LOGINSCARLETT’S POVThe royal chamber was already filled when I entered, and the documents waited across the table. Several council members stood as I approached, expecting me to accept what they believed I had always wanted. Silverclaw was being returned to my family, along with the authority that had once belonged to my bloodline. I looked at the documents without touching them.The eldest council member pushed the parchment toward me. “These documents restore your family's authority over Silverclaw,” he explained, keeping his voice respectful. “Once you sign them, the territory will officially belong to you again.” Everyone waited for my reaction, but I felt calm. Years ago, those words would have made my heart race. Now, they meant something else.I remembered the girl who dreamed about returning home. She had imagined walking through Silverclaw's gates with her head high, reclaiming everything stolen from her family. She had believed having the territory again would repair every wound
ROWAN’S POVThe gates of Silverclaw opened slowly as I approached, but there was no welcome waiting for me. Warriors stood along the courtyard, watching in silence as I walked through the entrance I had once crossed with pride. Their expressions were different now, filled with disappointment and anger. I lowered my eyes, accepting their silence because I knew exactly why they felt that way.I had expected anger, perhaps even insults, but the coldness hurt more than either. These were people who had once trusted my judgment without question. They had followed me into battles, accepted my decisions, and believed I would protect them. Now they watched me like a stranger returning to a home he had already lost.One of the younger warriors stepped forward as I passed. “You should have listened to Queen Scarlett,” he said, keeping his voice loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. Another warrior beside him nodded, while an older woman turned away from me completely. I stopped for a moment,
SCARLETT'S POVI stared at Jordan as he knelt before me, still holding both of my hands between his. For a moment, I couldn't move or speak because my mind was trying to understand how the same woman who had entered this kingdom expecting nothing but a political arrangement had somehow ended up standing in the royal garden with the man she had learned to love.I remembered the beginning of our marriage, when every part of me had been prepared for disappointment. I had entered the kingdom knowing exactly what the contract required from me, and I had convinced myself that keeping my heart out of the arrangement would make everything easier when the time eventually came for us to separate.I had been wrong about almost everything.Jordan had never been the cold, distant King I expected him to be. He had challenged me, frustrated me, protected me, and sometimes pushed every last one of my buttons until I wanted to throw something at him. Yet through every disagreement, he had slowly becom
SCARLETT'S POVThe rebellion was over, but peace didn't arrive with the silence of the battlefield. For the first time in weeks, the palace corridors felt strangely quiet, yet I knew the hardest part was still waiting for us. Cassian and Elaine would finally have to answer for everything they had done.The trial began three days after the rebellion ended, with the entire royal council gathered inside the great hall. Warriors lined the walls while nobles filled the seats behind them, all waiting to hear the evidence that would determine the fate of the two people who had nearly destroyed the kingdom.Cassian stood between two guards with his usual arrogance gone. Elaine stood several steps away, pale and silent, refusing to look at me for more than a few seconds at a time. I watched them without satisfaction because revenge no longer felt as important as it once had.The first evidence came from the hidden chapel, where the royal documents and forged letters had been discovered. Every
JORDAN'S POVI woke to the sound of steel striking steel and wolves howling somewhere beyond the smoke. For a few seconds, I couldn't remember where I was or why my body felt so heavy, but then the sharp pain beneath my ribs brought everything back. The battlefield, the rebels, the northern ridge, and Scarlett waiting for me.I pushed myself onto one elbow and immediately felt warmth spreading beneath my armor. When I looked down, blood covered the side of my uniform. The wound was deep enough to hurt badly, but I could still move, which meant I wasn't going to lie there while my warriors fought without me.One of my commanders spotted me and rushed across the battlefield, his expression changing from relief to alarm when he saw the blood. “Your Majesty, stay down until the healers reach you,” he pleaded urgently, dropping beside me as he tried to inspect the wound without making it worse.I shook my head and forced myself upright despite the pain. “I'm not staying down while those me
SCARLETT'S POVThe moment Jordan disappeared beyond the palace gates, I forced myself to stop watching the road and turned toward the courtyard. Fear was clawing at my chest, but I couldn't afford to let it control me. Jordan had trusted me with the palace, and I intended to prove that trust wasn't misplaced.The commanders gathered around me as another war horn sounded from the northern hills. I could see uncertainty in their faces, but nobody questioned why I was standing where Jordan usually stood. I straightened my shoulders and reminded myself that this kingdom was mine too.“Seal the inner gates and double the guards around the nursery,” I ordered calmly, pointing toward the eastern corridor. “Nobody enters Charles's wing without my permission, regardless of their rank. I also want messengers stationed at every tower so I know exactly what happens outside these walls.”The first report arrived less than ten minutes later. The enemy had breached the outer wall, and several warrio







