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Christiana Blackwood's POV
The ground beneath me felt like it was vibrating as I stepped forward. I was not just the Dictator. I was the flame of this empire—the hand of enforcement, the enforcer of will.
And yet, he called me.
The crowd went silent. B.A.M units stood stiff, their rifles lowered but not relaxed. Amara narrowed her eyes. Skylar's face was unreadable. Classic looked confused, even concerned.
But Father… Chris Blackwood, the God-King… stared at me with that same expressionless calm. Unmoved. Unmerciful.
> "Take the blade," he said.
No special treatment. No exception.
I took it.
I sliced across my palm.
I let the blood fall onto the stone.
And I watched.
Nothing.
No glow.
No warmth.
The bloodstone remained cold. Black.
Gasps erupted across the circle.
Even Amara stood. "This must be a mistake—"
> "Silence," Chris snapped, his voice like thunder.
He stood slowly, robes trailing behind him like storm clouds.
> "Christiana Blackwood… Dictator of my empire… your loyalty has failed the flame."
The words struck like spears through my chest. I blinked—once, twice—trying to make sense of it. My hands trembled.
> "Father… no. This… I've done everything for the empire—everything for you!"
> "Then why does your blood reject the truth?"
The floor beneath me began to shift. I could hear the mechanism groaning. A trapdoor. Like the others.
> "Father—please!"
> "The flame does not beg, Christiana."
> "I AM THE FLAME!"
> "You were."
I dropped.
Silence.
No one moved.
Then Chris turned to the stunned crowd and declared coldly:
> "Let this be known: No name. No title. No power—not even my own blood—makes you above loyalty. Disloyalty is death. The flame has spoken."
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Skylar's POV
My hand gripped the edge of the seat. I couldn't breathe. My daughter. Our daughter.
> "You executed your own blood," I whispered.
Chris turned his gaze to me.
> "If she lives… it means the flame gives her another chance."
> "And if she doesn't?"
> "Then she was never worthy."
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Amara's POV
I couldn't believe it.
Not Christiana.
Not her.
But… the stone never lies.
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Classic Blackwood's POV
I stood.
Unsteady. But firm.
> "Is she dead?" I asked.
Chris looked out into the crowd. Then at me.
> "We do not mourn what the flame rejects. We rebuild."
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To Be Continued…