Princess Of The Skulls - Chapter 90: Chapter 90

The northern provinces were a testament to the unpredictable nature of dimensional magic. I rode through villages where houses stood in perfect preservation next to farms where crops had aged centuries in days, their fields now covered in ancient oaks that had sprouted from wheat. The people watched me pass with a mixture of hope and fear, their eyes tracking the skull relics that marked me as both their salvation and the source of their troubles.
Kael rode beside me, his posture careful and controlled in ways that spoke of hidden pain. The demon's touch had left him with scars that went deeper than flesh—dark veins of corruption that traced across his left arm and shoulder, marking him as one who had been touched by otherworldly evil and survived. The healers had done what they could, but some wounds were beyond mortal medicine.
"How far to the worst of the distortions?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral despite the concern that gnawed at me every time I saw him wince.
"Another day's ride," he replied, his eyes scanning the horizon with professional awareness. "The reports say there's a section of forest where time moves differently. Seasons changing within hours, trees growing and dying in endless cycles."
"And the people?"
"Evacuated to the southern settlements. They're calling it the Weeping Wood now—apparently, the sound of rapid growth and decay creates something like mourning cries."
The guilt settled deeper into my chest. Every magical working came with a price, and the anchoring ritual had been no exception. The dimensional fabric I had woven back together was holding, but the process had left scars that would take years to fully heal.
"Seraphina." Kael's voice was softer now, meant for my ears alone. "You know this isn't your fault."
"Isn't it?" I turned to meet his gaze, seeing the same understanding there that had drawn me to him from the beginning. "I chose to channel that much power. I chose to risk dimensional stability to defeat the ancient evil. The consequences are mine to bear."
"The consequences are everyone's to bear," he corrected gently. "That's what makes you a good queen.
You don't blame others for the hard choices you make."
His words were meant to comfort, but they only highlighted the distance that had grown between us since the battle. As queen, I couldn't afford to show weakness or doubt, which meant I couldn't afford to be vulnerable with the man I loved. The crown that had given me power had also built walls around my heart.
"Tell me about the arm," I said, changing the subject to something I could address.
Kael's expression tightened almost imperceptibly. "What about it?"
"The corruption. Is it spreading?"
"No." The answer came too quickly, too defensive. "The healers say it's stabilized."
"Show me."
"Seraphina—"
"That wasn't a request, Kael. Show me."
He reined in his horse, his jaw working as he struggled with the command. Finally, he pulled off his left glove and rolled up his sleeve, revealing the full extent of the damage. The dark veins were worse than I had thought, spreading from his shoulder down to his fingertips in a pattern that pulsed with its dim light. The skin along the veins was hardened, almost scale-like, and I could see the effort it took for him to move his fingers.
"How much mobility have you lost?" I asked, professional concern overriding personal emotion.
"Enough." He began pulling his sleeve back down, his movements stiff with more than just physical limitation. "I'm still functional."
"Functional." The word came out harsher than I intended. "Is that what you think I care about?"
The question hung between us, heavy with unspoken emotion. We had been dancing around our relationship for months, both of us aware that the gap between queen and subject had grown too wide to bridge easily.
"I don't know what you care about anymore," he said finally, his honesty cutting deeper than any blade.
"The woman I fell in love with has been replaced by someone who sees everything through the lens of political necessity."
"That woman was a princess who had the luxury of personal desires," I replied, the words bitter in my mouth. "This woman is a queen who has responsibilities to an entire kingdom."
"And what about responsibilities to the people who fought beside you? Who bled for you? Who loves you?"
The pain in his voice broke something loose in my chest, a flood of emotion I had been holding back for months. I dismounted and walked to him, reaching up to touch the corrupted skin of his arm before he could pull away.
The moment my fingers made contact with the dark veins, I felt the otherworldly taint that had infected him. It was different from the clean darkness of my skull magic—this was corruption in its purest form, a poison that attacked not just the body but the soul itself.
"I can heal this," I said, my voice thick with emotion. "The skull magic can purge otherworldly influence. I should have done it months ago."
"No." Kael caught my hand, his grip firm despite the corruption. "The healers already tried magical purging. The demon's touch is too deeply rooted. Attempting to remove it could kill me."
"Then we find another way."
"There is no other way, Seraphina. Some prices can't be undone."
His words echoed my thoughts about the dimensional damage, about the cost of the choices I had made. We stood there in the growing twilight, two people who had saved a kingdom but couldn't save themselves from the consequences of their heroism.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, the words inadequate for the guilt that consumed me. "I'm sorry you paid the price for my choices."
"I'm not." His free hand came up to cup my face, the gesture so familiar it made my heart ache. "I'd take that blow again, knowing what I know now. The kingdom is safe, the people are free, and you're alive.
That's worth any price."
"Even if it means losing the use of your arm? Even if it means living with constant pain?"
"Even then." His thumb traced my cheek, wiping away tears I hadn't realized I was shedding. "But I won't pretend it doesn't hurt. And I won't pretend that watching you transform into someone I can barely recognize doesn't hurt worse."
The accusation was fair, and it stung because it was true. The crown had changed me, made me harder and more distant, turning personal relationships into political calculations. I had become the queen the kingdom needed, but in doing so, I had lost touch with the woman Kael had fallen in love with.
"I don't know how to be both," I admitted, the confession torn from the depths of my soul. "I don't know how to be the queen who makes the hard choices and the woman who loves freely."
"Then maybe it's time to stop trying to be perfect and start trying to be human," he said gently. "The kingdom doesn't need a goddess, Seraphina. It needs a queen who remembers what she's fighting for."
His words stayed with me as we made camp for the night, two people who had shared everything now sleeping in separate tents because protocol demanded it. I lay awake listening to the sounds of the corrupted forest around us, the whispers of my skull relics mixing with the unnatural groans of trees caught in temporal flux.
Tomorrow, I would attempt to heal the dimensional scars, to undo some of the damage my choices had caused. But tonight, I finally admitted to myself that the hardest wounds to heal were the ones I had inflicted on my own heart.
The Queen of Bones had conquered kingdoms and defeated ancient evils. Now she had to learn how to conquer the loneliness that came with absolute power, and discover if love could survive the transformation of a woman into a crown.