LOGINHe took a step toward her, slow and predatory. "There will never be another. Not while I breathe. Not while I exist."His voice dropped lower. "I would burn every kingdom to ash before I let another man look at you, Sera. Do you understand me?"Sera didn’t move. Her breath quickened. Not in fear, bu
She reached for his arm—He jerked away. "I left because the rut was coming. Because I knew if I stayed, I’d mark you with another child and destroy the last pieces of you I hadn't already taken.""Rhazien—""No." His eyes burned, voice rising like a storm ready to split the world. "You think I don’
The citadel had gone quiet for the night.Lioren had taken the last shift patrolling the outer hall, his boots silent against the stone. Even the flames in the sconces burned low, as if the mountain itself held its breath.Sera had watched him earlier from the nursery doorway, the way his small fram
“Then we find another way,” she said. “Mortals have ways to—”“No.”His voice was final, sharp as a blade. “We’re not talking about root teas or salves. I know what my body is capable of. I know what I’ll take from you if I lose control.”“You didn’t lose control. Not even once.”He shook his head s
It had been weeks since the birth, yet the mountain still felt like it held its breath—like every stone and shadow remembered the moment blood painted its halls. The air remained thick, not with smoke or heat, but with silence. A silence that pressed down, weighty and expectant, as though waiting fo
"So will I."Rhazien, watching from a short distance, didn’t speak. But he inclined his head once—slight, solemn. A gesture full of unspoken meaning.It was the closest thing to a blessing he’d ever given.And this time, Lioren didn't flinch from it.He straightened his spine.Sera watched him for a
The air in the forgotten garden was still, too still, as if the very stone beneath her knees held its breath, unwilling to bear witness to what was unraveling.Sera didn’t cry. Not at first.She sat slumped where the moss had overgrown the steps, the damp earth leeching through the thin silk of her
The gold struck his chest with a hollow clang—louder than it should have been, like the room itself recoiled from the impact. Rhazien flinched again, not from pain, but from the sound—the final, damning punctuation to a mistake he couldn’t take back.The chains clattered to the floor in a tangled he
The chamber was smaller than the court hall, but no less venomous. A high war table stretched through its center, carved of volcanic stone and ringed in gold, surrounded by high-backed chairs already filled with generals and advisors. Rhazien stood at its head, arms folded, jaw clenched, the weight
The court chamber buzzed with tightly leashed whispers as Rhazien entered. The scent of incense burned too sweetly in the air, a mask for the rot of old alliances and courtly deceit. Every eye followed him—some reverent, most wary. His rage walked ahead of him like a shadow.He didn't sit."Summon t







