His Bride, Her Revenge-Chapter 89: The Throne She Deserved

The screams still echoed in the marble halls above.

Cambria stood in the war chamber, unmoving, her body trembling not from fear but fury. Blood painted the stone floor, a harsh contrast to the ancient Blackwood crest etched beneath her boots. The aftermath of Subject One’s rampage had left the chamber in ruins. Valen Drex’s body was little more than a mangled heap, and the injector that had once held the final activation code lay shattered at her feet.

Yet despite the carnage, the creature Subject One had not harmed her. It had knelt. Called her My Queen.

She had not moved since.

"My Queen," Subject One rasped again, head still bowed.

It was human once. That much was clear beneath the twisted mutation of skin and steel. A face that might have once belonged to a soldier or brother is now contorted by science and suffering.

And it was looking at her with something more than obedience.

Devotion.

"Stand," she said, voice firm, though her hands were clenched at her sides.

Subject One rose to its full, terrifying height, a towering blend of man and machine, black veins glowing beneath its skin like molten threads.

Cambria turned to the wall, placing a hand on the blood-streaked stone. The injector key to unlocking Project Pandora was destroyed. That choice had been taken from her. But the war had never been about one choice. It had always been about survival.

No... more than survival.

It was about taking what was rightfully hers.

The throne.

Her throne.

"Subject One," she said, turning back to it, "do you remember who you were before?"

The creature tilted its head slightly as if trying to access some distant memory.

"I was created to protect you," it said simply. "Everything else is... irrelevant."

A chill passed down her spine. Not because it was dangerous she had seen worse but because there was no hesitation in its words.

Cambria took a step forward. "Then you will follow my command?"

Subject One dropped to one knee again. "Until my end."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then nodded. "Then follow me. We have a war to end."

The Throne Room Hours Later

Smoke still lingered in the high arches of the ruined throne room. Guards swept the corridors in tight formation. The eastern wing had been secured, but rumors of Knox’s soldiers infiltrating the royal compound continued to spread like wildfire.

Cambria entered the hall through the northern arch, the crimson Blackwood cloak billowing behind her. Subject One walked in her shadow, his monstrous form enough to part every soldier in her path.

Maddox, his head bandaged, stood by the broken throne. His eyes widened at the sight of the creature behind her. "Cambria... what is that?"

She met his gaze. "The beginning of the end."

He stepped forward, limping slightly. "You shouldn’t have brought it here. You don’t know what it’s capable of."

"I do," she said coldly. "It’s capable of obeying me."

Sophia Drake’s words echoed in her head: Then it’s time we showed her the truth. If Subject One was the perfected version... then there were more.

She reached the shattered dais and looked at the charred remains of the once-great Blackwood throne. The explosion had destroyed much of it. But beneath the debris, the foundation remained.

Steel and stone.

Unyielding.

Like her.

"I want it rebuilt," she told the nearest architect, who bowed quickly. "In two days. Not as it was... but as it should be. My design. My throne."

She turned to Maddox. "Where’s Rhys?"

"East corridor," he said. "We’re thinning out spies. He found two of Knox’s agents embedded in the guard."

Cambria’s expression darkened. "Then Knox is closer than we thought."

Before Maddox could respond, a comms unit crackled on a nearby guard’s belt. Static buzzed, followed by a frantic voice:

"My lady, it’s Rhys. He’s under attack in the northwest tunnel. There are oh gods he’s not alone "

Silence.

Cambria’s blood turned to ice.

"I’m going," she said immediately.

Maddox grabbed her arm. "Cam, you can’t. It’s a trap. He’s baiting you "

"I know," she said. "And I’m walking right into it."

She turned to Subject One. "With him."

Maddox exhaled sharply, his jaw clenching, but said nothing.

Because he knew there was no stopping her now.

Northwest Tunnel – The Forgotten Sanctum

Rhys’s blood was smeared along the tunnel walls like grotesque calligraphy. Cambria knelt beside his unconscious body, his pulse faint but still there. Two guards lay dead, their throats slit with brutal precision.

"Knox did this," she whispered.

"No," a voice echoed from the shadows. "I did."

Cambria stood slowly, turning toward the dark arch at the tunnel’s edge.

From the shadows emerged a tall woman wrapped in obsidian armor etched with gold.

Evelyn.

Not the fragile sister she once knew, but a new version. Hardened. Radiant. Dangerous.

Alive.

"You’ve risen," Cambria said. "Just like he planned."

Evelyn’s smile was blade-sharp. "You always knew I wasn’t the sacrifice. I was the diversion."

Cambria’s heart pounded. "You helped Knox."

"I did," Evelyn admitted. "Because Lucien lied to both of us. But he told you only half the truth. You weren’t just the prototype, Cambria. You were the failsafe."

"Failsafe for what?"

Evelyn stepped forward. "For me."

And then she raised her hand and Subject One stopped moving.

Frozen.

"Subject One, stand down," Cambria ordered.

But the creature didn’t respond.

"I told you," Evelyn said, voice cold. "He was never yours. He was mine first. You think you’re the queen. But I’m the heir."

A faint clicking sound echoed through the chamber and from the shadows, more figures emerged.

Five more like Subject One.

Not just one weapon.

A legion.

Evelyn smiled.

"You wanted the throne, sister?" she said. "Then take it from me."

Evelyn returns, revealed as the true heir and original controller of the Project Pandora weapons. As she seizes control of Subject One and unleashes five more perfected soldiers, Cambria is left facing the unthinkable: her own blood standing in the way of the throne she was born to claim.