Everly, do not go out there,he growled.
I didn’t know how much he’d seen through my eyes or gleaned from the storm of my thoughts, but lying to him was impossible now. Obeying him even less so.
There were soldiers in a line outside the palace walls and more in the courtyard, along with the faraway forms of Soren and Eryx, but my uncle would kill her the moment they stepped in.
Draven was locked behind the wards and unable to reach us. Nevara lay immobilized by venom, the Archmage bound by vows.
And below, my sister trembled with a mix of terror and fury I could feel from here, held in the merciless grip of the male who had let his own niece be tortured for months on end.
She strained against his hold, and he yanked her hair back tighter, her white-blonde curls pulled taut in his grasp.
He wouldn’t hesitate to carry out his threat. He had amassed this army to eliminate the entire Winter Court. The prolongedagony of a single Seelie fae would barely register on his conscience.
A rough plea scraped at my ear.Morta Mea.Draven again, even more frantic now.
I pushed a series of images through the bond.
Wynnie caring for my broken body when she hardly knew my name, laughing while she tended to cheerful plants in my bedroom, stitching my wedding gown all the way to the palace, breaking a wooden chair on the back of a Tharnok, holding my hand while we both quietly broke from all the things we couldn’t unsee.
One memory after another showcased my sister, fierce and unyielding and endlessly loyal.
What would you do if it was Nevara?I hurled the thought toward him.
A vicious curse snapped through the bond, followed by the cold burn of the ring.Shards damn it all.
You can’t afford to be distracted now,I sent, forcing steadiness into my thoughts.I need you to trust me if we’re going to make it out of this alive.
I had never shut him out of my mind before, but this time, I didn’t wait for him to respond. I imagined walls, stronger than the Thornhart wards around him, and slammed them down around my thoughts just as I wrenched open the balcony door.
Frigid wind struck my face, carrying the sounds of a courtyard on the brink. Soldiers whipped their heads upward, expressions shifting between shock, fear, awe, confusion, as they registered who I was, what I was wearing, and the fact that I stood above them like a warrior stepping in to save them.
Vaerin smiled when he caught sight of me standing on the high balcony, a smug grin that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Come down,” he called, voice pitched so perfectly he might have been standing beside me instead of several floors below.“Remember who you are before I have to remind you of all the ways this Court has poisoned your mind.”
His command was clear.Show them what you are. Stand with us, before I slaughter your sister.
The entire Unseelie force stood watching. Winter soldiers, too. Every eye locked on me, on Vaerin, on my furious sister still struggling in his hold. I felt thousands of breaths held in unison, waiting to see which way I would fall.
My heart hammered with terror, but resolve was layered beneath it like tempered steel. For once, I didn’t lie to myself. I knew what I risked giving into his demands, but I weighed every possibility against the certainty of my sister’s death, and every time, the answer was the same.
I exhaled slowly and let my wings unfurl. The fabric of my tunic didn’t rip. Instead, two fragile seams split cleanly open… like it had been designed with them in mind. Like the palace had known where today would lead even before I did.
Gasps surged through both armies, a ripple of shock that traveled like a physical wave… at my truth or at my choice, I wasn’t sure… My uncle’s smile widened as the Winter soldiers stared in horror and betrayal, hands tightening on weapons.
This was exactly what he had wanted. Or part of it, anyway. The loss of their morale. The moment they realized their queen was one of the enemy.
Distantly, I heard Eryx ordering them to hold their fire and Lumen’s worried howl as I glided down past the soldiers, past the palace walls, my boots hitting the snow-covered stones.
Bows were drawn with cold-iron arrows gleaming under the dusky sunset. Warriors were braced and at the ready, weapons raised, mana sparking in the air between us. Every instinct told me to stay behind the lines. To stay where it was safe.
But I was done hiding.
I held my breath, clenching my clawed fists as I stepped past the wardlines to face the Shadow Thane.
“Uncle,” I said, my voice steady despite the storm thrashing inside me.
He stood proud, shoulders squared, chin lifted, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
