Theron’s gaze sharpened, but his smile didn’t falter. “No, but he’s absent. And Warriath needs leadership now. Not promises.”
Zander stalked closer to the platform. “You’re power-hungry and reckless. And Iwon’tlet you endanger the realm just to play king before your time.”
The crowd shifted again, whispers breaking out like wildfire, tension climbing the air like heat before a storm.
Theron leaned forward slightly, eyes gleaming. “Careful, brother. You’re speaking treason.”
“No,” Zander said, voice low and cutting, “I’m speakingtruth.”
Even the dragons stirred.
Kaelith lifted her head, as did Hein and Temil, wings rustling across the cliff edge.
The court lines had always been drawn in ink and law.
But today, they were being redrawn in public. In stone. In blood.
And everyone was watching.
The tension snapped tight as Zander stood his ground before the podium, his voice echoing with open defiance.
Across the Ascension Grounds, a gust of wind tore through the silence, and then the airrumbled.
Hein.
The large silver dragon descended from the cliffs like a storm given form, wings spread wide as thunder cracked from the sky above. He landed hard behind Zander, the stone beneath his talons splintering on impact. His scales glinted in the morning sun, ancient and battle-worn, like a warning to every soul present.
Hein’s growl resonated through the field, not loud, butdeep, a sound that lived in bone and blood.
And Theron flinched.
Only for a second. But it was there.
A flicker ofwarinessas his gaze flicked up to the massive dragon who now stood behind Zander like a towering wall of teeth and vengeance.
Theron’s jaw tightened.
“You think your dragon makes you untouchable?” he said, voice clipped, louder now so the others could hear—masking his unease with bravado. “That he can shield you from the consequences of yourmouth?”
Zander didn’t move.
Hein’s wings flared slightly, enough to cast a shadow across Theron’s guards.
Theron’s lips curled. “He can’t protect you forever, little brother.”
Zander met his gaze without blinking. “No,” he said calmly, “but you’ll wish he could protectyou.”
The field was dead silent.
Because in that moment, no one believed Theron was in control.
Not with Hein behind Zander.
Not with fire building at the edge of loyalty, waiting to decide where it would burn.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
