The Queen They Discarded

For years, I lived a quiet life as Sarah, deeply in love with Beau Harrison, tirelessly helping him and his brother Clay rise through the ranks.

I poured my heart into a protective Woven Ward for Beau, believing we were building a beautiful, shared future towards our sacred Haven.

My Cinderheart sister, Ashlyn, found her own love with Clay, and our gentle Shadowfox, Whisper, curled at our feet, a constant comfort.

Then, a knock on the door shattered our world into a million pieces.

Clay stood there with a smug Crystal Thorne, his voice chilling as he callously abandoned Ashlyn.

Crystal brazenly demanded Ashlyn's very essence, her Spirit-Spark, for her own selfish ascension.

But the true horror struck when she casually confessed they' d already murdered Whisper, harvesting his spark for Crystal' s gain.

Ashlyn' s raw scream tore through the cabin as untamed flames erupted around her, shedding her disguise like a burning cloak before she rocketed away in a desperate escape.

My heart was a burning stone of grief and rage.

Moments later, Beau arrived, his face a stranger' s, summarily dismissing our love as he told me I was too "gentle" and "unambitious" for the Haven.

He stood there with Crystal, expecting me to hand over my own Spirit-Spark after witnessing my beloved sister' s torments and our innocent pet' s murder.

How could they be so utterly blind, so incredibly callous?

They saw only Sarah, the soft woman they thought weak and easily discarded.

They had no idea I, Scarlett, held the keys to the very divine realm they craved, no idea about the Guardian Spirit they had just so heinously betrayed.

But their triumph would be short-lived, their stolen glory a trap.

A cold resolve solidified in my core; my own vengeful plan was already set in motion.

With a feigned, heartbroken resignation, I handed Beau the Woven Ward again, knowing it was now not a gift, but a tether ensuring their destined fall.

"Oh, I' ll be there," I whispered, as Sarah was irrevocably gone, and Scarlett, the ancient Guardian, returned, ready to make them pay.