CHAPTER 8

Queen Mother Isadora collapsed to the floor, the crystal bottle shattering beside her. Dark liquid pooled around the broken glass like blood. For a moment, nobody moved. Nobody breathed.

Then Prince Kael rushed forward, dropping to his knees beside his mother's still form.

"Mother!" He pressed his fingers to her throat, searching for a pulse. "She is still breathing."

"Barely," Marcus said grimly. "That was nightshade extract. She has minutes at most."

Isadora's eyes fluttered open, focusing on her eldest son with difficulty. "Kael... my boy..."

"Why?" His voice cracked like a child's. "Why did you do all of this?"

"To... protect you." Each word was a struggle. "The Moonspire... had magic... would have taken... everything..."

"We could have found another way."

"No." Her hand grabbed his wrist with surprising strength. "Never... another way. They would have... destroyed you all."

I stepped closer, anger overriding my fear. "My parents never wanted to hurt anyone. They were peaceful rulers."

Isadora's gaze shifted to me, and I saw no remorse in her dying eyes. Only cold satisfaction.

"Peaceful... until their daughter... grew up." She coughed, blood speckling her lips. "Do you think... I did not know... about your power?"

"What power?" Prince Darius demanded.

"She carries... the old magic... in her blood." Isadora's smile was terrible. "Moon magic... the kind that could... destroy kingdoms."

"You are lying," I said, but doubt crept into my voice.

"Touch her... when she is angry... when she is afraid." Isadora's breathing grew more labored. "Watch what happens... to the things around her."

I thought about the torches flaring silver in the hidden chamber. The way my contacts had burned when I was upset. The strange dreams I had been having since arriving at the palace.

"Even if that were true," Rhett said fiercely, "it gave you no right to murder children."

"Did it not?" Isadora's eyes were losing focus. "I saved... the kingdom... from a magical bloodline... that could have enslaved us all."

"You saved nothing," Kael said quietly. "You only created more death."

"I created... your future." Her grip on his wrist tightened. "Promise me... you will not let her... destroy what I built."

"Mother—"

"Promise me!"

Kael met my eyes across his dying mother's body. I saw the war raging inside him. Love for the woman who had raised him. Horror at what she had done. Duty to his kingdom. Justice for my family.

"I cannot make that promise," he said finally.

Isadora's face twisted with rage and disappointment. "Then you are... no son of mine."

Those were her last words. The light faded from her eyes, and Queen Mother Isadora of the Ironfang Pack was dead.

Silence fell over the room like a burial shroud. The woman who had ruled from the shadows for twenty years was gone, leaving behind only questions and blood.

"What happens now?" I whispered.

"Now we clean up the mess she made," Captain Reed said from the doorway. "If that is what you wish, Your Majesty."

He was looking at me when he said it. Everyone was looking at me.

"I am not a queen," I said quickly. "I am nobody. Just... just Lyra."

"You are the rightful heir to the Moonspire throne," Marcus said gently. "That makes you a queen whether you want it or not."

"But the kingdom is theirs now." I gestured to the three princes. "They have ruled for twenty years."

"Built on lies and murder," Kael said bitterly. "We have no legitimate claim to anything."

"That is not true," Darius protested. "You have been good rulers. Just kings. The people love you."

"The people love a fiction." Kael stood up slowly, his mother's blood on his hands. "Everything we are is built on her crimes."

"So what do we do?" Rhett asked. "Burn it all down? Start over? Pretend the last twenty years never happened?"

Before anyone could answer, a commotion erupted in the hallway. Shouts echoed off the stone walls. The sound of running feet grew louder.

Captain Reed stepped outside, then returned with a pale face.

"What is it?" Marcus demanded.

"The nobles know the queen is dead. Word is spreading through the palace like wildfire." Reed's voice was grim. "And they are not alone."

"What do you mean?"

"Lady Celeste has arrived with her father's army. Lord Ravenclaw claims the right of succession through his daughter's betrothal to Prince Kael."

My blood turned to ice. "How many soldiers?"

"Five hundred. Maybe more. They have surrounded the palace."

"They planned this," Rhett said, his mind already working. "They knew Mother was unstable. They were waiting for her to fall."

"So they could seize power themselves," Kael finished. "Using my engagement to justify their coup."

"There is more," Reed continued reluctantly. "Three other noble houses have declared for Lord Ravenclaw. They say the Ironfang line is finished."

"And the people?" Darius asked.

"Confused. Scared. Some support you, but others remember the old stories about Moonspire magic. They do not know what to believe."

I sank into a chair, overwhelmed. This was not how it was supposed to happen. Isadora was dead, but instead of bringing peace, her death had unleashed chaos.

"We need to get you out of here," Marcus said urgently. "All of you. If Ravenclaw takes the palace, he will kill anyone with a claim to the throne."

"Run where?" I asked. "Hide like I have been hiding my whole life?"

"If necessary, yes."

"No." The word surprised even me. "I am tired of hiding. Tired of running. Tired of letting other people pay for my family's murder."

"Princess—"

"My name is Lyra." I stood up, feeling something new burning in my chest. Something that might have been power. "And I am done being afraid."

As I spoke, the candles in the room flared brighter. The fire in the hearth jumped higher. Everyone stepped back except the three princes, who watched with fascination instead of fear.

"What are you planning?" Kael asked quietly.

"I am going to take back what is mine." I met his eyes steadily. "The question is, will you help me? Or will you stand aside and let Ravenclaw destroy everything your mother killed for?"

Before he could answer, the sound of splintering wood echoed through the palace.

"They are breaking down the main doors," Reed reported grimly.

"Then we are out of time." Rhett drew his sword. "Whatever we decide, we decide now."

"I know what I decide," Darius said, his amber eyes blazing with determination. "I will not let Ravenclaw steal my kingdom."

"It was never your kingdom to begin with," I reminded him.

"No. But it could be ours." His words hung in the air like a challenge. "If we stand together."

The sound of armored boots echoed closer. Time was running out, and I had to choose.

Fight for a crown I had never worn, or flee into the darkness once again.