Chapter 60

Elouera

The cold morning mist drifted in from the courtyard through the tall gothic archways. It carried the sharp smell of damp ash and burnt wood from the lower wing.

Inside the private room beside the High Council chamber, the silence felt heavy and uncomfortable. I sat hunched on the edge of a velvet sofa, making myself look weak and sick, just like the fragile Second Prince everyone believed I was.

Jace stood on my left, his large body blocking the way like a solid wall. Stirling stood on my right, his broad shoulders straight as he leaned against a marble pillar.

Their strong Alpha scents surrounded me completely. The sharp smell of cedar mixed with wet earth, icy frost, and the powerful scent of lightning. Their scents covered mine so well that no one could detect my true Omega nature.

To any lord who passed by, I was nothing more than a weak, dying prince being protected by two dangerous men.

Suddenly, the heavy mahogany doors at the end of the room began to open.

Click. Drag. Click.

The brass tip of Archduke Holden’s mechanical cane struck the polished floor with every step. The slow, steady sound sent a chill down my spine, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

He entered the room alone, wearing a spotless dark oilskin coat. His silver hair was neatly brushed back, and his dark eyes were full of suspicion and calculation.

His gaze moved slowly around the room. For a brief moment, he looked at Callan’s guards, who stood covered in blood at the outer entrance.

Then his eyes settled directly on me.

Holden looked calm and worried, like a caring uncle who had come to check on his sick nephew before the trial. But I noticed the slight tension in his jaw. He was trying hard to hide his frustration.

He was losing control of the situation.

The fire in the East Wing had failed to kill me. The smoke from the Catalyst had also been cleared from the lower maintenance tunnels after Stirling opened the northern ventilation channels. The public trial was less than an hour away, and the Empress was growing impatient with the chaos in her court.

Holden needed me to lose control and become the weapon he had planned for me to be. And he needed it to happen immediately.

“Leave us,” Holden ordered quietly.

His voice was calm, but it carried the authority of someone used to giving orders and having them obeyed.

Neither Jace nor Stirling moved.

Jace kept his eyes fixed on Holden’s throat, one hand resting on the handle of his short sword. Stirling simply narrowed his amber eyes. A low, threatening growl rumbled deep in his chest, making it clear that he had no intention of leaving me alone with Holden.

“I said, leave us,” Holden repeated, his voice becoming sharper and more threatening as he looked at Jace. “I want to speak to my nephew privately before Her Majesty begins the trial. Or has the Royal Guard decided that an Archduke no longer has the right to speak to his own family?”

I forced myself to cough weakly into my lace handkerchief. Then I lowered my head and pretended to shiver from the cold air.

“It… it’s fine, Commander,” I said in a weak, shaky voice. “Let my uncle come closer. My chest… feels very heavy today.”

Jace clenched his jaw so tightly that I could hear his teeth grinding. Still, he slowly took two steps back, never taking his dangerous eyes off Holden.

Stirling also moved back toward the marble pillar, but his body remained tense, as if he were ready to attack at any moment.

They gave Holden some space, but neither of them left the room.

Holden approached the sofa, leaning lightly on his brass cane. He reached inside his coat and pulled out a small, dark velvet pouch.

“You look so pale, my dear boy,” Holden said softly.

His voice was warm and caring, but I knew it was all an act. It was the same fake affection he had used while poisoning me for six long years.

“The cold air from the gardens has made your lung fever worse. Your mother expects you to stand beside the throne today. You cannot afford to look weak.”

Holden reached into the pouch and took out two large, dark red pills. They were twice the size of the suppressant pills he usually mixed into my tea every day.

As soon as the pills were exposed to the air, I caught a faint, bitter smell of silver and concentrated Night-bloom resin.

My stomach twisted violently.

These were not ordinary suppressants. They were two doses of concentrated Catalyst. He was doubling the poison.

If a normal Beta or Omega took both pills, the drug would overwhelm their nervous system within ten minutes. It would trigger a violent heat that they could not control, destroying their ability to think clearly and filling the entire council chamber with Omega pheromones.

Holden wanted me to collapse on the raised platform beside the Empress. He wanted my body to lose control in front of every foreign visitor and noble in the empire.

“Take these, Elian,” Holden whispered, holding the red pills out to me in his pale, leather-gloved hand. “They will ease the pressure in your chest and give you enough strength to stand.”

