I did what I had to, save your breath.”The voice that answered wasn’t Mara’s it was lower, tired, almost pained.“I didn’t come to flatter you,” said Rhys.Elias turned, eyes narrowing slightly. His commander looked as though he hadn’t slept either armor half-unbuckled, gaun
Chapter 33 – Merchants’ Downfall
The bolt never reached him.Seren’s spell flared like lightning a shimmering ward that caught the arrow midair and shattered it into sparks. Gasps rippled through the crowd. For a heartbeat, the square was silent except for the faint echo of steel boots striking stone.“Up there!” shouted one of the guards.Figures darted across the rooftops, cloaked in black. Crossbows gleamed against the moonlight three of them, not one.Elias’s blood turned to fire. “Archers! Bring them down!”A volley of arrows answered, streaking into the night. One assassin fell, tumbling from the roof with a sickening thud. Another vanished over the edge, leaving only a shadowed trace. The last one fired again not at Elias this time, but at the crowd.The scream that followed cracked through the air.“Protect the civilians!” Rhys roared, shoving through his men.The scene dissolved into chaos. Citizens fled in panic; soldiers scrambled to form barriers. Seren muttered incantations under his breath, throwing wa
Chapter 34 – The Betrayer’s Blade
The night air was sharp as a knife’s edge. The moon hung low over the spires of Dalmere, bleeding its light through the mist that veiled the capital. Elias rode at the head of his patrol, the rhythmic clop of hooves echoing through narrow cobbled streets. The city felt different now tense, watchful. Every shuttered window was a secret, every shadow a question.“Your Majesty,” Captain Roderic said, pulling up beside him. “We’ve doubled the guard at the granaries as you ordered. No more stolen shipments.”Elias nodded but didn’t speak. His eyes scanned the alleyways. Somewhere, far off, a dog barked then abruptly fell silent. The quiet that followed was heavy.Behind him, Rhys rode with a torch raised high. His expression was grim. “They’re afraid of you now,” he said. “The people whisper that you’re becoming your father.”Elias turned his head, a faint edge in his tone. “Do you think that’s true?”Rhys hesitated. “I think fear can keep order. But it can also break a kingdom.”Before El
Chapter 35 – Trial of the Guard
The dawn was red.Not the soft gold of sunrise red, as if the heavens themselves had bled over Dalmere’s walls. The courtyard below the palace was filled with bodies soldiers, nobles, merchants, and citizens alike all drawn by the same grim spectacle.The execution platform.Elias stood on the balcony above it, his crown gleaming dully in the light. His face was pale from lack of sleep, his eyes hollow yet burning. Around him, the council gathered in silence. No one spoke of Captain Roderic’s death. No one dared.The assassin the surviving guard from the night before, the one caught conspiring was bound to the post below, hands trembling, blood already drying on his torn uniform.Rhys stood beside him, jaw clenched, his tunic still dark with the blood of the murdered captain. “Ready, Majesty,” he said grimly.Elias’s gaze drifted over the crowd. He could feel it the fear, the doubt, the anger simmering beneath every stare. Some looked to him for justice. Others, for vengeance. A few s
Chapter 36 – A Feast of Secrets
The great hall shimmered like a lie.Torchlight glinted off gold chalices, jeweled dishes, and banners that looked too bright for a kingdom so exhausted. Laughter filled the air strained, hollow, desperate.It was the first feast since the executions, and everyone knew it wasn’t celebration. It was surveillance.Elias sat at the head of the table, crown low, expression unreadable. Before him, a goblet of crimson wine glowed like blood in the candlelight. His hand hovered near it but didn’t touch.Mara sat two seats down, radiant and dangerous. Her gown was scarlet silk, her smile a weapon. Rynna, opposite her, wore simple white eyes down, quiet, unreadable. Rhys, farther to Elias’s right, barely spoke at all. Seren stood behind the king’s chair, silent sentinel as always.The silence between them all said more than words ever could.“Your Majesty,” said Lord Halden, one of the few nobles still loyal to Elias, “a toast, perhaps? To the unity of Dalmere?”Elias smiled faintly. “Unity, L
Chapter 37 Poisoned Cup
The thunder hadn’t stopped since the feast. It rolled endlessly above the citadel like the growl of something waiting to strike. Elias hadn’t slept. He sat in the council chamber, half-lit by candles and the storm outside, while Seren stood guard beside the door eyes never leaving the shadowed corners. Every flicker of light seemed to breathe with danger. Every silence carried a heartbeat not his own. The palace had been sealed for twelve hours. No one entered. No one left. Yet fear was already leaking through the stone like smoke. A knock. Sharp. Three times. Seren’s hand went to his sword instantly. “Enter,” Elias commanded. A young maid stepped in trembling, holding a tray of morning wine. Her hair was damp with rain, her eyes red from tears. “Forgive me, my lord. The kitchen master sends your breakfast.” Elias studied her the way her fingers shook, the faint tremor in her voice. He glanced at Seren. “Bring it here,” the King said evenly. The tray clinked softly as she
Chapter 38 – Web of Suspicions
The next morning dawned gray and bloodless. The storm had passed, but the castle air still smelled of wet stone and fear.Elias hadn’t slept. Not since the poisoned cup.He stood before the grand windows of the council chamber as dawn’s weak light crawled across the tapestries. Behind him, servants whispered like ghosts. The death bell from last night still echoed faintly in the city below.Every sound, every shuffle of boots made him flinch now.The poison hadn’t been aimed at a careless ruler. It had been aimed at him the man who’d survived every attempt so far. Someone inside wanted him gone.And that meant every friend was a possible enemy.Seren entered quietly, his boots damp, his expression grim.“The kitchens have been sealed,” he said. “Three servants missing all vanished sometime after midnight.”Elias didn’t turn. “They’ll resurface in the river or a ditch before sunset. Alaric cleans his tracks.”Seren stepped closer. “Or someone inside does.”Elias finally looked at him.
Chapter 39 – Mara’s Fury
The fire was quenched by dawn, but its smoke still curled through the corridors like a curse.Ash clung to the stone walls; the scent of burnt grain lingered heavy in the air. The royal kitchens the lifeblood of the castle were blackened husks now.Elias stood among the ruins, cloak streaked with soot. The parchment with the scorched half-sun symbol burned in his pocket like a coal.One of his council. One of his own circle.He had barely slept, pacing his chamber until the candles melted down to puddles. His mind spun in endless circles Rynna’s quiet eyes, Mara’s sharp smile, Rhys’s absence. The trap was closing, and every move he made seemed to tighten it.Now, as morning light filtered through the wreckage, the door burst open.Mara stormed in like thunder.Her crimson gown was untouched by soot, but her face blazed hotter than the fires that had gutted the kitchens. Two guards trailed behind her, barely keeping up.“Enough of this farce!” she spat, eyes blazing. “You let her roam