Chapter 3

Seraphina straightened the collar of my gown as tenderly as if she were fastening a priceless necklace around my throat.

Then my knees gave out.

I collapsed onto the stone floor, my vision darkening at the edges. The silver chain around my wrist felt heavier with every breath.

“Duchess Seraphina,” I managed. “The pain is too much. You’re going to wake him.”

I forced myself to look into her eyes.

I wasn’t threatening her. I was warning her.

Lucian had endured the Dawnfire, the silver brand, and the vervain through our bond. Even in his blood sleep, there had to be a limit.

Seraphina’s flawless smile never wavered.

“His Highness is meant to sleep for ten years. Do you really believe your little injuries could disturb him?”

She lifted her chin.

“Take her to the Hall of Judgment. The entire court deserves to see the human who bewitched their prince.”

She sounded almost excited, as though she were announcing a royal feast.

Two members of the Royal Guard entered the chamber. They wore black armor engraved with the crest of House Voss, but they had chosen Seraphina’s side while Lucian slept.

Neither guard met my eyes as they pulled me upright.

My legs would not hold me. They dragged me from the chamber, my boots scraping across the stone floor.

Vampire servants gathered along the corridors to watch.

Only weeks ago, they had bowed whenever I passed. Now some stared with open contempt, while others smiled as though they had been waiting for this moment.

Perhaps they had.

Why should a human sacrifice sleep in the prince’s private wing? Why should the kitchens prepare mortal food for me? Why should Lucian Voss deny his own court just because I wanted something?

They had obeyed me only because they feared Lucian.

Now that Lucian slept, their respect had vanished with him.

I found myself remembering the way Lucian had wiped the crumbs from my lips, his voice cold while his hand remained impossibly gentle.

I had spent months telling myself he protected me only to protect his own life.

Now he was the only person in this castle I wanted to see.

The Hall of Judgment occupied the eastern wing of the castle. It was a vast circular chamber carved from black stone, with tiered galleries rising on every side.

Every seat was filled.

Pureblood nobles watched from the lower gallery, while the ancient members of the Blood Council sat above them.

The guards dragged me to the silver-veined execution post at the center of the hall, where the court had punished traitors for centuries.

The silver weakened a vampire while the runes magnified pain, keeping the condemned conscious until judgment had been carried out.

The moment my back touched the silver-veined surface, cold shot through my body and sank straight into my heart.

A mortal was never meant for this punishment.

Neither was a sleeping prince who would feel it tenfold.

At the highest seat sat High Elder Alaric Thorne, the leader of the Blood Council.

He wore ceremonial white robes, making him look more like a kindly priest than one of the oldest vampires in the realm.

“My poor little thing,” Alaric said. “Mortals and vampires were never meant to share a fate. Accept a peaceful death before this goes any further.”

His voice held the practiced compassion of a man who had ordered thousands of executions and slept soundly afterward.

“High Elder, you are far too gracious to a common sacrifice,” Seraphina said.

She approached the judgment dais and lowered herself in an elegant curtsy.

“This mortal used forbidden sorcery to bewitch His Highness. Now she claims she has bound her life to his.”

Seraphina turned to face the galleries.

“We all know the truth. No prince would form a life-bond with a human.”

Murmurs spread through the hall.

“To suggest that Lucian Voss surrendered his life to a mortal is an insult to his crown, his bloodline, and every vampire in this realm.”

The murmurs became open agreement.

None of them wanted to believe their immortal prince had placed his life in the hands of a human girl.

It was easier to call me a liar.

I looked at the nobles surrounding me. Their fine clothes and ancient titles could not hide what they were.

Cowards.

They had waited until Lucian could not defend me, then gathered in a hall to call it justice.

“If any of you truly care about him,” I said, forcing my head up, “release me now.”

My throat was so dry that every word scraped.

“Every wound you give me is killing your prince.”

Alaric sighed and shook his head.

“You have repeated this lie so often that you have begun to believe it.”

“It isn’t a lie.”

“Then may your death free His Highness from your deception.”

He raised his staff. The ruby at its tip began to glow.

Around the post, ancient runes carved into the floor awakened one by one, forming a circle of white-gold fire.

Heat rolled over my skin while real fear seized me.

The pain of the seal would pass through the blood bond.

And this time, even Lucian might not survive it.