Chapter 35 Cracks in the Crown
The sun rose the next morning, but it felt… quieter.
The palace halls didn’t echo with the same whispers as before—not because people had stopped talking, but because they didn’t know what to say.
Sana had faced the Celestial Mirror.
It had cracked.
And then healed.
Just like her.
But not everyone believed what they saw.
---
In the council chamber, voices clashed like blades.
> “The mirror does not lie,” one elder argued.
> “No, but it hides,” another hissed. “She could be a threat. What kind of magic lies dormant for so long?”
> “What if it was never hers to begin with?”
Hatim stood at the head of the table, expression unreadable.
> “Are you questioning the will of the stars?”
Silence.
But it wasn’t agreement. It was fear.
---
Meanwhile, Sana sat in the royal gardens, surrounded by moonlilies—but she couldn’t feel their beauty.
Everything felt too loud inside her.
Since the trial, her fingertips sparked when she touched stone. Her dreams had become vivid.
And the mirror’s glow still pulsed in her chest like a second heartbeat.
What was happening to her?
She didn’t know.
But she also didn’t know who to ask.
---
That evening, Queen Roshni summoned her.
Sana expected cruelty. Coldness. Instead—
> “You made quite the show,” Roshni said, pouring herself tea. “A broken mirror mending itself? So poetic.”
Sana didn’t respond.
> “You think they believe you now?” Roshni continued. “That your place beside my son is earned?”
> “I don’t care if they believe it,” Sana replied. “I know who I am.”
> “Do you?”
A long pause.
> “Then why do your eyes still tremble when you look in a mirror?”
Sana flinched.
Roshni stood.
> “Power without history is dangerous. And you, dear girl… are still a question mark in everyone’s eyes.”
> “Not in Hatim’s,” Sana said.
> “For now.”
She left Sana standing alone in the golden chamber—surrounded by mirrors.
---
Later, Hatim returned from the War Council, exhausted.
Sana waited for him in their chamber. The moonlight bathed her in soft white, her hands folded, her eyes quiet.
> “You didn’t come see me,” she said.
> “I was… busy.”
> “I faced an ancient trial. I glowed in front of half the kingdom. And now I spark when I breathe.”
“And you’re busy?”
He sat down heavily.
> “Sana, please. I’m fighting battles in every room I walk into. The council wants blood. The generals want war. And the nobles—”
> “Want me gone,” she finished for him.
He didn’t deny it.
Her chest ached.
> “Do you want me gone?”
Hatim looked up, eyes tired but fierce.
> “Never.”
But she could see it in his shoulders—he was drowning.
And she didn’t know how to save him without losing herself.
---
That night, Sana slipped into the abandoned west corridor, where no footsteps echoed.
She needed space.
She needed silence.
But instead… she found a door.
A locked one.
One she had never seen before.
Her hand sparked the moment she touched it.
The lock clicked open.
Inside was a chamber filled with scrolls, starlight, and something she hadn’t expected—
A portrait.
Torn. Faded. But unmistakable.
The woman in it looked just like her.
Sana stepped back, heart racing.
But before she could react—
A voice echoed behind her.
> “Some truths wait until you are strong enough to bear them.”
She spun.
But the corridor was empty.
---
?? Author’s Note:
Y’ALLLLL. We are TEETERING on the edge ???? Chapter 35 is where the crack beneath the crown starts to widen—doubt, power, legacy, and identity all hitting Sana at once.
The mirror test changed everything, but it also opened doors (literally ??). Now the question is: will Sana still believe in herself when the world tries to dim her again?