“It's alright,” I murmured, forcing steadiness into my voice. “I’ll be fine.”
His eyes darkened in protest.
“You’re needed for our journey,” I whispered. “Rest tonight. Enjoy what you can. We leave in the morning.”
Gabriel stared at me, breathing hard, as if weighing whether to defy a king for me. I remembered Malachi’s words, “...and it will kill him, Aurelia.”
“Gabriel, please,” I begged. I knew he’d stay and fight whatever bond this was if it meant protecting me. In that moment, I knew he would die for me. And I didn’t know how to feel about that.
In the end, Gabriel bowed his head and stepped back into the crowd.
Kaelith chuckled under his breath, then turned to me, voice full of mockery. “And what makes you think he’s coming with you?”
I inhaled slowly, steadying myself. The court was still watching.
And I had watched him kill a king without blinking. If he'd do that to blood, what would he do to people who had nothing but me to shield them?
If I wanted them alive, I had to make Kaelith believe he’d already won.
I met his eyes—cold, unblinking—and forced a smile I didn’t feel.
I reached for him before he could reach for me, letting my hand rest against his throat, light as a blade’s edge.
“Because I’m to be your queen,” I whispered, each word shaped like surrender, each one forged like a lie he needed to believe.
His mouth crashed against mine before I could finish. Kaelith’s hands rose, sliding into my hair, cradling my face as if I were something precious. I tasted the blood on his lips—the sharp, metallic sting of it—and swallowed the nausea rising in my chest.
When we broke apart, his eyes gleamed, molten with triumph. The court saw only a queen who’d chosen her king. They’d never know the cost.
Let them think I wanted him. Let him think I did. It was the only weapon I had left.
“Come, I have something I want to show you,” Kaelith murmured, voice roughened with hunger.
He took my hand, threading his fingers through mine as he led me down the dais steps.
Malachi stood frozen where I had left him, where I had left everyone, fists clenched so tightly at his sides that the tendons in his forearms stood sharp against his skin.
He knew. I saw it in the muscle that jumped in his jaw—thesame lie we both understood: sometimes survival wears the face of betrayal.
And as Kaelith led me from the hall, I realized something deep and terrible: this was only the beginning.
Kaelith led me to a part of the castle I didn’t recognize—the part Malachi had warned me never to enter.
My stomach knotted as we moved deeper into unfamiliar halls until we reached his chambers. A woman was stretched across his bed. She jumped at the sight of us, attempting to cover herself when she saw me.
“Leave. I won’t be needing you this evening.” Kaelith dismissed the woman. She scurried out of the room.
“Wine?” he asked, pouring himself a glass without waiting for my answer.
“No, thank you,” I said, voice steady despite the way my heart slammed against my ribs. I had no intention of lingering.
Tomorrow, we would leave for Synnex—early, if I had anything to say about it.
“Suit yourself,” Kaelith said with a shrug. “Follow me.”
He moved to an elaborate wardrobe, pushing aside layers of velvet and silk to reveal a hidden door.
It groaned open to reveal a spiral staircase descending into darkness.