Rage burst through me, and I lifted my bloodied sword, unthinking about what I’d do next—and what the consequences might be.
Fletcher came running, breathless, armor stained with ash and gore.
“Your Highness!” he panted. “The king— He’s dead!”
The world tilted. My sword hand fell limp.
“What?” I uttered.
“Your father,” Fletcher said between breaths. “Burned to ash. They say it was… furyfire.”
He glanced between us uncertainly. But I barely noticed. The word itself froze me.Furyfire. Aurelia’s magic.
“She wouldn’t—” I started, but the truth turned the words bitter in my mouth.
She would.
She’d already burned me. The other night in the library. Her control had slipped past her temper.
“She killed him,” I whispered in disbelief.
Rydian’s voice came low. “You don’t know that.”
My gaze snapped to his as my blood began to heat. “I know she had motive. And I know you didn’t stop her.”
“She wanted to survive,” he said quietly. “Duron made that impossible.”
“Your Highness,” Fletcher said again.
“What is it?” I snapped.
“Advisor Koraz was also found dead. Run through the heart with a blade.”
Again, a darting glance toward Rydian.
My half-brother’s expression never flickered away from the calm stoicism of relief. And I knew then he’d been the one to do it. Not just because they’d hated one another but because it was Rydian’s kill to make.
Still, after everything else he’d done tonight, I couldn’t allow it.
“You don’t deny it,” I said.
“I don’t.”
Something inside me snapped. “Guards,” I said, my voice gone sharp and cold. “Take him away.”
Rydian didn’t even flinch as they circled him. “You’ll regret this, Callan.”
“There are many things I may live to regret. Locking you up is not one of them.”
“Your guards and chains won’t hold me if I decide to go.”
“You’re right. Although, I could persuade you to stay without any of this.”
His gaze flicked to my hand. He knew what I meant evenif the rest of the court didn’t. His frown told me he would keep my secret a little longer, though I dared him to try to use it againstme now. His crimes were far worse than my own.
“Take him to the dungeon. I have a crown to claim and dead to bury.”
When they were gone, I walked to the garden where my father’s remains lay strewn about from the breeze. Ashes and bone, that was all that remained of the former Autumn king.
