MasukRavena's POV I didn't sleep.I laid on my back in the wide bed and watched the patterns of the moonlight move across the ceiling, and I turned, and I turned again.Somewhere past midnight I sat up in the dark and pulled the quilt around my shoulders and I let the truth settle in.
Lucien didn't say anything.He just sat in the chair beside her bed and looked at her. Then after about a few minutes, Astrid smiled."You won't even answer me," she said. "That’s your answer, isn’t it?”"Astrid, you...""Tell me one more thing then,
The Stormholt estate hadn't been this loud in twenty years.Workmen on tall ladders strung the long red banners along the front of the main hall. Garden boys carried in tray after tray of fresh winter lilies and set them along the steps. The kitchens had been running since before dawn, and the smell of roasting meat and warming spices had spread through every corridor in the building. Maids ran past each other on the stairs with armfuls of cloth and crockery. The grooms in the courtyard were braiding the horses' manes with white ribbon.This was a royal prince's wedding. It had to be magnificent. Lady Vivienne stood at the long window of the upper sitting room and watched it all unfold.She had her hands folded in front of her. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, the way she only wore it when she was at home and didn't expect to receive guests, and her face in the window glass looked older than it had looked yesterday morning.Down in the front courtyard, her son was crossing fr
Ravena's POV The following day, I got up before the sun and rode out to Hollowmere with two of my warriors and a small cart.Hollowmere sat half a day's ride south of Valemont, at the crossing of three trade roads, and it was the only place close enough to ride to in a single day that had everything I still needed for the wedding. The thread for the bridal sashes. The small lacquered combs for the head pieces. The good wax for the seals on the marriage scrolls. The silver bowls for the moon water ceremony. Small things. Necessary things.
Ravena's POV When the fitting finally ended, I sat in front of the mirror for a long moment after they had gone, looking at my own bare face in the afternoon light. It was the same face that had been a bride once before. The same eyes. The same line of the jaw. I lifted a hand to my cheek and let it drop again, and then I rose and went to find Rhea.I found her in the small sun room at the back of the compound, th
Ravena's POV I looked at the faces around me, at the Elders half-risen from their seats and the Alphas leaning forward and the literary crowd already shifting their cups out of their own way to clear a path through the long table. And I smiled.I turned, very slightly, towards Lady Vivienne."My lady," I said, loud enough for the front of the hall to hear, "I wouldn't feel right deciding such a thing on my own. They are paintings of a kind that touch this household, and you are the most senior woman in our family. If you agree to a sale, the gentlemen are welcome to make their selections. If you don't, then I wouldn't wish to part with a single one."The hall went still for just a second.Lady Vivienne raised her head, and I saw the colour come up in her cheeks. She laughed lightly, the way an older woman laughed when she wanted the room to know she was not making a fuss."Goodness, child," she said. "I am hardly the one to make such decisions. They are your paintings. They were gift
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“Ethan, this is not something small. You cannot just throw the word betrayal without proof. If what you are saying is true, then it could change everything. Evidence must be clear.”“Do you think I speak lightly? I watched, I listened, I survived when I should have died. Tell me, Raven
Ravena's POVLucien’s head snapped toward me, his shoulders stiff. “Good news? You think this is good news?!”I held his glare, letting him see the truth I had carried for far too long. My heart thumped wildly, but I calmed myself with deep breaths. Then, word by word, I gave him the one thing he n
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,







