The march toward the capital resud before the blood on their weapons had even dried.
Smoke still rose in thick plus behind them where the battlefield burned, blotting out the pale sky while Ragnar’s army pushed onward through the snow-covered roads.
The fight against the queen’s forces had shaken the n deeply. They had witnessed shadows tear soldiers apart. They had watched corpses rise from the dead beneath Circe’s command. And they had seen fire descend from the heavens itself.
Now they followed Ragnar with sothing far more than a re sense of duty.
They followed him with deep loyalty and an unwavering belief that he would make a better king.
No one spoke much during the rest of the journey. The exhaustion from battle weighed heavily on the soldiers, but urgency pushed them forward. Every man understood the sa thing. If Queen Nheera succeeded in crowning Hairan before Ragnar reached the palace, the nobles who still hesitated would fully unite behind the royal bloodline. Ragnar would no longer be seen as a rival claimant to the throne. He would beco a traitor marching against a crowned king.
By the ti the capital finally appeared in the distance, dusk had begun settling across the land.
Towers lined the periter while royal banners swayed in the freezing wind overhead. Even from afar, Ragnar could see increased guard movent along the city’s border.
"They’re preparing for a siege," one of Ragnar’s commanders muttered grimly.
Ragnar remained silent as he studied the city.
Archers stood positioned along the towers. Defensive barricades had already been erected in preparation for an attack.
It ant Nheera knew he would get this far and was afraid.
Good, he thought.
Beside him, Circe stared toward the capital with narrowed eyes.
"She knows you’re coming now," Circe said quietly. "She must not have had much faith in the soldiers she sent.
A muscle twitches in Ragnar’s jaw. "Then we mustn’t keep her majesty waiting."
The attack began less than an hour later.
Ragnar split his forces into three separate groups before the assault ever started. The largest force approached the main entrance into the city. Their purpose was simple. Draw every eye toward the front entrance and force the royal guards to commit their strongest defenses there.
The second group circled west toward the outer districts of the capital under cover of darkness. Their orders were to breach smaller entry points and create chaos inside the city itself. Fires soon erupted throughout several streets that weren’t densely populated to reduce the number of casualties as Ragnar’s soldiers attacked guard outposts.
Panic spread quickly, setting off several warning alarms.
Royal soldiers flooded the streets attempting to contain the breaches while citizens fled deeper into the city in terror.
And through all of it, Ragnar waited.
Only when the capital’s defenses had begun stretching thin did he finally move.
He grabbed Circe’s hand protectively in his as they led the third force personally.
Unlike the others, they did not charge the main entrance.
Instead, they approached the eastern aqueducts built beneath the capital decades earlier to transport water through the city. Most had long since fallen abandoned after newer waterways were constructed. Ragnar had learned of them years ago as a child sneaking through parts of the palace he was never supposed to enter.
Nheera had forgotten many of these things over the years, hence it was left unguarded.
One by one, soldiers slipped into the darkness below the city.
The tunnels were narrow, damp, and freezing cold and a few of them led directly to the palace. Water dripped steadily from ceilings.
Far above them, the capital was descending into chaos.
The sound of distant bells and muffled shouting echoed faintly through the tunnels while Ragnar guided his n deeper beneath the city.
Eventually the passage split. Ragnar stopped walking.
"This is where we separate," he said.
Several commanders imdiately looked toward him.
"The mont we erge, the palace guards will focus entirely on securing the inner courtyards. Keep them occupied no matter the cost."
"You’re going alone?" one soldier asked.
"Yes. It will just be and my wife," Ragnar answered.
The n exchanged uneasy looks but nodded.
No one argued. They all understood what Ragnar intended to do.
This battle would not end in the streets. It would end in the throne room.
Monts later, the underground tunnel opened into the lower chambers beneath the palace itself. The old passages connected directly into abandoned servant corridors long forgotten by most of the royal household.
The mont Ragnar’s soldiers erged, the palace erupted into chaos. Royal guards shouted alarms as Ragnar’s n appeared like a violent tide, attacking from inside the palace itself while the main assault still battered the outer defenses.
The distraction worked perfectly.
Guards rushed toward the fighting in overwhelming numbers, attempting to contain the breach before the palace collapsed from within.
And in the middle of the chaos, Ragnar and Circe disappeared.
They moved swiftly through side corridors while screams echoed deeper throughout the palace. Ragnar knew these halls intimately despite the years that had passed. He rembered every hidden stairwell. Every servant route. Every passage nobles rarely noticed existed.
Then ca the sound of chatter from the throne room.
Ragnar’s expression darkened instantly.
"The coronation has already started." He said before they both broke into a sprint.
anwhile, inside the throne room, the ceremony continued despite the chaos consuming the capital beyond the palace walls.
The entire royal court had gathered beneath towering pillars draped in crimson banners bearing the royal crest. Nobles lined both sides of the hall in expensive silks and jewels while rows of royal guards stood stationed around the room.
At the center of it all stood Hairan.
He wore ceremonial black and gold robes trimd with fur while the head priest ant to officiate the ceremony stood near the ancient crown resting upon a velvet cushion nearby.
Queen Nheera stood beside the throne itself, her deanor as regal and cold as ever.
Though tension lingered throughout the hall, she refused to show weakness.
"This is a joyous occasion. We are all gathered here to watch as my son, Prince Hairan, who has served as this kingdom’s protector, finally earns the throne of king. Just as the gods intended."
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