Chapter 44: Trial by Flame
The Grand Amphitheater hadn't been used in years.
Not since Seraphine's reign.
Back then, trials were spectacles—designed to humiliate, to silence, to control.
Now, Echo stood on the stone platform in front of thousands. Citizens lined every level of the half-moon arena, their faces lit by torchlight. Some curious. Some anxious. A few, openly hostile.
Kael stood beside her. Hands unbound. Face unreadable.
The council sat across from them, raised on a stone dais. Aria. Calder. And in the center seat: Kara.
Alive.
Awake.
Expressionless.
Echo's breath caught when she saw Kara.
Their eyes locked.
But Kara gave nothing.
No accusation. No forgiveness.
Only stillness.
Ash leaned toward Echo. "You sure about this?"
"No," she said softly. "But if I don't fight for him, we lose everything we stood for."
A bell rang—deep and resonant.
The Trial of Fire had begun.
Councilor Calder's voice echoed first.
"We gather under the Accord of Flame to determine whether Kael Ember, born of Seraphine, is threat or kin to the Sanctuary."
Kael didn't flinch.
"I speak first," Echo said, stepping forward.
The amphitheater fell into hush.
She spoke not like a leader.
Not like a sister.
But like a witness to history.
"Kael Ember was born in fire, just like the rest of us. But unlike us, he was shaped by Seraphine's final fear: that we would one day choose freedom over control."
She looked across the crowd.
"When the failsafe activated, he could've let it burn. He didn't. He stopped it. He saved us."
A murmur rose.
Some agreeing.
Others uncertain.
She continued, voice firmer.
"He could have struck me down at the ridge. He didn't. He chose peace."
Kara finally spoke.
"Is peace truly peace… when it's hesitation in disguise?"
Her words hit like ice.
"You've seen his strength," she continued. "He's stronger than Echo. Than all of us. What happens the day he changes his mind?"
"He won't," Echo said.
Kara's voice sharpened. "You think he won't."
Echo stepped toward her. "Kara—"
"Don't," Kara snapped. "Don't say my name like it still belongs to you."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Kara rose to her feet.
"I was ready to kill for this city. You hesitated. He hesitated. We don't have room for uncertainty."
Kael turned his head, calm.
"You don't fear me," he said. "You fear the part of yourself that agrees with me."
Kara's fingers curled into fists.
"You're not the answer," she whispered. "You're the next Seraphine."
"No," he said. "I'm the mistake she made… that learned to forgive."
The council voted in silence.
One by one, stones were placed on the scale of judgment—black for banishment, white for pardon.
Calder voted white.
Aria followed.
Then Kara stepped forward.
Held the black stone in her hand.
Then paused.
The entire arena seemed to lean forward.
And in one motion…
She placed the white stone on the scale.
Echo let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Kael didn't smile.
He just nodded, once.
Not at Kara.
But at Echo.
Later that night, Echo stood on the balcony of the Tower of Flame, overlooking the city.
Ash joined her, silent for a while.
"Did we do the right thing?" she asked.
Ash shrugged. "There's no map for what we're building. Just matches and hope."
She laughed under her breath.
"Guess that's all we've ever had."
Below, the streets of the sanctuary glowed with steady, warm light.
But somewhere deep in the eastern shadow…
Another ember stirred.