📍 Chapter 86 – The Army That Calls Him King
The old school sat in the middle of the Hollow's forgotten forest.
Built from black stone. Covered in ivy. Windowless.
Once a noble academy.
Now a myth.
Auren whispered as they approached:
> "They say it teaches silence louder than screams.
> That no one who enters hears their own name again."
Zara dismounted.
Zaire and Auren followed.
None of them spoke.
Even the birds had gone quiet.
---
The gates were open.
Not broken.
Not forced.
Just open.
Like someone had been expecting them.
Zara stepped through first.
Hand on her dagger.
Heart beating like war drums.
Inside, the hallway was lit by candlelight.
Fresh wax.
Clean floors.
And on every wall…
**Portraits.**
Not of kings.
Not of Selene.
**Of Kaelen.**
---
Auren inhaled sharply.
Each frame showed a different version of him.
A child with a sword.
A boy on a throne.
A teen with wings stitched from silver thread.
"Propaganda," Zaire muttered. "They're planting worship early."
Zara said nothing.
She walked deeper into the school.
Through the hallway of portraits.
And into the main atrium.
Where twenty children stood in a perfect circle.
Ages eight to fifteen.
All dressed in midnight blue.
All barefoot.
All whispering the same phrase:
> "Crown of crows.
> Flame of first light.
> Kaelen, son of the old moon."
---
One child stepped forward.
A girl with silver hair and no eyebrows.
She bowed.
"Are you his mother?"
Zara's throat tightened.
"Yes."
The girl smiled.
Then turned to the others.
"She's real."
The children cheered.
Softly.
Controlled.
Like it had been rehearsed.
---
Zaire moved protectively beside Zara.
"Where's Selene?"
The silver-haired girl tilted her head.
"She hasn't been here in weeks."
Auren stepped forward.
"What is this place?"
Another child, this one with a scar across his jaw, replied:
"A kingdom of shadows.
A training ground for truth.
A nursery for the forgotten.
And now… Kaelen's court."
---
Zara clenched her fists.
"This isn't a court. This is a cult."
The silver-haired girl frowned.
"We're not worshippers. We're warriors. We were made for him."
Zaire's hand hovered near his blade.
Zara raised hers gently, stopping him.
"Tell me what Selene taught you."
The girl recited without blinking:
> "How to survive in silence.
> How to kill without cruelty.
> How to love without possession.
> How to die with purpose."
Zara's jaw tightened.
"And your purpose?"
The girl smiled.
"To protect the boy who will break the crowns."
---
The room grew colder.
Zara stepped closer to the circle.
"Do you even know who Kaelen is?"
A boy answered:
"He's the one they tried to hide. The one they tried to control. But the Hollow remembers. And the Hollow waits."
Zara looked around.
Each child bore scars.
Old burns.
Twisted fingers.
Healing welts.
These were not pampered students.
These were survivors.
---
Auren whispered, "They think they're saving him."
Zara whispered back, "Selene did this. She found the broken and made them loyal."
Zaire growled, "She built an army that loves him more than we can."
---
Then a bell rang.
Soft. Hollow.
The children froze.
Turned.
Parted in silence.
And from the back hallway, a figure entered.
Not Selene.
A tall girl.
Older than the rest.
In a silver robe.
With a brand over her heart.
🔥
Zara gasped.
She recognized the brand.
It was **her mother's crest**.
The Phoenix Crown.
The girl knelt.
"You must come with me."
---
Zara followed.
Down stone stairs.
Into the earth.
No guards.
No chains.
Only a sense of being watched by eyes that did not blink.
Finally, they entered a hidden chamber.
Inside was a map.
Hand-drawn.
Of the five kingdoms.
But this map was different.
It was **burned**.
With flame trails leading **from Kaelen's cradle… to every capital.**
---
Zara turned to the girl.
"What is this?"
The girl said quietly:
> "Selene calls it the Awakening.
> A prophecy she found in the old blood books.
> The Crownborn won't rule just one kingdom.
> He'll unite them all.
> Through fire.
> Or through war."
Zara's voice shook.
"And if I don't want him to?"
The girl looked at her.
Soft.
Sympathetic.
"But what if *he* does?"
---
Later that night, Zara stood in the atrium again.
All the children sat, legs crossed, eyes closed.
Auren said, "They won't harm him. They think he's a god."
Zaire muttered, "And gods always get sacrificed."
Zara turned.
Looked at the portraits again.
Each one painted with care.
Each one a version of Kaelen **Zara had never imagined**.
Hardened.
Aged.
Glorious.
Terrifying.
---
Then she saw something that made her go cold.
A small portrait tucked into the corner.
Kaelen.
Wearing her crown.
But beside him…
Sat **Selene**.
One hand on his shoulder.
One finger over his lips.
Like a mother silencing her child.
---
Zara tore it down.
Ripped it in half.
And said loud enough for the whole room to hear:
> "Tell Selene —
> Kaelen will never sit beside her.
>
> And if she touches him again…
> I will burn down her empire of orphans.
>
> One lie at a time."
---
The silver-haired girl stepped forward again.
"This place was meant to help him. You raised him behind guards. We raised him in legend."
Zara stepped close.
"Legend is not love. And my son needs love."
The girl nodded once.
"And war."
---
As Zara left the Hollow that night, torchlight behind her, the children whispered again:
> "Crown of crows.
> Flame of first light.
> Kaelen… the Unruled."
Zara didn't look back.
Not even once.
Because she knew now—
Selene hadn't failed.
She had *succeeded*.
She hadn't taken Kaelen.
She had **made the world want him**.
And that was the most dangerous theft of all.