I looked up at him through my eyelashes, forcing tears into my eyes. I wanted to look like a helpless boy who was grateful for every little bit of kindness he received.

“Thank you, Uncle,” I whimpered. My hand shook as I reached for the pills. “I don’t know… I don’t know what I would do without you.”

A cold, satisfied look appeared in Holden’s dark eyes. He watched me closely as I slowly raised my trembling hand toward my mouth.

Then I leaned my head back and began coughing violently into my silk handkerchief, covering my mouth with one hand.

Using a quick, well-practiced movement I had learned from years of surviving in the dangerous streets of the Sinks, I secretly slipped both red pills into the hidden lining of my sleeve.

At the same time, I took a small piece of sugar candy from my pocket and slipped it into my mouth.

I swallowed hard, making sure Holden could see my throat move. Then I gasped and acted as though the bitter medicine was burning its way down my throat.

“There,” I gasped, wiping my lips with the handkerchief. I looked up at him with weak, unfocused eyes. “I… I took them.”

Holden’s smile grew wider. The look on his face was dark and full of victory, sending a chill through my body.

He truly believed he had just sealed my fate. He thought that within minutes, the double dose of Catalyst would turn his supposedly weak niece into a wild, uncontrollable Omega who would lose her mind and destroy the Crown.

“Good boy,” Holden said softly, reaching down to pat my cheek with his gloved hand. “Rest your eyes for a little while, Elian. The show is about to begin.”

He turned and walked toward the High Council chamber. The brass tip of his mechanical cane struck the floor with a steady click-drag-click.

He was completely convinced that he had won.

The moment Holden disappeared through the heavy doors, I straightened my back and dropped the weak, hunched posture.

My eyes turned cold as steel.

I reached into my sleeve and pulled out the two red pills. They lay in my palm, dark and shiny in the faint morning light.

Jace and Stirling immediately moved closer, returning to their positions beside me.

“Did you take them?” Jace asked in a rough voice. His hazel eyes widened with sudden fear as he stared at me.

“No,” I whispered.

A dangerous smile appeared on my lips as I closed my fingers around the pills and slipped them deep into the leather pouch at my waist.

“He doubled the dose. He thinks I’ll collapse on the raised platform within ten minutes.”

“What are you going to do with them?” Stirling asked, his amber eyes filled with curiosity and dark interest.

I stood up from the sofa, my back straight and my expression firm. The thick wool coat Stirling had placed over my shoulders wrapped around me like armor.

“Holden poured himself a glass of spiced wine from the chancellor’s bottle on the council table,” I whispered. My rough voice had turned cold and sharp. “Before this meeting ends, he will swallow his own poison.”

Before Jace could reply, three loud blasts from the massive brass horns above the High Council chamber shook the air.

The heavy double doors swung open.

“All rise for Her Imperial Majesty!” the herald announced loudly.

We walked through the archway into the huge council chamber, which was brightly lit by hundreds of candles. Two hundred high lords, foreign envoys, and armored commanders sat in rows on the raised stone seats. Every eye followed us as we made our way toward the throne.

Empress Cynthia sat on her golden throne, looking perfect and terrifying in her silver velvet gown. Beside her stood Crown Prince Callan. His chest armor was stained with dried blood, and his eyes were completely black with madness as he stared directly at my throat.

At the chancellor’s podium stood Archduke Holden, holding a silver cup of wine. He was waiting for the moment the poison took effect and my body finally gave in.

I stopped on the lower step of the raised platform, with Jace and Stirling standing close on either side of me.

Holden raised his silver cup to his lips and took a long drink, looking completely satisfied with himself.

I slipped my hand into my pocket, expecting to feel the small velvet pouch. My fingers touched it, but something was wrong.

The two pills were gone.

My heart seemed to stop beating. I quickly searched the inside of my coat, and a wave of fear washed over me.

The pills hadn’t fallen into my pocket. In my hurry to hide them from Holden, I had accidentally left them on the velvet sofa in the anteroom.

Then I saw her.

Near the side entrance of the council chamber stood Pip, holding a glass of ice water. Her face was as pale as a ghost.

She was swallowing two dark red pills she had just picked up from the sofa.

The pills I had been trying to hide.

The pills that could destroy her.