Then a hand yanked Elara back.
She cried out, stumbling, and Zander surged forward with a snarl, but the chains pulled him short.
I turned sharply, my heart hammering.
Inderia.
She gripped the girl’s arm with far too much force, her red nails biting into the soft fabric of Elara’s dress. “That’s enough,” she snapped. “Back to your tutors. You’re embarrassing your house.”
The crowd didn’t go quiet, but the tone changed.
Even through the arguing, through the shouting between guild leaders, I felt the shift. The flash of disgust. Of disapproval. Even from Theron’s own supporters.
Naia muttered a curse beneath her breath. Ferrula’s fists clenched at her sides. Jax looked like he was one wrong word away from intervening.
Elara fought her grip, tears streaking down her cheeks. “Let go of me! Let me stay with Zander!”
Inderia turned, shoving her toward the attendants with barely concealed contempt. “You are not in command here.”
The arguing surged louder. Stormforge captains shouting over Crownwatch, Iron Fang bickering among themselves, Warborn shifting uneasily as tension crackled through the grounds.
No one said it aloud, but the looks said everything.
Even Theron flinched as he realized what had just happened.
Because Inderia hadn’t just mishandled a child.
She’d put her hands on the kingdom’s favorite princess.
The yelling escalated faster than anyone could control.
Iron Fang and Stormforge had been toe-to-toe since Zander was paraded into the grounds, their captains exchanging barbed words like daggers, but when one cadet from Iron Fang shoved a Stormforge lieutenant, it snapped the final thread holding the peace together.
Fists flew.
And suddenly, the Ascension Grounds became a battlefield.
Crownwatch fractured before our eyes, some remaining near Theron, others turning sharply and stepping toward the Stormforge line. Their loyalty had shifted the moment Zander was led out in chains. He was still a prince. Still the king’s son. A Crownwatch member, despite what the major had said. And Theron had made that mistake public.
But amidst the chaos, Elara screamed again.
I turned fast, heart dropping.
Inderia had pulled her aside once more, her fingers digging into the young girl’s arm, dragging her back toward the castle like she was nothing more than a disobedient servant. Elara was sobbing now, twisting in her grip, trying to wrench free.
And then?—
He appeared.
Siergen stepped from the shadows like flame taking form, his red scales shimmering despite the fading light, the courtyard torch-glow reflecting across his skin like molten gold. The crowd hadn’t noticed him at first. Not until hegrowled.
It was low, primal, and lethal.
Everyone near them froze.
Inderia turned, her expression tightening, before faltering when she saw him.
Siergen took one step closer.
