Chapter 40

Lucy.

The moment Luna Dowager entered the courtyard where I was reading, my heart dropped into my stomach like a stone. She moved like she owned the very air, the hem of her crimson robes sweeping across the marble floor. Her face was as hard and ageless as ever, sculpted like that of a man, but I wouldn't be the one to say the almighty Luna Dowager was handsome. She had the kind of face that never forgot a grudge.

“Lady Lucy,” she said, her voice smooth, syrupy—too sweet to be sincere. “We need to talk.”

I closed the book, spine snapping sharply. I didn’t rise. Not at first.

“With respect, Your Grace, I was enjoying the quiet.”

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “That won’t be an option for much longer, dear.”

I stood slowly, spine straight, chin high. “Then by all means, speak.”

We walked along the path, though it felt less like a stroll and more like a chess match. She paused under the shadow of the willow tree near the fountain, fingers brushing a blossom as if it were some long-lost secret.

“You’ve caused quite the stir,” she said.

“Have I?” I said lightly.

She turned, those eyes of hers sharp now, like knives. “The king is not a man easily swayed, but you…you’ve changed him. That makes you dangerous.”

I kept my expression still, but my heart beat faster. I knew better than to believe her words were compliments. They were warnings wrapped in silk.

“You want me gone,” I said quietly.

“I want what’s best for this kingdom,” she corrected. “And you, for all your charms, are an interloper. You weren’t bred for this world, and sooner or later, you’ll break something you can’t fix.”

My fingers curled into fists at my sides. “If the king sees something in me, who are you to say otherwise?”

She ignored that. “I’m offering you a chance to leave with dignity. With power.” She pulled something from the folds of her sleeve—a parchment sealed with her crest. “A decree naming you High Minister of the Outer Provinces. You’ll hold sway. Influence. Respect. And a thousand dollars to start your new life.”

I stared at the offer. A thousand dollars? A title? My mind reeled—not because I was tempted, but because she truly believed I’d accept it.

“I belong here,” I said finally. “With him.”

Her eyes flashed. “You don’t understand what you’ve put into motion. The moment you refused this offer, I stopped being your adversary. I became your executioner.”

A shiver ran down my spine, but I didn’t show it. “Then you’ll find I’m not so easily killed.”

She stepped closer, so close I could smell the faintest trace of lavender and iron. “I don’t need to kill you. Just...unmake you. Piece by piece.”

With that, she turned and disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.

I stood there for a long time after she left, the weight of her threat pressing against my ribs like stone. My pride kept me upright, but my stomach churned.

I retreated to my chambers in silence, the cool air brushing against my skin as I shut the door behind me. I leaned against it, eyes closed, trying to breathe past the tremble in my chest.

It wasn’t until I went to change that I noticed something strange.

A glint beneath the folds of my cloak. At first, I thought it was a brooch I’d misplaced, but as I pulled it free, my breath caught.

A wolf-shaped amulet. Silver, aged, with eyes carved from obsidian. It radiated something…ancient. Cold.

I didn’t remember packing it. Had someone planted it?

Panic prickled my spine.

I snatched my communicator crystal from the dresser and activated it. “Elizabeth. I need you. Now.”

Within minutes, she arrived, breathless but sharp-eyed. Her gaze fell on the amulet in my hand, and her face paled.

“Where did you get that?” she whispered.

“I found it hidden in my cloak.”

She took it gingerly, examining the etchings with furrowed brows. “This is a symbol of the Lupin Ascendants—the ancient wolves. They haven’t been seen or heard from in over a century.”

“What do they want with me?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice was tight. “But this is a signal. A message.”

“But from who?”

She met my gaze. “We need to be very careful from now on.”

That night, we moved like shadows.

Elizabeth and I had gone over the plan again and again. If the Luna Dowager had forged the contract that bound the king—and possibly me—we needed it. Proof. Power. Insurance.

We slipped past the guards and through the hidden servants' corridors that wound behind the throne room. I held my breath as we neared her quarters. My fingers trembled, but I kept my grip firm on the small lockpick set Elizabeth had smuggled from the library.

Her room was a cavern of darkness, filled with the scent of dried herbs and something more bitter—resentment, maybe. It took us nearly two hours of silent searching to find the safe behind a portrait of King Ellison's great-grandfather.

Elizabeth worked the lock. I watched the door, nerves fraying with every tick of the clock.

Finally, a soft click. The safe swung open.

Inside, the contract lay rolled in a silk sheath. I snatched it up, hands barely steady enough to hide it in my cloak.

We were seconds from the door when we froze.

Footsteps. Heavy. Measured.

The Luna Dowager.

I grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her behind the tall armoire, barely breathing. My heart hammered so loudly I was sure she could hear it.

Then her voice.

“You understand what must be done, don’t you?” she said. She was speaking to someone.

Another voice—feminine, hesitant. “Yes, mother.”

Aurora.

I risked a peek.

The Luna Dowager paced slowly, like a general preparing her soldier. “Tonight. You must make the king see you as his salvation. Seduce him. Conceive. It is the only way to help secure our place.”

“But—what about Lucy?”

“She’s nothing. A passing storm. Once you’re pregnant, she will fade.”

My throat closed. The contract in my cloak burned like fire.

Aurora murmured something I couldn’t hear, but her voice held uncertainty. Doubt.

“Do not fail me,” the Luna Dowager said, and then she was gone, robes swishing as she disappeared into the corridor.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t.

The world had shifted under my feet. I wasn’t just fighting for love anymore. I was fighting to survive.

Elizabeth reached for my hand, her grip grounding me.

“We have to get out of here,” she whispered.

I nodded, still numb.