Mask of Embers

The fire did not just consume the porcelain; it peeled back the lies. For centuries, the House of Ash maintained its dominance through a single, unyielding rule: never show the face behind the disguise. But as the embers licked the edges of her ivory mask, Aurelia felt the terrifying warmth of truth. The tears running down her cheeks were not from the smoke, but from the sudden, violent awakening of a power she had spent a lifetime suppressing. The masquerade was over, and the inferno had just begun.