"With very clear escape plans for when things inevitably go wrong," I add.
"When things go wrong," she agrees, a spark of reckless courage in her eyes that reminds me why I fell in love with her in the first place.
Across the room, I notice Elçin watching us with an expression I can't quite decipher—pride mixed with something that might be concern. Yasar has pulled himself to his feet, andhis attention is focused entirely on Elçin rather than on us, his gaze follows her movements with an intensity that has nothing to do with the binding that just broke.
Something has shifted between them. Something I don't yet understand. But for now, it's enough that Nesilhan is free and we have a path forward.
Tomorrow will bring war councils and battle plans, political negotiations and strategic deceptions. But tonight, with her hand still warm in mine and determination replacing grief in her eyes, I allow myself to feel something I'd thought lost forever.
Hope.
CHAPTER 34
TRUTH IN ASHES
Nesilhan
The battlefield stretchesbefore us like a wound torn across the earth itself.
What was once fertile border land, olive groves and vineyards that fed both courts for centuries, is now scorched black by warring magics. Skeletal trees stand crystallized into glass and shadow, their branches frozen in agony. The rivers run thick with something that moves like oil, and massive craters pockmark the landscape where reality itself has torn. Through the rifts, I glimpse fragments of both courts—golden spires and jet-black towers existing in the same impossible space.
"This is what war between the courts truly looks like," Kaan says quietly. "Not border skirmishes. This is shadow and light with genuine intent to destroy."
I can't speak. This wasteland exists because my father declared war on the man I married.
Because of me.
"How long until it heals?"
"The battlefields from three centuries ago are still poisoned. Nothing grows there." His jaw tightens. "Your father chose this ground deliberately, the one place both courts can afford to lose permanently. Tactically brilliant. Morally bankrupt."
Zoran hasn't spoken since we crested the hill, his face pale as bone. This is his first glimpse of what our family's political decisions cost. What he helped enable when he fed information to our father.
I push past the devastation and focus on why we're here: stopping this war. Meeting the sister I believed dead.
The Light Court's command center appears, white silk pavilions gleaming on the only unpoisoned ground for miles. The main tent could house hundreds, golden banners flying proudly above it. They've built a pristine military city in the heart of destruction, protected by wards that must cost a fortune.
The contrast is obscene. All that death, and they've created a palace.
"Nothing says 'peace negotiation' like a fortress on a battlefield," Kaan observes.
"They're showing they can outlast us," I say.
"Probably accurate," Zoran says. He won't look directly at the command center—the place that was once his world.
Light Court guards in gleaming armor emerge to escort us, checking our weapons with open hatred. I submit, though every instinct screams against it. Beside me, Kaan's shadows curl tighter around his boots, hungry and watchful.
I watch him from the corner of my eye, the way his gaze sweeps the soldiers with hunting assessment, the slight curl of his lip that speaks of dark amusement at their fear. The tension in his shoulders. The way his shadows grow more agitated when he's restraining himself.
He's waiting for something. Expecting it.
"Lady Nesilhan," the captain says. "Lord Taren awaits you in the main pavilion. Your companions will be accommodated in the secondary tent."
"No." My voice comes out harder than I intend. "My husband and brother remain with me."
A flicker of surprise. "Of course, my lady. Lord Taren anticipated you might feel more comfortable with a familiar company present."
The implication crawls beneath my skin. They think I need emotional support. The question is whether they're concerned for my wellbeing or planning something that will require it.
