He kept pace beside me, his jaw tense. “We’ve been friends a long time, Ashe. I deserve a little more than being ignored.”
“You were the one who said Zander and I shouldn’t be together. That we’re dangerous. You basically accused me of enslaving the dragons.” I turned to him, voice as sharp as flint. “So no, I don’t feel like having a heart-to-heart right now.”
Remy’s eyes narrowed. “You think that’s what I meant? I said it because I care, dammit. Because you don’t realize what your power does when it’s unleashed.”
“I didn’t mean to call the lost horde,” I snapped. “But they came. And maybe that means something.”
“Or maybe it means they’re desperate. Like us.”
The silence between us crackled.
What is going on with Katama’s rider?Kaelith’s voice slipped into my mind like a thread of cold air.
I don’t know,I answered, closing my eyes briefly.He’s… angry.
Kaelith’s presence sharpened.I am coming back.
Kaelith, no, I can handle?—
You shouldn’t have to.
She was already turning in the skies.
And as I opened my eyes again, Remy was staring at me, as if he somehow knew I wasn’t alone in my head anymore.
Neither of us spoke.
But the space between us had never felt farther.
The wind curled around us, the last whispers of Kaelith’s wings still lingering in the night air. Remy’s eyes, sharp and restless, searched mine as if he were looking for a version of me he could still sway.
“Zander has lost credibility with Crownwatch,” Remy said, voice low but edged with fire. “Most of the guild questions his loyalty. Even Cade turned on him.”
I crossed my arms. “So you think I should just walk away?”
He took a step closer. “I think you’re smarter than this. Zander isn’t just a rider, Ashe. He’s a prince. And you—” hiswords caught, like they hurt coming out, “you’re a commoner. No matter how powerful you are, no matter what you’ve done—this realm won’t ever see you as his equal.”
I stared at him, trying to keep the tremble from my voice. “You really don’t know me at all, do you?”
Remy’s jaw flexed, but he pressed on. “You know what the royal council is saying. That he must take a sanctioned bride. It’s not just politics—it’s succession. Bloodlines. Stability.”
I scoffed. “So they want him shackled to someone with a crest on their cloak and a family name carved into castle stone.”
“Exactly,” he said. “That’s how it’s always worked. Marriages are alliances. Not fairy tales.”
My stomach twisted, because I knew he wasn’t wrong. Zander had defied every rule just by choosing me—and the world around us was tightening like a noose.
“The kingdom needs heirs with legitimacy. Ties to noble houses that can secure military strength and economic alliances. That’s not romantic, but it’s how crowns are kept from falling.”
His words were iron bars around my chest.
But I lifted my chin anyway. “Then maybe it’s time someone burned down the damn system.”
He looked at me as if I’d already set the first flame.
Kaelith’s roar split the night, and a streak of violet fire tore across the sky, crackling like lightning before fading into smoke. The force of it made Remy flinch, instinct dragging him back a step as she descended like fury made flesh.
She landed hard, claws digging into the stone of the Ascension Grounds, tail coiling, wings flared wide. Her eyes locked on Remy with pure, ancient rage.
