I’d never spoken to her directly, but I knew her name, and her reputation. Noble from Kruisaan. Tall, athletic, with long braided black hair coiled like a whip across her back. Her gray-blue eyes were flint-hard beneath her brow, and though she was stunning, there was nothing delicate about her.
She held a blade in one hand.
Relaxed. Ready.
Her voice sliced through the air.
“Youambushedmy cadets during a sanctioned trial. That is not a misunderstanding, that’s sabotage.”
Elordon sneered. “They broke formation and encroached on our sector. My orders were clear.”
“You’re lucky I haven’t challenged you to blood,” she snapped. “Only reason I haven’t is because your dragon’s too dumb to find you if I send your head rolling.”
The major looked like he was one breath away from bellowing an order that would shake the walls.
I glanced at Remy.
And I couldn’t help wondering…
If Dorian’s intended was already here, sword in hand, ready to spill blood—how much longer until the rest of the kingdom followed?
As the tension on the Ascension Grounds crackled like a powder keg, Lirane stalked closer to Elordon, her blade glinting faintly in the dull afternoon light. The standoff was moments from igniting, no matter how loudly the major shouted between them.
I thought back to Cordelle mentioning, while we were cleaning gear, that Lirane was promised to Dorian. I hadn’t known anything else about their relationship. Had never even spoken to her myself. But seeing her now, I wondered what kind of match that really was.
She was fire contained in steel.
And right now, that fire was pointed at Iron Fang.
Warborn and Crownwatch lingered on the outskirts of the fray, their squad leaders positioned between their people and the threat, trying, visibly, to remain neutral. But their squads were tense, hands on hilts, eyes darting from one side to the other.
One wrong move and the training field would become a battlefield.
“This is what they want,” I said under my breath.
Remy turned his head toward me, brows tight. “Who?”
“Whoever’s behind all this dissension. The sabotage, the whispering between squads, pulling the healers, starting rumors.” My voice lowered further. “I used to think it was just the usual power plays, factions jockeying for advantage.”
I shook my head.
“But now I’m not so sure.”
Remy’s gaze narrowed. “You think one person is behind all of it?”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’tneedto.
We were both thinking the same name.
Theron.
But it didn’t make sense.
Why?Why would he orchestrate this chaos, pit squads against each other, withdraw medical support, weaken his own kingdom? It wasn’t just a power grab. He wasrisking everything.
Before Remy could speak again, the major’s voice bellowed across the grounds, cutting through the noise like a blade.
