His Bride, Her Revenge
Chapter 114: The Fate of the Betrayer

Chapter 114: The Fate of the Betrayer

The night was no longer black.

It burned crimson with the fires of war, casting Blackreach in an eerie, molten glow. The city that had stood for centuries was now a battlefield where loyalty and betrayal bled together in the gutters.

Cambria’s lungs ached from smoke, her body weary, but she pressed forward. Every strike of her blade carved a path through the invaders. Every heartbeat was a drum of defiance. The people fought beside her those who had once doubted, now bound to her by survival’s desperate thread.

But even as she fought, her mind was elsewhere.

Where was Sophia Drake?

The Shadows of Treason

Sophia moved through the chaos like a ghost, her dark coat trailing ash. Her hands were stained with the blood of both enemies and friends. The lines had blurred long ago.

From the spire of a ruined chapel, she watched the battle unfold, her sharp eyes noting the fall of each defense line, the spread of Seraphine’s forces like a plague.

She could end this.

She could stop it now if she delivered Cambria to Seraphine as promised.

The coin had been paid. The bargain struck.

And yet...

She clenched her fists, the memory of Cambria’s mercy a weight upon her heart.

The Reckoning Approaches

Beneath the city’s central tower, Maddox rallied the last of the city guards. His voice was hoarse from shouting orders, his armor cracked and scorched.

"Hold the line!" he cried. "For the Queen! For your homes!"

The defenders roared, pushing back against Seraphine’s elite masked warriors who fought with inhuman precision. Maddox’s blade met steel again and again, but fatigue crept into his limbs. His mind, too, drifted.

Sophia.

She had stood with them once. Shared their fire, their hope. And now? Was she the knife in their backs?

A Betrayer’s Choice

Sophia descended the chapel steps, boots echoing on the broken stone. She moved toward the square where Cambria fought, her mind torn.

Do it, the voice in her head urged. Deliver her. Survive.

But another voice, quieter, sadder, whispered of loyalty, of a queen who had trusted her even when she did not deserve it.

The square came into view. Cambria stood at its center, blade raised, golden light flickering about her like a dying star.

Their eyes met.

And Sophia hesitated.

The Confrontation

Cambria lowered her sword slightly as Sophia approached.

"Sophia," she said, her voice thick with exhaustion and betrayal. "Is it true? Did you sell us to her?"

Sophia stopped a few paces away, her hands empty, her heart hammering.

"I did," she said. No lies, no excuses. "I thought... I thought it was the only way."

Cambria’s shoulders slumped, as if a great weight had settled upon them. "The only way to what? Save yourself? Damn us?"

"To stop the slaughter!" Sophia shouted. "Seraphine promised peace if I delivered you!"

Cambria shook her head, tears glistening. "And you believed her?"

Sophia said nothing.

The silence spoke for her.

The Battle Turns

A horn sounded from the walls a dire note that chilled the blood.

Maddox burst into the square, bloodied, wild-eyed. "They’re breaching the inner gate! We have minutes, maybe less!"

Cambria looked at Sophia one last time, sorrow and fury mingling in her gaze.

"Then stand with us, or get out of my sight."

Sophia hesitated only a breath then drew her blades.

"I stand with you."

The Fate of the Betrayer

The battle for the inner city was chaos incarnate.

Cambria, Maddox, Sophia, and Evelyn fought side by side as Seraphine’s forces poured through the gates. The clatter of steel, the roar of flame, the screams of the dying filled the night.

Sophia fought like one seeking absolution, her blades a blur, cutting down the masked invaders with ruthless precision. But the soldiers of Seraphine were endless, a tide of death that refused to break.

And then

An arrow found its mark.

Sophia staggered, the shaft protruding from her side. Blood bloomed across her coat, dark and hot.

Maddox caught her as she fell to her knees.

"No," he growled. "Not now. Not like this."

Sophia’s breath came shallow, her vision blurring. "I deserve this," she whispered.

"No," Cambria said, kneeling beside her. "You don’t get to decide that. Not tonight."

Together, they pulled her back, covering her retreat as the defenders rallied one last time.

The Final Stand at Dawn

By the time the sun rose, the city was a ruin.

But the defenders still lived.

Cambria stood at the gates of the citadel, bloodied but unbowed, watching as Seraphine’s forces regrouped beyond the outer wall.

Beside her, Sophia lay on a stretcher, pale but breathing. Maddox’s hand rested on Cambria’s shoulder, silent support in the face of despair.

"We held," he said softly.

"For now," Cambria replied. Her gaze hardened as she looked at the enemy banners on the horizon. "But the fate of the betrayer isn’t death. It’s living with what she’s done."

Sophia stirred at those words, her eyes fluttering open, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I’ll make it right," she swore.

Cambria nodded, her jaw set.

"You’ll have that chance."

