The chains scraped again, iron biting into skin. He didn’t look back, not at me, not at Elara, not at the grounds he had once ruled from a dragon’s saddle. He held his head high, but there was a heaviness in his steps, and I knew the Dragonsbane still burned in his blood.
Elara sobbed quietly into my chest, her slender fingers fisting the fabric of my coat as Zander was led back toward the castle.
Then a shadow fell beside me.
Remy.
His voice was gentle, softer than I’d ever heard it. “Honey,” he said, holding a hand out to the trembling girl. “Let me escort you to your room.”
Elara sniffed, looked up at him with tear-streaked cheeks and puffy eyes. “Okay, Remand.”
Remand.
The way she said it, familiar and without fear, made me blink.
“You know him?” I asked quietly.
Elara looked up at me, her lavender eyes still wet but bright with quiet trust. “Of course. I’ve known him my whole life.”
I nodded, my heart thudding.There’s more I don’t know about Remy than what I do.
He met my gaze and held it, no smirk, no sass, just that steady, soldier’s promise. “I’ll keep her safe.”
I nodded again. “See that you do.”
And with that, Remy took Elara’s hand in his gloved one, and together, they disappeared through the castle doors, leaving the rest of us to face a kingdom teetering on the edge of truth, betrayal… and war.
We quietly returned to our barracks as chatter echoed around us.
The squad was quiet at first, shell-shocked quiet, like the air had been sucked out and replaced with confusion, rage, and sorrow.
We sat in a rough circle, scattered across bunks and crates, our squad too alert to sleep but too worn to keep pretending we hadn’t just watched an innocent prince accused of treason.
Riven leaned forward, hands resting on her knees. “Where the hell would Theron even get something like that? A vial like that doesn’t just appear out of nowhere.”
“Unless he had help,” Naia murmured, frowning. “And if he did, then who in the guilds is feeding him information?”
Ferrula snorted from where she was sitting on her trunk, arms crossed. “Please. If Zander wanted to poison the king, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to keep the godsdamned vial in his room.”
“I agree,” I said, folding my arms. “It’s too neat. Too perfect. Planted just well enough to be found and just damning enough to force a decision.”
Cordelle spoke up quietly. “So… someone’s framing him?”
Tae sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah. And whoever it is knows exactly how to stir the court into war.”
The room went still after that, each of us lost in thought. Warborn had spoken up for Zander. Elara had cried in my arms. And yet… he was still in chains.
Eventually, one by one, we climbed into our bunks, exhaustion dragging us under. But I waited until the last whisper faded and the room went still with sleep.
Then I slipped out.
Boots silent on the stone floor, I eased into the hallway and made for the narrow passage I’d found a while ago. A secret that now felt like a lifeline. It wound behind the outer wall, dark and cramped, but it let out behind one of the secondary hallways near the royal chambers.
I expected a guard outside Zander’s door.
There wasn’t one.
I hesitated, heart thudding, and pressed my palm to the handle. The door creaked open beneath my touch.
