Scorpio's Shadow Oath

The chain around Scorpio's wrist had been invisible since birth. At the forbidden altar, it began to glow.

His ancestors had guarded the Thirteenth Gate, not to keep the forgotten king imprisoned, but to preserve his name until the twelve kingdoms admitted what they had done. The oath demanded truth. Centuries of rulers had mistaken silence for protection.

A shadow serpent rose behind the altar and spoke with his mother's voice. It offered Scorpio the stolen crown if he would open the Gate wide enough for one memory to escape. No soldier would die, it promised. Only the official history would change.

Scorpio knew better than to trust a promise that defined harm so narrowly. He drove his blade through the violet chain. Pain crossed every member of his bloodline, living and dead, and the temple filled with their accusations.

The broken oath released a hidden record: Ophiuchus had once healed the twelve realms during a plague. The founders rewarded him by stealing his power to forge the crown, then erased his throne to hide the theft.

Scorpio escaped with the record as the temple collapsed. The truth could unite the rulers—or destroy the legitimacy of every crown among them. Above ground, he found Libra waiting with a sealed summons for Leo's trial.