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“My brother can give you nothing now: no position, no crown, he can’t even secure your safety.” She speaks in that soothing voice, the one that misled me into thinking she was kind and good. “Release the dagger and give me the crown. I’ll let you leave—you and your friends, as long as you don’t return.”

As long as I let them kill the prince. Dian is edging slowly toward me, her face pale, Ruilin by her side. Too many guards are between us, crowded around the dais. I need to find a way through them. Despite everything… the princess’s offer tempts me. I owe Prince Zixin nothing—except he’s no longer just the prince but the boy with the handkerchief. But I can’t trust the princess. Even if she lets us go, she will bring her army to our realm and destroy it. It’s why they’ve been strengthening their weapons, claiming the power of the starfire.

Light flickers from the candles, unsettling me with their shifting shadows, my skin crawling beneath the weight of everyone’s gaze. No one speaks—nobles, attendants, soldiers—waiting to see how the scales tip. But more footsteps thud outside, urgent and frantic. As General Xilu tenses, reaching for his sword—I don’t dare take my eyes off the crown.

“The girl is bluffing,” the general says to Princess Chunlei with a scornful look at me. “Her hand is shaking; she’s tiring. Let me end this.”

My body flinches, recalling the brutality of his blows. “Try anything, General, and we’ll find out if this starfire can be split into two again.” Somehow, my voice emerges clear, betraying none of my uncertainty. If they know I’m helpless—I’m dead.

“We can’t take the risk,” Princess Chunlei tells him. “She’s already damaged it.”

As I shift away from them—something whizzes through the air, an arrow hurtling toward the crown in my arms. Instinctively I drop it, darting back as another arrow plunges toward me. I curse, diving for the fallen crown—but General Xilu springs forward to snatch it.

My heart plummets as he holds up the crown, studying it. “How can we restore the cut in the starfire?”

“Once we reunite more of the pieces, it won’t matter.” Princess Chunlei’s eyes narrow at me. “You are a greater nuisance than expected. If only Lady Daiyu hadn’t eaten the sugared fruit. I was assured the poison was fatal.”

“You tried to kill me?” Fortunately she doesn’t know how I saved Daiyu.

“I guessed who you were. The flowers in your courtyard, the mark on your finger that I saw after you fought General Xilu. If you’d sided with Zixin, your support would have strengthened him.”

Prince Zixin’s eyes are closed, his body still. The Sun Dragon lies unmoving in his grasp, its blood glittering darkly as it continues to spill forth. With every moment, more of General Xilu’s soldiers are pouring into the hall. Time is running out.

The princess’s voice hardens. “I’ll make this offer only once: Join me, and you will have a place in my court—safe and honored.”

“My neck beneath your foot?”

“Better than parted from your head,” she replies icily. “Think carefully. For a nobody, you’ve collected quite a few enemies.” It’s no idle threat, her eyes flicking to General Xilu’s.

He raises the crown in his hand. “We don’t need her. It would give me great pleasure to execute her—my first order as king.”

“King consort,” Princess Chunlei reminds him, a little too quickly.

“Of course.” He smiles, yet his gaze is cool. “Let the coronation proceed.” A deliberate move to show that the princess has the crown with his permission. And I wonder what happens should he revoke it.

I force myself to breathe slowly. The prince lies on the floor, fading fast. The poison is stealing his life, along with the dragon’s. I must stop this, I must break the curse—my insides knotting at the thought.

Right now, like it or not, my survival is bound to the prince I despise. And we’re losing.

General Xilu lifts the crown, Princess Chunlei’s expression radiant with triumph. All eyes are upon her, even those of the guards around me. There is just one chance; it must count.

As Princess Chunlei bends her neck, General Xilu lowers the crown onto her head. The soldiers around us bow low. With all attention diverted, I drop down beside Prince Zixin, cupping his face between my palms. He opens his eyes, blinking as though startled.

Then I bring my face to his… and I kiss the Prince of the Iron Mountains.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

A kiss from a flower spirit can cure any poison.

Prince Zixin’s lips are firm and cool, he tastes of mint and tea, his skin warming beneath my touch. Is it working? I fight the impulse to break away, shoving aside fear, anger, resentment. One of his arms slides around my waist, holding me to him—and then, he’s kissing me back. As his breath slips into my mouth, the intimacy jars, though he knows how to kiss and how to do it well. Heat sparks, shame flooding me to feel this flicker of desire. But I can’t stop. If I save the prince, if I break this curse, ending his bond with the dragon… it just might save us all.

Fingers dig into my shoulder as a soldier yanks me away, more surrounding the prince. My face burns as I wipe my mouth with my hand. The dragon remains unmoving, but his bleeding has slowed, the color returning to the prince’s face.

“What did you do?” The crown glints on the princess’s head, the starfire almost blinding. “How did you stop the poison?”

When I don’t reply, Princess Chunlei points at me, her lacquered nail gleaming. “Kill her.”

Terror locks my limbs. One soldier restrains me, the other raising a sword to my neck, the metal cold and unyielding. Dian is pushing her way to me, but a soldier shoves her back roughly; there are too many guards around the dais. Ruilin pulls her arm, tugging her away—