14 Chapter 14 – Icefire Rebellion
She shook her head, barely conscious. *Not enough.*
“No,” Cyr said.
Hours later, Cyr sat beside Eileen in the war room, her head on his shoulder.
Outside, snow fell on the bloodied steps of Frostfall.
–
Bone crunched.
Arel stepped forward, sword raised.
Cyr’s jaw clenched. “Then so am I.”
Silver resonance exploded from her throat.
News spread fast: the prince stood. The mute had *sung*.
Cyr surged forward with a snarl, gripping the edge of the dresser to stand.
But the third, a beta reinforced with nullifying tattoos, resisted.
She nodded.
Outside, horns blared.
But this time, they weren’t hunting just a crippled prince.
Guards screamed in the corridors. Fire bloomed near the southern wing.
“She gave me back my body.”
Cyr’s movements weren’t perfect-but they were enough. Years of pain forged into precision.
Blood trickled from Eileen’s mouth.
Arel spat. “She’ll never be safe.”
The prince who stood when he shouldn’t.
He disarmed Arel with a twist and slammed him against the marble.
She whispered-barely a note-and Arel’s guards froze mid-charge, eyes glazed.
“You overdid it,” he whispered.
“Not a servant,” Arel said. “A miracle. A living weapon. Her blood could control alphas. Her voice could rule empires.”
But the tide turned.
They reached the armory through collapsed stairwells and smoke.
By the time the third flew, Eileen had already thrown him to the floor.
His braces hissed as they locked his joints.
“Still got it,” Cyr panted.
One collapsed. Another dropped his blade and began sobbing.
In the throne vestibule, Count Arel waited, smug and armored.
It was his brother’s sword.
Arel met him halfway.
And sang.
The assassins staggered mid-lunge, eyes rolling back, muscles twitching violently as if yanked by invisible chains.
Arel scoffed. “You’d dare face me, little ghost?”
The Citadel was under attack.
She handed him a sheathed blade. *Yours,* she signed. *Before the fire.*
“You tore your throat again,” he murmured.
Cyr ducked, grabbed the man by the collar, and slammed his forehead into his nose.
Eileen rolled Cyr behind the overturned writing desk just as three assassins crashed through the balcony, blades gleaming with wolfsbane.
Cyr ripped off his outer coat, revealing the full exoskeletal rig beneath-reinforced with froststeel. Eileen adjusted the straps without a word.
He buckled it to his side, voice thick. “Then let’s finish what we started.”
The second embedded itself in the wood beside Cyr’s bed.
She inhaled-
“You came for blood,” Cyr growled, “but you’ll leave with *regret*”
Blades clashed in sparks and fury.
“No,” Cyr said, eyes flaring. “*She* does.”
“I’m going to win.*”
And the girl who sang when the world told her to stay silent.
She glared.
“You fear her,” Cyr said. “Good.”
The battle didn’t end there.
“You’re going to war?” Varek asked.
And the empire would burn.
“So the broken prince stands,” he sneered. “How romantic.”
And drove the sword through his crest.
“You kept this all these years?”
Her throat bled silver.
“I will *drain* her,” Arel snarled. “Bathe the Southern Front in her song.”
A *command*.
Captain Varek burst in, armor scorched. “They breached the east wall. Il
He’s here.”
He charged.
He turned to Varek. “Get me every noble still loyal. We’re done hiding.”
The assassin swung.
The assassin fell limp.
“You’ll stay behind,” he said.
“No more,” he whispered. “You’ve given enough.”
Together, they had lit the spark.
“Now I’ll give her back the *throne.*”
–
Cyr caught her.
He sighed. “Fine. But you don’t fight. You *guide*”
She wrote shakily: *Worth it.*
Then her knees buckled.
And the traitor bled out on royal stone.
Not a word.
The first arrow shattered a stained-glass window.
They were here for her.
He stared.
He stood, steel braces whirring.
He kissed her forehead. “You always say that.”
“You think love makes you strong?” he spat.
He looked down at her hand in his.
From the palace ruins.
Eileen stepped forward.
Again.
She smiled faintly.
He caught her as she sank to her knees.
Inside, two legends sat side by side.
Cyr drew his blade slowly. “You sent mercenaries to kill a servant.”
