The guilt sharpened until it was almost dizzying.
On the surface, after breakfast unfolded like any other. She walked through the frozen gardens with Jakob as the morning mist burned away and listened while he spoke to one of the guards about patrol rotations. She made sure to nod at the right moments even though his words barely penetrated her guilt. And fear. She was afraid of what waited for her in a few hours, even though she was just as nervously excited at the chance to see her sister again.
She laughed when he teased her about her nose turning red in the cold as he threw a snowball at her. Anyone watching would have seen a woman at ease, but inside, she was splintering.
Every spare breath carried the echo of her sister’s name.
Meg.
Mallory’s fingers itched all morning for her phone to vibrate. Her hand was drawn again and again to the pocket thatheld it, and every time Jakob was distracted and not watching her, she slipped the phone out and stared at the screen.
Finally she had a text from the unknown number.
She read the messages until the words felt carved behind her eyes.
Come alone.
Bring anyone and she dies.
The pin was in the same place as the previous text. Her thumb hovered over the screen, scrolling back to the first message, then forward again, as if repetition might reveal a loophole she’d missed. There was none. The threat was clean and merciless with terrifying precision.
She slid the phone away when Jakob looked back at her and forced her hands to still. He watched her closely today, closer than usual. Not suspicious, exactly, but protective. As if he sensed something brittle in her and was bracing himself against it.
That made it worse.
By midday, the castle felt too small. Stone corridors pressed in, every turn a reminder that she was being observed, escorted and protected. Jakob insisted on accompanying her even to the library and settled across from her with a ledger while she pretended to read. She read and reread the same paragraph until the ink blurred.
How was she supposed to leave again?
She’d already pushed her luck once. Slipped away with a lie and returned with Jakob asking more questions than she gave answers to. Jakob hadn’t pushed her too hard then, but thesilence afterward had been heavy with things unsaid. Today, he barely let her out of his sight.
Panic coiled tighter with every hour.
The early evening bells rang, sharp and commanding. Jakob stiffened as a runner rushed into the library at a sprint. The boy had a pale face and was out of breath.
“King Jakob,” the boy said as he bowed low. “King Sven requests your presence. Immediately. War council chamber. It’s the Ruecrags.”
Jakob’s jaw set. He glanced at Mallory as concern flared in his eyes. “I need to go. Will you be all right?”
The lie rose easily to her lips. Too easily. “Of course. I’ll be here.”
“Bryn has returned back to Stagholt, but I can send someone to keep you company if you prefer.”
She waved her book. “I’m fine, Jakob. Go to your meeting. I’ll be right here.”
Her mouth was suddenly full of sawdust as another lie tumbled out.
He hesitated.
He knows! Just tell him.Mallory remained quiet despite the orders that came from her brain.
His thumb brushed against her knuckles, as if he committed the feel of her to memory. Then duty won, as it always did. He turned and strode after the runner, boots striking stone, already gone.
The moment he disappeared down the corridor, the world tilted.
This was it. Her phone almost immediately dinged a new text.
Mallory sat frozen for a heartbeat while she listened to the echo of Jakob’s footsteps fade. Guilt surged hot and sharp. She hated what she was about to do. Hated the deception. Hated that she was walking away from the one person who would tear the world apart to keep her safe.