Beyond the ruined walls, Seraphine herself rode forward, mounted on a black steed, her silver crown glinting in the new dawn.

She raised her hand.

And the earth trembled.

Gates of flame opened in the valley beyond, and from them marched giants clad in molten armor the Forged, weapons of a forgotten age.

Cambria drew her blade once more, heart pounding.

"This is far from over," she whispered.

The City in Ashes

The once-mighty heart of Blackreach was unrecognizable. Columns of smoke rose like funeral pyres, and the sky burned red with the reflection of countless fires. Rubble littered the streets. The scent of charred wood and blood mingled on the wind.

Cambria wiped soot and sweat from her brow, her golden eyes narrowed against the smoke. Every breath was labor, but she pushed forward, the weight of duty pressing harder than any armor. Around her, her people fought with desperation. Children of the city bakers, smiths, scholars now soldiers, defending the only home they had ever known.

Yet, in the heart of the inferno, Cambria’s focus was singular.

Sophia Drake.

She had been a sister in arms. A trusted shadow at her side. And now a betrayer.

In the Enemy’s Grasp

Sophia watched the carnage from the remnants of a stone balcony. Below, Seraphine’s forces surged like a living tide, overwhelming the defenders with cold precision. She felt no triumph. Only hollow dread.

Her deal with Seraphine was supposed to stop this. She had believed Seraphine’s promise that Cambria’s surrender would bring peace.

But peace had not come. Only ruin.

"You hesitate," came a voice behind her soft, venomous voice.

Sophia turned slowly to face Seraphine herself. The queen’s silver crown glowed with infernal light, her pale face serene amid the destruction she had wrought.

"I gave you what you wanted," Sophia said, her voice hoarse.

Seraphine’s smile was small and cruel. "Did you, Sophia? Or did you only give me time to prepare my true army?"

Sophia’s blood ran cold. She had been used.

"You lied."

"Of course I did. That’s what queens do."

Cambria’s Stand

At the city’s final gate, Cambria rallied her remaining fighters. Her voice rang above the clamor of battle, clear and unyielding.

"This city still stands because of you!" she cried. "We are more than walls and towers! We are Blackreach, we are its heart! We fight not because we must but because we choose to!"

A ragged cheer rose, blades lifted high. Even in their weariness, the people found strength in her words.

Maddox appeared at her side, armor cracked, blood on his face. "They’re massing beyond the north wall. We have no more minutes."

Cambria nodded. "Then let them come."

The Betrayer’s Return

Through the smoke and flame, Sophia emerged, alone, her weapons discarded. Cambria froze as she saw her betrayer, the cause of their ruin.

Their eyes met.

"Cambria " Sophia began, but the queen’s blade was at her throat in a heartbeat.

"Give me one reason," Cambria hissed, voice low and lethal, "why I shouldn’t end this now."

Sophia did not flinch. "Because I was wrong. And I am here to undo it."

Maddox snarled. "We can’t trust her!"

Cambria stared into Sophia’s eyes and saw no deception, only shame.

"Then stand with us," Cambria said at last. "And if you betray me again you die by my hand."

Sophia nodded, tears cutting through the ash on her face.

The Final Breach

The gates exploded inward. Seraphine’s forged giants strode through the wreckage, their eyes burning coals, their weapons large enough to split towers.

Cambria raised her sword. "With me!"

The defenders surged. The clash was cataclysmic steel against steel, flesh against unstoppable might.

Sophia fought like a woman possessed, blades flashing, cutting down Seraphine’s soldiers as if everyone were a sin she could erase. Maddox covered her flank, their old bond reforging through battle.

Cambria dueled a giant alone, dodging its massive blade, striking where she could joints, eyes, heart. The city seemed to crumble around them, but she stood unbroken.

The Betrayer’s Fate

Sophia took a spear meant for Cambria. The weapon pierced her side, and she fell to her knees, blood pouring from the wound.

"No!" Cambria cried, dragging her back from the fray.

Sophia gasped, vision dimming. "Let me... let me end as I should... fighting for you."

But Cambria shook her head fiercely. "Not like this. Not tonight."

Maddox joined them, fending off enemies as Cambria bound Sophia’s wound.

"You live with this," Cambria said through clenched teeth. "That is your punishment. You live, and you fight, and you redeem yourself."

The Dawn of Despair

As the sun rose over the broken city, the defenders stood bloodied but unbowed. Seraphine’s army had withdrawn for now, but the cost was staggering.

Cambria stood at the citadel’s shattered balcony, gazing at the horizon.

Seraphine waited. The war was far from over.

And So,phia Drake once ,a betrayer now lay in the infirmary, her fate uncertain.

The Final Blow

In the distance, the ground split, and from it rose Seraphine’s final weapon: the Godforged Colossus, a titan of metal and flame.

Cambria gripped the balcony rail, heart heavy.

"This isn’t over," she whispered.

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