The Reign of Ash and Blossom Ch. 6

Chapter 6 – The Last Bloom

The world had bent beneath Selvara’s reign. Kingdoms burned, thrones fell, and wherever her banners flew, the blossoms of her garden bloomed in streets of ash. But in the mountains, where fugitives clung to life and whispers of prophecy stirred, a spark refused to die.

It was the princess – no longer a child of silks, but a wanderer hardened by hunger and loss. She carried something none could name but all could feel: a bond to Kael himself, as though some part of his vow had taken root in her soul.

When Selvara marched upon the last free stronghold, her armies blackened the horizon. At her side rode Kael, his eyes burning white, his blade raised high. To the world he looked unbreakable – her champion, her lover, her puppet.

But when the gates shattered and battle thundered, the fugitives stepped forward. Kael’s wife, her children, and the princess – their faces pale but unyielding. The girl’s voice rose above the clash: “Kael Voss! You swore an oath to us. To me. To Eldoria.”

The sound cut through the din like steel. Kael’s hand trembled on the hilt. For a heartbeat the white fire flickered, and the man he once was stirred beneath it. Memories rushed in: his wife’s embrace, his children’s laughter, the king’s dying command. The scent of the blossoms pressed against him, choking, but the flame of his vow burned stubbornly within.

Selvara saw it. Fury twisted her beauty. She stepped forward, her hand raised, blossoms exploding into a storm of light. “Do not look at them, Kael. Look at me. You are mine.”

But the princess did not falter. She stepped closer, her frame defiant against the queen’s storm. “You cannot claim what was never yours. He is bound to us. He is bound to me.”

The blossoms dimmed.

Kael dropped his sword. The clang rang louder than the battle itself. He fell to one knee, clutching his head torn between Selvara’s command and the truth before him

Selvara screamed, her spell lashing around him like chains, but Kael’s wife cried out his name – not as a soldier, not as a captain, but as a man. Their children’s voices joined hers, calling for their father. And in that chorus, the flame within Kael surged.

White fire bled into gold. His eyes cleared. He rose.

Selvara staggered back as though struck, the blossoms around her wilting, petals blackening in the air. Kael’s hand closed around his sword once more, but this time not for her.

“Your reign ends here,” he said, his voice ragged but certain.

The battle turned in a storm of steel and fire. Kael drove forward, his blade burning with the last of his oath, while the princess stood beside his family, her hands raised in defiance, the unseen flame binding them all. Selvara fought with fury, her beauty twisted into something terrible, her whispers becoming screams – but the garden’s spell had broken.

In the final clash, Kael’s sword cut through her crown of blossoms. The petals burst into ash, carried away on the wind. Selvara fell, her voice fading into a hiss that promised she would return when desire itself was born.

Silence followed.

Kael stood trembling, his blade dim, his armour broken. His family rushed to him, their embrace fierce, unbelieving. The princess watched with wide eyes, and Kael placed a hand upon her shoulder.

“You kept the flame alive,” he said softly.

The mountains carried the smoke of battle away, and for the first time since Eldoria’s fall, the world breathed without the scent of blossoms.

But in the ashes where Selvara fell, one petal still glowed faintly, whispering of desires that could never truly die.