LOGINRavena's POV
The journey back to Moonveil Pack felt longer than it should have. Every mile seemed to drag on, giving me too much time to think and replay my conversation with Queen Seraphine.
But I somehow managed to push the thoughts away as the familiar landscape came into view. Rolling hills, dense forests, and finally, the territory that had been my home since birth.
Upon crossing the border, I was shocked by the sight of everything looking completely di
Ravena's POV Lady Vivienne looked at me for a moment, and then, moved by something, she pushed the fold of bank notes towards me across the carriage."Please take half," she said. "You must. None of this would be mine without you, not a single coin of it. It is only fair that half of it is yours. Please, Ravena. I want you to have it."I put my hand over hers and pushed the money gently back.
Ravena's POV Marianne counted out the rest of the money with a face the colour of ash.Her hands were not quite steady as she did it, and she wouldn't look at me, and every note she laid down she laid down as though it were a piece of her own skin. I stood and watched her do it and I didn't feel one drop of pity. I had passed the point of pity with this woman a long time ago.
Ravena's POVMarianne's jaw tightened. The needle hadn't gone in. So she reached for a crueler one."Family?" she sneered, and her lip curled. "Is that what you are? Do you know, Luna, my daughter here once had a great deal to say about you, before you were quite so grand. About the kind of woman my nephew was bringing into the royal house." Her eyes glittered. "A woman married once already and cast off. A woman with a used name and a second wedding. Cressida had her doubts about whether such a one belonged among us at all, and she was not wrong to have them, wha
Ravena's POV In the end, Marianne chose to pay.She gave the order through her teeth, and her steward went to the room and came back with a thick fold of bank notes, and she had them set down on the table in front of me rather than placed in my hand, as though passing them to me directly would cost her something more than the coin.I didn't take offense. I just drew them towards me and started to count.
Ravena's POV I had my hand on the door and Vivienne behind me and the whole stack of books held tight against my body when Marianne broke."Wait."I stopped, but I didn't turn around, not yet. I let her say it again."Wait." Her voice was tight, forced out through her
Ravena's POVThe Ministry of Justice. I had said it plainly, and I had said it on purpose, because I knew something that these two women knew even better than I did. The Ministry of Justice, the kingdom's own house of questioners and judges, did not answer to some distant lord. It answered to my husband. Evander held it. The prince who commanded the armies also commanded the men who put hard questions to criminals against the crown, and every soul in the capital knew it.
Lucien's POVIn that moment, I quickly dropped lower, my palms flat on the ground, my voice shaking though I forced it out. “No… of course not, Your Majesty!”“Then tell me, Lucien… is it really just a rumour?”I hurriedly nodded, my head bowing again and again. “Yes, Your Majesty. I swear it. I ga
Ravena's POV For t
Ravena's POV "She was... aggre
Lucien's POVAfter seeing Ravena leave with her servants, a deep pain began to spread through my chest. It was sharp at first, then slow and burning, crawling through my veins as if my own body had betrayed me. Each step I tried to take grew heavier until my knees almost buckled.Gritting my teeth,







