His Bride, Her Revenge

Chapter 122: The Edge of the Blade

The war room had never been quieter.

Cambria stood at the center, her eyes fixed on the holographic map in front of the council table. Red markers pulsed like open wounds across the map, each one a signal of conflict, betrayal, or resistance. The aftermath of Evelyn’s broadcast was unraveling faster than anyone had anticipated. Territories once loyal to the Crown were now questioning their allegiance. The Pandora Protocol had seeded fear into the hearts of even her most devoted allies.

Behind her, Evelyn leaned against the cold marble wall, arms crossed, a smirk on her lips that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

"We’re bleeding influence," said Maddox, voice tight. "Three major sectors have entered lockdown. The Blackguard isn’t responding. And Seraphine’s old loyalists are making moves in the south."

Cambria didn’t turn to him. She didn’t blink. She simply whispered, "Good. Let them move."

Knox, seated in the shadowed corner, raised a brow. "You’re hoping they’ll expose themselves."

"They already have," Cambria replied. "Evelyn’s appearance was the match. The fire’s begun. Now we let it burn until only the bones remain."

Sophia Drake stepped forward, dressed in dark violet robes, the color of mourning or power. "We cannot afford chaos at this stage. Not with Subject One still unaccounted for."

Evelyn pushed off the wall. "He’s not unaccounted for. He’s waiting."

Cambria turned now, slowly, locking eyes with her half-sister. "You knew where they were hiding him all along, didn’t you?"

Evelyn didn’t deny it. "We never lost control. We only let the illusion shatter."

Silence fell.

Lucien Vale entered the room then, his cloak trailing ash, his face harder than stone. Since awakening from the crystal tomb, he had spoken little, but now, his voice was gravelly and final.

"You’re both wrong. Subject One doesn’t wait. He hunts. And he has begun."

A shiver spread through the room. Cambria stepped toward her father. "How do you know?"

"Because I designed him," Lucien said, "And I built him with one mission: only kill the Queen if she strays from the design."

Cambria’s breath caught.

Sophia narrowed her eyes. "You put a failsafe in the prototype?"

"Not a failsafe," he said bitterly. "A damnation."

Maddox slammed a fist on the table. "Then we need to find him and destroy him. Now."

Evelyn’s voice was barely above a whisper. "You won’t destroy him. You’ll die trying."

Cambria met her sister’s gaze. "Unless we rewrite the protocol."

Lucien looked at her, expression unreadable. "You intend to override the God Engine again?"

"No," she said, stepping closer to the map. "This time, I will become the override."

The cold air of the Eastern Outpost sliced through Cambria’s coat as she stood before the vault that held the remnants of the second Pandora army. The facility was abandoned, its systems pulsing with old echoes of power. Evelyn walked beside her, silent, uncertain.

"You never asked me why I disappeared," Evelyn said, finally breaking the tension. "Why did I fake my death?"

Cambria didn’t look at her. "Because you were afraid."

"No," Evelyn said, eyes sharp. "Because I saw what I was becoming."

Cambria turned now. "A weapon?"

"A mirror," Evelyn whispered. "Of her. Of Seraphine. Cold. Absolute. Unstoppable. I was supposed to be the perfect heir until you came."

Cambria studied her. "I didn’t choose this."

"You didn’t have to." Evelyn smiled bitterly. "The kingdom did."

A hum filled the air as the vault’s final lock disengaged.

Inside, rows of cryogenic pods flickered to life, casting a pale blue glow across their faces. Cambria stepped in first, her heart pounding. These were the next generation of the Pandora army untouched, incomplete, and dangerous.

A voice echoed from the darkness.

"I wondered how long it would take you to return."

Cambria froze.

From the far end of the chamber, a figure emerged tall, elegant, cloaked in black and red. Subject One.

He was no longer just a weapon. He was a ghost in human skin.

"Hello, Cambria," he said, eyes glowing with faint violet. "Shall we finish what we started?"

Cambria raised her chin. "You were never meant to finish anything. You were meant to serve."

Subject One tilted his head. "And yet here I am free."

Behind her, Evelyn began to draw her blade, but Cambria raised a hand. "No. He’s mine."

Subject One grinned. "You’ll regret that."

"I already do," she whispered and stepped into battle.

The clash was silent and sound all at once Cambria’s sword singing against the steel of Subject One’s fists. He moved like smoke and death, every strike a blur, every dodge a prediction. But Cambria was no longer the girl who had hidden in her mother’s shadow.

She was Queen.

She was Fire.

She was Rage Reborn.

Their battle tore through the cryo-chamber, shattering glass and disrupting the stasis pods. Sparks rained from the ceiling as alarms screamed to life. Subject One struck with inhuman force, sending Cambria crashing into a wall. She coughed up blood, but pushed herself up.

"You’re fighting your own legacy," he hissed.

"I’m rewriting it," she spat.

She raised her hand, palm glowing. Not with energy. But with code.

The override.

The words she’d memorized. The backdoor Lucien had whispered in his sleep.

She shouted the activation phrase.

"Requiem override Vale Protocol Command Level Zero."

Subject One screamed.

His body jerked violently, trembling as the command fought his programming.

Cambria stumbled to him, placing a hand on his chest. "You were never meant to be a monster."

His voice shook. "Then why did you make me one?"

Tears filled her eyes. "Because they thought monsters made the best kings."

Subject One collapsed, unconscious.

The battle was over.

For now.

Later, in the war room, the council sat in stunned silence as Cambria replayed the footage of the override. The room smelled of smoke and fear. Knox, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke.

"You realize you’ve only delayed him. Not destroy him."

Cambria nodded. "I know."

Sophia leaned forward. "So what now?" noveldrama

"We don’t destroy Pandora," Cambria said, voice clear. "We take control of it. We use the army but rewrite their minds. Their hearts. We create not monsters but protectors."

Maddox scoffed. "You think you can teach mercy to machines?"

Cambria smiled, dark and sure. "Not mercy. Purpose."

Lucien stepped beside her, voice low. "You’re playing a dangerous game, daughter."

"I know," she said, turning to him. "But I finally know who I am."

"And who is that?"

Cambria Vale looked out the high windows, at the skyline of a kingdom on the edge of rebirth and ruin.

"I am the edge of the blade."

As the council dispersed, a hidden feed blinked to life beneath the floor of the war room. A transmission not meant to be heard.

It showed Seraphine Vale. Alive. Watching. Smiling.

And whispering into the shadows:

"Let her believe she’s won. Let her sharpen the blade... so I can turn it against her throat."