CHAPTER 6

I ran through the dark halls like a hunted animal. Behind me, I could hear shouting and the sound of boots on stone. Prince Rhett's guards were searching everywhere. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to go.

My mother's locket bounced against my chest as I fled. The metal was warm from my body heat, as if her spirit was trying to comfort me. But comfort felt impossible now. Everything I had believed was a lie.

I ducked into an empty room and pressed my back against the door. My lungs burned from running. My whole body shook with fear and shock. The princes were innocent. Queen Mother Isadora was the real monster.

Heavy footsteps stopped outside my hiding place. I held my breath and prayed to the moon goddess that they would pass by.

"Check every room," Prince Rhett's voice commanded. "She cannot have gone far."

The door handle turned. I scrambled behind a dusty table, but it was too late. Torchlight flooded the room, and Prince Rhett stepped inside alone.

"Come out, Princess Lyra of House Moonspire. We need to talk."

There was no point in hiding anymore. I stood up slowly, my hands raised to show I had no weapons. In the flickering light, Prince Rhett looked different. Less cold. More... troubled.

"Your friend fought bravely," he said quietly. "But my guards overpowered him. He is alive, for now."

Relief flooded through me. Marcus was still breathing. There was still hope.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

"The truth. All of it." He stepped closer, but not in a threatening way. "How long have you known who you are?"

"All my life. Marcus and other loyal servants raised me in hiding."

"And you came here for revenge."

It was not a question. I nodded anyway.

Prince Rhett was quiet for a long moment. "Against my brothers and me."

"Yes. But I was wrong." The words tasted bitter. "Marcus told me what really happened that night. You were away at war."

"We were. Fighting bandits on the northern border while our mother..." He stopped, his jaw clenching. "While our mother committed murder in our name."

The pain in his voice surprised me. This was not the cold, calculating prince I had met before. This was a man discovering that his family was built on blood and lies.

"You did not know," I said softly.

"No. But I should have. All the signs were there." His hands formed fists. "The timing of our mission. The way she insisted we take half the royal guard with us. The speed with which she consolidated power after your family's death."

"She used you."

"She used all of us." His green eyes met mine, and I saw fury burning there. "My brothers and I have spent years believing we were the rightful heirs. That your family had been traitors who needed to be stopped."

"And now?"

"Now I know that we are the children of a murderer. That everything we have was stolen from you." He moved closer, and I could see the torment on his face. "Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

I wanted to hate him. Part of me still did. But looking at his broken expression, I felt something else. Something that scared me more than hatred.

"What happens now?" I whispered.

"That depends on what you want, Princess."

The title sounded strange coming from his lips. For so long, I had dreamed of hearing it spoken with respect instead of hidden like a curse.

"I want justice for my family."

"And what does justice look like to you?" His voice was deadly quiet. "My mother's death? The destruction of my house? The throne that is rightfully yours?"

"I... I do not know anymore."

It was the truth. Everything had changed in one night. The princes were not my enemies. But they were still the ones who benefited from my family's murder, even if they had not caused it.

"My Prince!" A guard's voice echoed from the hallway. "We cannot find her anywhere!"

Prince Rhett called back without taking his eyes off me. "Keep searching. I will check the east wing."

When the footsteps faded, he turned back to me.

"I am going to give you a choice, Princess. You can run now. I will tell my guards that you escaped. You can disappear and live whatever life you can build in hiding."

"Or?"

"Or you stay. You trust me to help you get the justice you deserve." His voice dropped to a whisper. "But if you stay, everything changes. My mother will try to kill you. My brothers will have to choose between family loyalty and what is right. And I..."

"What?"

"I will have to betray everything I was raised to believe in." He reached out slowly and touched my face, his fingers gentle despite their strength. "Because looking at you now, knowing what my family took from you, I cannot pretend anymore."

"Pretend what?"

"That I do not care what happens to you." His thumb traced my cheek, wiping away a tear I had not realized was falling. "From the moment I saw you, I knew you were different. Special. I thought it was because you were hiding something dangerous."

My heart pounded. "And now?"

"Now I know you are dangerous. Just not in the way I expected." His face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath. "You are dangerous because you make me want to be better than I am."

Before I could respond, he stepped back and straightened his shoulders. The vulnerable man disappeared, replaced by the prince once more.

"Choose quickly, Princess. My guards will return soon."

I looked into his green eyes and saw something that terrified me. Not hatred or suspicion, but hope. He was hoping I would trust him. Hoping I would stay and let him help me.

It was the most dangerous thing I could possibly do.

"I will stay," I whispered.

"Then we need to get you somewhere safe before my mother realizes what has happened." He moved toward the door. "And we need to decide what to tell my brothers."

"The truth?"

"The truth." He paused at the doorway. "All of it. Because if we are going to bring down Queen Mother Isadora, we will need all the help we can get."

As I followed him into the dark hallway, one thought burned in my mind.

I had come here to destroy the Ironfang princes.

Instead, I was about to ask them to help me destroy their mother.