And somewhere in the darkness between sleeping and waking, a treacherous voice in the back of his mind whispers the truth he's not ready to face:
He's gone, and he's taken part of you with him.
Chapter 7
Six days pass.
Bellamy counts them like a man counting coins, each one measured and weighed and found wanting. Six days since the dungeons rang with the clash of steel and the shouts of dying men. Six days since he woke to find his world turned inside out and his heart carved from his chest.
Six days, and he hasn't slept properly once.
He sits at the massive oak table in the council chamber, surrounded by maps and reports and the worried faces of his mother's advisors. Lord Geoff is speaking—something about grain shipments and trade routes—but the words wash over Bellamy like water over stone. His attention keeps drifting to the large map spread across the table's center, to the carefully drawn borders between kingdoms, to the thick black line that separates Mirn from Everitt.
Somewhere beyond that line, Ivah rides free.
The thought should bring relief. Should make him feel safer, more secure in his own kingdom. Instead, it sits in his chest like a stone, heavy and cold and impossible to ignore.
"Your Highness?"
Bellamy blinks, focusing on the expectant faces around him. Lord Geoff has stopped speaking and is waiting for some kind of response. Queen Amelli watches her son with barely concealed concern.
"I'm sorry," Bellamy says, straightening in his chair. "Could you repeat that?"
"The Northern Kingdom," Geoff says patiently. "King Kent has been moving troops toward our border. Our scouts report at least three thousand men camped at Ironhold Pass."
Bellamy forces himself to focus on the northern section of the map, where red pins mark enemy positions. It's a significant force—not enough to invade, but more than enough to cause serious problems if they decide to cross the border.
"What do they want?" he asks.
"Hard to say," General Harwick interjects. "Could be posturing, could be preparation for something more serious. Kent's been making noise about our trade agreements with the Eastern Duchies. Claims we're undercutting his merchants."
"Are we?"
"We're offering better prices for better goods," Lord Vance says with a slight smile. "If that's undercutting, then guilty as charged."
Queen Amelli leans forward. "The question is whether Kent is desperate enough to risk war over trade disputes."
"He might be," Harwick says grimly. "His kingdom's been struggling since the harvest failures two years back. His people are hungry, his treasury's empty, and hungry people make desperate kings."
Bellamy nods, trying to engage with the political realities being laid out before him. This is important. This affects his people, his kingdom, his future. He should be focused entirely on the threat from the North, on finding ways to defuse the situation before it escalates into open conflict.
Instead, his eyes keep drifting back to the eastern border, to the carefully marked boundary between his world and Ivah's.
"What about Everitt?" he asks suddenly. "Any word from the Barbarian King?"
The question draws sharp looks from around the table. It's been six days since the escape, and this is the first time Bellamy has asked directly about their former prisoner.
"Nothing," Harwick says, his gray eyes studying Bellamy's face. "They've gone completely quiet. No raids, no troop movements, no attempts to press their advantage. It's... unusual."
"Unusual how?"
"The Barbarian King isn't known for defensive strategies. Usually, after a victory like breaking out of enemy captivity, he'd follow up with immediate action. Strike while his enemies are reeling, capitalize on the psychological impact." Harwick shrugs. "Instead, they've pulled back across the border and gone silent."
Lord Geoff nods agreement. "Our scouts report minimal activity along the eastern frontier. Almost like they're avoiding contact entirely."
Bellamy tries to process this information objectively, but his heart is doing complicated things in his chest. Ivah is alive and free—that much is clear. But why the silence? Why the withdrawal? Is he injured? Planning something? Or is there another reason entirely for his retreat?
"Perhaps the escape took more out of them than we thought," Queen Amelli suggests.
