Waiting until noon had not been easy. Every minute felt like an hour, and every breath carried the weight of fate.
The next morning, before we set out, I approached Serena. "Are you afraid?"
"No," she said with a smile. "I'm excited. I feel like this is the day we make history."
I looked at the pendant. "I feel the same.... but I'm afraid for Kieran."
Serena gave me a faint smile. "So, the heart of ice is beginning to melt?"
I didn't answer. The truth was already clear in my eyes.
At that moment, we heard the soft rustling of wings. Malakai had returned, bringing news from inside the palace.
"Falkar has announced a public trial for Kieran at sunset," Malakai said, breathless. "He claims he has proof that Kieran bewitched the princess to lead her astray."
I felt sick. The trial was nothing but a performance to legitimize an execution.
"We can't wait until noon," I said, standing up. "We have to move now."
Malakai glanced at Serena, then back at me. "That's what I expected. He's trying to provoke us into acting before we're ready."
"Sometimes the best attacks are the ones the enemy doesn't expect," I replied, turning to Glacir, who watched us with his wide blue eyes. "It's time our people see the truth about their dragons."
We left the cave together—a group of rebels riding young dragons. I soared above them on Glacir's back, with Nyktis beside us. This time, we did not hide. We flew in broad daylight, straight toward the heart of the palace.
Through the pendant, I sent my final message to Kieran: "Be ready. The truth is coming." His voice came back, weak but steady: "I have always been ready—for you."
When the white palace of Nevis appeared on the horizon, I felt something strange—I was no longer afraid. Because I knew that some truths are like embers beneath the snow: they may lie hidden for a time, but they never go out. And now, it was time to ignite the fire.
The scene in the palace courtyard was like a nightmare.
At the center stood Kieran, chained, on a raised wooden platform. His face was pale, but his head remained high, and his gray eyes searched the horizon for me. Falkar's guards surrounded him, armed with their infamous weapons.
Falkar himself stood on the palace balcony, delivering a fiery speech to the crowd. Some looked confused, while others had surrendered to his poisonous words.
"....and this monster, this aberration disguised as a man, tried to steal our princess and enchant her with his demonic gaze!"
"Liar!" I shouted from atop Glacir.
All heads turned toward the sky. Their eyes fell on me and my white dragon—and the black dragon beside me. We landed in the center of the courtyard, the ground trembling beneath Glacir's feet. A heavy silence fell, quickly followed by whispers:
"It's the princess!" "But the black dragon didn't attack her!" "What is happening?"
Falkar faltered for a moment, then quickly regained his composure. "Iliana! You're free? Thank the heavens! This beast was holding you captive!"
I looked at him, then at the crowd—then at my people. I had to be smart. Convincing.
"You lied to them, Falkar," I said, my voice carrying a strength I didn't know I possessed. "You lied to everyone." I stepped toward the platform where Kieran stood bound. The guards hesitated, unsure how to act in front of their rightful princess.
"This man," I said, pointing to Kieran, "did not imprison me. He saved me.... from you."
Falkar laughed mockingly. "His spell still affects her! Look at her eyes!"
But the crowd began to waver. They had seen the way Kieran looked at me—not like a captor to his prisoner, but with respect.... perhaps even more.
"Proof!" someone shouted. "We want proof!"
I looked at Kieran. His eyes told me: Do it. So I took out the pendant—the one with the entwined dragons.
Holding it high, I said, "This pendant belonged to Kieran's mother. My mother had one just like it. They were friends. They planned for peace—before Falkar and his advisors killed them."
"This is nonsense!" Falkar shouted. "It's just a pendant!"
But the elders in the crowd began murmuring. They remembered the princess who had died under mysterious circumstances.... and how the war had suddenly begun.
Then something unexpected happened.
A weak but clear voice echoed from the palace balcony: "My daughter is telling the truth."
My father—the king—stood there alone, frail, but with a will I had not seen in years. Our allies had freed him.
In that moment, everything changed. The balance shifted. The hearts of Nevis began to turn.
I looked at Kieran, realizing the true battle was already over—and that the endless war had finally come to an end.
I don't know who moved first—him or me. All I remember is the barriers breaking. The next moment, I was in his arms. Not as an ally, not as a friend—but as a woman longing to touch the man who had nearly given his life for her.
"Iliana," Kieran whispered, his rough voice trembling in a way I had never heard before. His arms tightened around me, as if afraid I might vanish if he let go.
"Kieran...." I couldn't say more. My tears soaked into his chest—not tears of weakness, but of release. Release from lies, from hatred, and from the walls I had built around my heart for years.
I held onto him tightly, my hands gripping his back as if my life depended on it. I breathed in the scent of smoke and sweat clinging to him—and realized it had become the most familiar scent to me.
In that moment, before everyone, I was no longer a princess, and he was no longer a prince. We were simply a man and a woman finally admitting what lay in their hearts.
"I was afraid," I whispered in his ear—a confession I hadn't dared to make before. "Afraid of losing you before I could tell you...."
His fingers gently lifted my chin, his gray eyes searching mine. "Tell me what?"
I looked into the eyes I had once feared—and saw a future I had never dared to dream of. "That I...."
Before I could finish, a soft applause broke out—then grew into thunderous cheers. The crowd was celebrating us—our freedom, and the triumph of truth.
I looked into Kieran's eyes and saw tears in them too. For the first time, I saw the Black Prince cry—not from pain, but from something else.... something like hope.
"I understand," he whispered, his forehead resting against mine. "I know what you want to say—because I feel it too."
And in that moment, under the sunlight and in the heart of my kingdom, I kissed him. It was not a gentle kiss—it carried all the emotions we had buried for weeks, all the hatred that had turned into respect.... and then into something stronger. Something we had been afraid to name.
When we pulled apart, the crowd was chanting our names—but all we could hear were the rapid beats of our hearts.
"So.... will you accept the love of a 'monster'?" he asked, his eyes shining with both challenge and hope.
"That means I've discovered the 'monster' was a true prince all along," I replied, my hands still cradling his face.
But in the midst of our overwhelming joy, I didn't notice the hateful look Falkar cast before disappearing. Nor did I realize that this beautiful moment was only a brief truce before a greater storm—one that would tear me away from Kieran and test us in ways that could cost us everything.
But in that moment, beneath the cheers of my people, I thought only of this:
My love for Kieran had been like embers beneath the snow—there all along, waiting for the right moment to ignite.