Chapter
One
“Total chaos,” Jax said, his expression grim as he jogged toward us. The wind carried smoke and the tang of something scorched, but his voice was what chilled me. Not the battlefield growl, but the quiet tension of someone barely holding the storm back.
My stomach dropped. “How did she die?”
Before he could answer, Major Ledor gave us a hard stare, his crimson cloak fluttering behind him like a warning flare. “Do not leave the grounds,” he ordered without stopping, eyes as sharp as steel. He veered sharply when he caught sight of a guard detaining a member of Crownwatch. Even the crown’s most loyal were being questioned? He barked something I couldn’t catch and disappeared into the chaos.
Jax exhaled hard. “Theron and Lady Belana had dinner tonight. Something formal. A private meeting to finalize their wedding preparations. Just the two of them.”
That didn’t explain her death.
“A court courier summoned him,” Jax went on. “An urgent meeting with someone from Moustal. He left her alone for maybe twenty minutes. And when he got back…”
He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.
“She was dead,” I whispered.
He nodded once. “Knife to the back. Pierced her heart. Quick and clean. No signs of struggle. It’s unlikely she even saw her attacker.”
I looked toward the castle, where servants and guards scrambled like ants around a collapsing hive.“Sounds like a professional.”
“Yeah.” His eyes darkened. “This is going to be bad. Real bad.”
People were shouting. Dragon shadows swept across the walls as wings passed overhead with riders scouring the skies, no doubt, searching for a ghost with blood on their hands. Tension crackled like storm energy through the courtyard, and even Kaelith shifted restlessly behind me, her tail twitching in a slow, serpentine arc.
“This wasn’t just murder,” I whispered to no one in particular. “This was a message.”
Jax didn’t argue. He didn’t have to.
The kingdom was fracturing, and we had just witnessed the first cut.
A low horn blared. Not the usual rally or warning cry. This one was different. Ominous. Final.
Kaelith’s head snapped up at the sound, wings flaring slightly behind her. Across the Ascension Grounds, every conversation died, as if the very air had been cut in half.
Then Theron stormed onto the high stone balcony overlooking us, crimson cloak billowing behind him like he meant to step into battle rather than deliver a speech. Beside him, Major Kaler moved with stiff precision, lean fingers brushing the prince regent’s arm before leaning in close to whisper something against his ear.
Theron’s chin lifted a fraction.
And then his voice boomed over the crowd with a power that didn’t belong to him.
“My bride wasmurdered!”
The words cracked through the open courtyard, reverberating off the tower walls. A few riders flinched. Kaelith gave a low, rumbling hiss beside me.
He doesn’t have magic like that, I realized. But of course… Kaler did. The major was a Soundcaster, or his shadow blade magic created something close to it. Whatever spell he cast, it made Theron’s fury sound as if he were standing right in front of each of us.
“Lady Belana,” Theron continued, “was more than a noble. She was a symbol of unity between our kingdoms. Her death is not just a tragedy, it is an act of war against the crown, and I will see it avenged.”
He gripped the balcony railing like he meant to snap it. “The perpetrators will be found. Tried. Executed. Anyone aiding them will share their fate.”
His voice cracked slightly. Real grief? Or the performance of a lifetime?
Theron drew a breath, steadied. “This betrayal will not go unanswered. Let all hear me now… Warriath does not forgive treason.”
The crowd was silent. Even the dragons seemed to listen.
