CHAPTER 4: The Assassin's Blade

 

The scream cut through the ceremony grounds so sharply that it seemed to slice the afternoon in half.

One second, thousands of people stood gathered around the Moon Altar, waiting for the mating ceremony to begin. The next, panic surged through the crowd like a living thing.

"Protect the prince!"

"Guards!"

"Assassin!"

People shoved past one another in blind terror. Children cried. Nobles stumbled over their expensive robes. The carefully organized rows dissolved into chaos as black-cloaked figures emerged from different sections of the audience.

My stomach dropped.

There wasn't one assassin.

There were three.

For a moment, I could only stare.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

In my previous life, there had been a single attacker. The guards had killed him before he came anywhere near Kael. The incident had barely lasted a minute before everyone returned to celebrating.

This wasn't the same event.

This wasn't the same future.

A cold realization settled over me.

I'd already changed something.

The timeline was shifting.

On the royal platform, Kael reacted instantly. His sword flashed from its sheath with a metallic hiss. The nearest assassin lunged, and steel collided with steel in a burst of sparks.

The crowd gasped.

Even now, knowing exactly what kind of man he would become, I couldn't deny what I was seeing. Kael was terrifyingly good.

Not merely skilled.

Dangerous.

Every movement was economical and precise, without a single wasted motion. He didn't fight like someone defending himself. He fought like someone who had already decided how the battle would end.

The assassin attacked again.

Kael stepped aside and drove his blade through the man's chest.

The fight was over almost immediately.

The body hit the platform.

But the other two attackers kept moving.

One charged toward the royal family.

The other headed directly toward the crowd.

Toward the Moon Altar.

Toward me.

Ice flooded my veins.

People scattered as the masked man pushed through them, knocking several to the ground. His gaze swept across the altar before locking onto mine.

Not Vivienne.

Not the nobles.

Me.

The certainty struck me so hard that my chest tightened.

This wasn't random.

He was hunting me.

"Seraphina!"

My mother's voice broke through the chaos.

I spun toward her.

"Run!"

The word had barely left my mouth when the assassin lunged.

His knife flashed.

Everything slowed.

The screams around me faded into a dull roar. The crowd blurred. My entire world narrowed to the gleam of silver racing toward my chest.

Too fast.

There wasn't enough time.

My body refused to move.

Then heat surged beneath my skin.

Not pain.

Power.

A strange, burning energy spread through my veins, the same force I had felt in the darkness beyond death. The same presence that had awakened when dragon fire consumed me.

The assassin's expression changed.

His eyes widened.

The blade seemed to hang in the air.

And suddenly, impossibly, I knew what he was about to do.

Not guessed.

Knew.

The knowledge appeared fully formed inside my mind.

He would slash upward.

Shift left.

Then strike again.

The sequence unfolded with absolute certainty, as though I were remembering something that had already happened.

Instinct took over.

I moved.

The knife missed my chest by inches.

Gasps erupted nearby.

The assassin stumbled, caught off guard by my sudden movement. Surprise flashed across his face.

I didn't hesitate.

A ceremonial torch stood beside the altar. I grabbed it with both hands and swung with every ounce of strength I had.

The metal shaft connected with the side of his jaw.

The impact jarred my arms.

A crack echoed across the courtyard.

The assassin crashed into the dirt.

For a second, silence seemed to ripple outward from where he fell.

The crowd stared.

Including me.

My hands trembled around the torch.

I couldn't quite believe what had happened.

In my first life, I would have frozen.

I would have panicked.

I would have waited for someone stronger to save me.

Not anymore.

The assassin groaned and rolled onto his side. His eyes met mine through the mask, and pure hatred burned there.

Before anyone could reach him, he bit down hard.

Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Poison.

The realization came too late.

His body convulsed once.

Then went still.

Dead.

A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd.

I barely noticed.

Because another sensation had settled over me.

The unmistakable feeling of being watched.

I looked up.

Kael stood on the royal platform with blood still dripping from his sword.

His attention wasn't on the dead assassin.

It wasn't on the guards.

It wasn't on the crowd.

It was on me.

Our eyes met across the distance.

Something in my chest tightened.

He looked confused.

Suspicious.

Interested.

As though he couldn't reconcile the woman he thought he knew with the one standing before him now.

Good.

Let him wonder.

In my first life, Kael barely noticed me.

This time, things were changing far too quickly.

And if I was being honest, that frightened me.

The dragon's warning echoed through my mind.

Do not trust fate.

I swallowed.

Too late.

Fate had already started paying attention.

The ceremony ended shortly afterward.

Royal guards escorted people from the grounds while investigators combed through the scene. Rumors spread almost immediately. By the time my mother and I left, whispers followed us through every street we crossed.

People talked about the assassination attempt.

About Kael.

About the girl who had somehow fought off a trained killer.

Some looked impressed.

Others looked suspicious.

A few looked afraid.

I hated all of it.

Attention had a price.

I'd learned that lesson the hard way.

Attention made enemies notice you.

Attention got people killed.

The sun was setting by the time we reached our estate. The familiar sight of home should have brought relief, but dread settled heavily in my stomach instead.

Because I remembered what happened after this day.

In my first life, this was when Vivienne began weaving her web around me. Small lies. Subtle manipulations. Tiny seeds planted so carefully that I never noticed them taking root until it was too late.

Five years of memories crowded my mind.

Five years of mistakes.

Five years of betrayal.

This time, I intended to see every trap before it closed.

I pushed open the front gate and stopped so abruptly that my mother nearly walked into me.

A black carriage stood in the courtyard.

Royal insignia gleamed on the polished door.

My pulse immediately quickened.

No.

That wasn't supposed to be there.

A servant hurried toward us.

"Lady Seraphina."

"What is it?"

The young man swallowed nervously.

"A royal messenger arrived about an hour ago."

My mother's brows rose.

"A royal messenger?"

The servant nodded and held out a sealed envelope.

The moment I saw the black wax seal, my stomach sank.

I knew that crest.

Blackwood.

Kael's personal seal.

My fingers tightened around the envelope.

Why would he contact me now?

In my previous life, Kael barely spoke to me before the mating ceremony. He certainly never sent private messages.

None of this should be happening.

My hands felt strangely unsteady as I broke the seal and unfolded the parchment.

There was only one sentence.

Short.

Direct.

Impossible.

I know what you did today. Meet me at midnight. Come alone.

— Kael Blackwood

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Then I noticed something beneath the signature.

A symbol.

Small.

Almost hidden.

The blood drained from my face.

Because I recognized it.

I had seen that mark only once before.

Five years in the future.

Burned into the body of the assassin who had helped send me to the execution stake.

The symbol of the Crimson Dragon.

And that symbol had never existed in my first life.