เข้าสู่ระบบFENRIC'S POVThe other option. Of course, we knew.The thought had crossed my mind more times than I cared to admit. I knew Brammon and Rhydan had considered it too. It was the only way to keep Anwen from being handed over to another house. Not for another season or two, but permanently.And yet, none of us had dared suggest it.Not because we didn't want her. I wanted her to stay with every fiber of my being.But wanting her and making it happen were two very different things.It had never been done before. For a Scion, let alone a king, to claim a human as his own and place her above the breeders would be more than a personal choice. It would challenge the very hierarchy upon which our kingdoms had been built.Anwen would no longer be just another human breeder. She would hold a position above most Scions, even nobles. And the old bloodlines would never accept that quietly. They would see it as an insult to their heritage, a violation of the laws that had governed us for generations
FENRIC'S POVThe next hour was spent trying to figure out what Anwen truly was.We had several theories, though none of us had managed to settle on one that made complete sense.I suspected she might have descended from a bloodline blessed by the Radiants. It would explain certain things, particularly her apparent immunity to harm. Rhydan, however, thought she might be part Scion, which was an equally intriguing possibility, if not a somewhat unsettling one.Brammon, on the other hand, had come up with so many theories that we'd eventually stopped entertaining them altogether. Most were so absurd that I couldn't decide whether he genuinely believed them or was simply trying to get a rise out of us.The discussion had grown increasingly heated, with Rhydan challenging my reasoning at every turn and Brammon becoming more insufferable with each new theory he proposed.We were practically at each other's throats when the tent flap stirred.Corbin stepped inside, then stopped short when he
RHYDAN'S POVI told Brammon and Fenric to meet me at the camp. Whatever we needed to discuss, it wasn't something I wanted anyone else overhearing.I arrived first. Brammon and Fenric had opted to make the journey in their beast forms, taking a run to burn off some of the anger they'd been carrying since we left Opal City.Not that I could blame them. I was hardly in a better mood myself.As soon as my dragon touched down on the plateau, I shifted back and made my way toward our tent, intending to wait for them inside.The camp was relatively quiet at this hour. Most of the Scions were either at the training grounds or in the coliseum. Only a handful moved between the tents, while the occasional guard patrolled the perimeter.I hadn't gone very far when I sensed them approaching.The ground trembled beneath my feet, followed by the rapid pounding of paws and the unmistakable sound of something enormous tearing across the earth.I barely had time to turn.Fenric and Brammon came barrel
BRAMMON'S POVAnwen had been asleep even before we were airborne on Rhydan's back.She had barely stirred during the journey, despite the roughness of the flight. Rhydan had carried us at an incredible speed, yet she seemed scarcely aware of it. Even now, as we bathed her, she remained mostly unconscious.Every so often, she would let out a small whimper when our hands brushed against a particularly tender patch of skin or one of her more sensitive places, but that was the extent of her reaction.Her head would simply roll to one side, her body slumping against whoever was holding her, before she drifted off again.It was clear how much the night had taken out of her. At last, her body seemed to have given in completely.None of us said much as we washed her. We worked quietly, careful with every touch, taking our time whenever she let out a faint, pained sound or shifted uncomfortably.When we were finally done bathing and drying her, and had settled her into bed, we found ourselves
RHYDAN'S POVGadreel was practically drooling as he lined himself up at Anwen's entrance.He arched back—all the way back,so the drive would come from his whole spine, so it would be brutal, so it would hurt.So it would hurt us too. That was the point of it.He railed.I waited for Anwen to scream in pain.The scream came. But it didn't come from her.It came from Gadreel.Something caught him. Something that was not her body, something invisible and flat and hard, and it slammed into the head of his cock like a shield wall and threw him back onto his heels. He howled, both hands cupping his hurt flesh, bent double.Anwen's eyes flew open. She craned her head around, bewildered."Who's doing that?" Gadreel demanded, spinning. "Who?"Nobody answered. Nobody knew.His head snapped to us and his finger came up like a blade. "This is your doing," he spat. "Isn't it? Still cheating it, even now—""It wasn't us, you idiot." Brammon said, stepping forward.Gadreel rounded on the High King,
RHYDAN'S POVThe moment we sensed Gadreel approaching, Brammon and I were already on our feet. We barely managed half a step before someone blocked our path.The High King.He raised one hand, his expression perfectly composed.“Don’t,” he ordered.Brammon and I stopped only for a moment. But just as I was about to step around him and continue forward, he shook his head.“You’ve had your moment. Let them have theirs.”My aura broke loose. So did Brammon's—both of us at once, heat and weight flooding the aisle, rattling the empty cups on the tables, making the nearest Scions shift where they stood. Even Gadreel paused from dragging Anwen.The High King, however, didn't so much as flinch.He remained perfectly still, his raised hand the only thing standing between us and the man hurting Anwen.I had always been curious about the true extent of his power. In all the time I'd known him, I'd never once seen him unleash it. Not even a fraction of it.I knew it was there. I could sense it, l
ANWEN’S POVArlo was already moving around the room, grabbing things—my thick scarf, the small pouch of medicinal herbs for my fever and cough, an extra pair of socks. He stuffed them into a rough sack with hurried hands.“Where are we going?” I asked, pushing the blankets aside and climbing to my
ANWEN'S POVTwenty years later.Monsters rule the world now.They don’t hide in shadows or lurk beneath beds. They sit in councils. They wear crowns. They walk our roads in broad daylight as if the world belongs to them.Because it does.They call themselves the Scions—magic wielders, shifters, and
It hurt.A sharp, tearing brilliance bloomed beneath Azara’s skin as though her own light had turned against her.Radiants like her were not meant to bleed, nor to know agony such as this. Pain belonged to mortal flesh, to bone and blood and fragile breath. Not to beings wrought from pure illuminat
ANWEN'S POV“What do we have hiding in here?”His eyes pinned me as if he could peel back my skin and see the truth beneath. Then his hands closed around my shoulders—hard, immovable. Strong. The kind that could crush bone without trying.I kept my head down.I nearly yelped when his grip tightened







