เข้าสู่ระบบDarius's POVLucian came to my cell three days before the execution.I had expected him sooner. Or later. Or not at all. But he came, alone, his boots heavy on the stone floor. The guards stepped aside for him. The torchlight flickered across his face, making him look older, harder. His gold eyes were cold when they looked at me. His jaw was tight. He spoke of justice. Of public execution. Of letting the people see me fall.I sat on the stone bench and listened. Let him speak. Let him feel powerful. He was a fool, but he was a fool with an army and a throne. For now.I was quiet for a long moment. "I have one request," I said finally. "One last thing. As old friends.""We were never friends.""As former allies, then. As men who once shared a table and a glass of wine." He looked at me. "Let my mother see me. Before the execution. She is old. She is not well. She deserves to say goodbye."He studied my face. Looked for the lie, the manipulation, the hidden dagger behind his words.He
Elara's POVThe square erupted into chaos.Lucian's voice cut through the screams like a blade. "Seal the gates! No one leaves! I want every soldier searching every corner of this kingdom. Darius cannot have gone far."Guards scrambled in every direction. The crowd pressed against the walls, panicked, desperate to escape. Mothers clutched their children. Old men wept. The executioner stood frozen on the scaffold, the silver axe still dripping with Luna Seraphine's blood.But I did not move.I stood on the balcony, my hands gripping the railing, my eyes fixed on the corpse below. The whispers had faded. The shadow had dissolved. But the wrongness remained, pressing against my chest like a stone."Elara." Lucian's hand found my arm. "Come inside. It is not safe—""He is already gone." My voice was quiet, hollow. "You will not find him. Not here.""You do not know that.""I know." I finally looked at him. His gold eyes were wild, desperate. "He planned this. The execution. The crowd. He
Elara's POVThe day of the execution dawned grey and cold.I had not slept well. The dreams came again, and again the same ones that had plagued me since the day Luna Seraphine had entered these walls. Chaos. Fire. Screams. Darkness swallowing everything I loved. I woke with my heart pounding and my sheets tangled around my legs, gasping for air. The images slipped away like water through a basket, leaving only a residue of dread.Lucian was already gone. He had left before dawn to oversee the preparations. I could still feel the warmth of his side of the bed, but he had been up for hours. I dressed slowly, my hands trembling, a weight pressing on my chest that I could not name.Something was wrong.I felt it in my bones. In the back of my throat. In the way the morning light seemed too pale, too thin, as if the sun itself was holding its breath. The air was heavy, thick with an unseen pressure that made my ears pop and my skin prickle.But I could not say what.I walked to the window
Lucian's POVThe gates loomed before me, iron and oak, still scarred from the siege. The morning light caught the fresh scratches, the darkened stains that no amount of scrubbing could remove. Blood had a way of leaving marks.Luna Seraphine stood alone on the other side.She was smaller than I remembered. Age had stooped her shoulders and thinned her silver hair. Her gown was plain, her hands clasped before her, her face veiled in black lace, barely visible. She looked like a widow attending a funeral.Perhaps she was."Lucian," she said when I approached. Her voice was soft, worn smooth by years of grief. "Thank you for seeing me.""Your son is in the dungeons," I said. "You have one hour.""I do not need an hour. I just need to look at him. To tell him..." She paused. Her hands trembled. "To tell him that I still love him. Even after everything."I studied her face. The wrinkles around her eyes. The tremor in her lip. She was not pretending. She was a mother saying goodbye to the m
Elara's POVI woke to sunlight streaming through the curtains.For a moment, I did not know where I was. The ceiling was different. The walls were different. The smell of smoke and old stone was unfamiliar. Then the memories of the previous day came flooding back. The battle. The infirmary. The kiss.I pressed my fingers to my lips and smiled.I had not slept like this in a long time. I could tell. My body felt rested, my mind clear, the exhaustion that had clung to me for days finally loosening its grip. I stretched beneath the blankets, feeling the ache in my muscles, the pull of healing wounds that were not my own.A soft knock at the door."Come in," I said.A young maid entered, carrying a tray. She set it on the table by the window—bread, cheese, a bowl of porridge, a pot of tea—and hurried out without a word. I ate slowly, savoring each bite. The food was simple but good. Warm. Comforting.When I finished, I washed my face in the basin, braided my hair, and walked down to the i
Lucian's POVI walked her to her door and did not want to let her go.The corridor was quiet. The torches had burned low, casting long shadows across the stone floor. Elara stood in the doorway, her white hair tangled, her silver eyes heavy with exhaustion. She looked small. Fragile. Nothing like the woman who had walked out of the gates and turned the tide of battle.But she was alive. She was here. And for that, I was grateful."Rest," I said.She nodded. Did not move.I hesitated. Every part of me wanted to step inside, to pull her into my arms, to never let her go again. But she needed sleep. Needed time. Needed to heal.I stepped forward anyway.I pulled her into my arms and held her.Her body was warm against mine, softer than I remembered. Her arms came up around my back, tentative at first, then firm. Her face pressed into my chest. Her breath was warm through the fabric of my shirt.I closed my eyes and breathed her in. Not the wild honey and lightning of her scent—that was s
Lucian’s POVI burst through the palace gates with the unconscious girl cradled against my chest. The full moon still hung high, bathing everything in cold silver light. My bare feet slapped against the stone courtyard. Blood from the rogues still coated my skin and matted my hair.The two guards a
Lucian’s POVI burst into Elara’s chambers without knocking, the door banging against the wall hard enough to rattle the hinges.The royal physician was already there, bent over the bed, pressing a cool cloth to her forehead. Elara lay under the covers, cheeks flushed, skin glistening with sweat. S
Elara’s POVI felt hurt and bad that he could get angry like that even after our morning encounter. The teasing, the laughter, the way he had stayed with me through the nightmare — I thought things had changed between us. But the moment I stepped into that room, his anger returned full force, sharp
Elara’s POVThe cage bars dug into my back as I pressed myself against them. The metal was cold and rough, smelling of rust and something sour that made my stomach turn. I wrapped my arms around my knees and tried to breathe slow. My heart hammered so loud I could hear it in my ears.This was worse







