Masuk(POV: James) I scooped Sabriel up into my arms despite her immediate angry protests about being able to walk perfectly fine on her own two feet, carrying her at a full sprint across the courtyard and toward the palace medical wing while dodging scattered debris on the stone path, and she slapped my shoulder and told me to put her down right now because she was not a helpless porcelain doll, and I ignored her complaints completely and kept running because the blood soaking through her trouser leg was making my heart hammer wildly against my ribs, and I kicked open the heavy oak doors of the medical wing with my boot and carried her straight inside, laying her down gently on the treatment table while shouting loudly for extra bandages and clean antiseptic while my hands trembled with pure panic, and Sabriel rolled her eyes at my dramatics and told me to take a deep breath before I passed out on the floor, and I grabbed a bottle of antiseptic from the supply shelf and handed it to her w
(POV: Sabriel) I kicked the lifeless rogue off the stone ledge with the heel of my boot and spun around instantly with my daggers flashing in the moonlight, cutting down two more attackers rushing across the courtyard toward the medical station where Mae was tending to the wounded guards, and James fought right back-to-back with me, swinging a heavy wooden club with brutal efficiency while cracking jokes about how much he hated uninvited party crashers showing up in the middle of the night, and I told him to save his breath for the fighting instead of wasting it on bad humor, and James laughed and ducked beneath a wild swing from an enemy warrior before bringing his club down hard on the attacker's shoulder, and I sliced my left blade across another rogue's arm to keep them from swarming our position, and the noise of clashing steel and snarling beasts echoed off the palace walls while Kaelor's golden alpha fire illuminated the far side of the courtyard, and I asked James if he was k
(POV: Sabriel) I kicked the lifeless rogue off the stone ledge with the heel of my boot and spun around instantly with my daggers flashing in the moonlight, cutting down two more attackers rushing across the courtyard toward the medical station where Mae was tending to the wounded guards, and James fought right back-to-back with me, swinging a heavy wooden club with brutal efficiency while cracking jokes about how much he hated uninvited party crashers showing up in the middle of the night, and I told him to save his breath for the fighting instead of wasting it on bad humor, and James laughed and ducked beneath a wild swing from an enemy warrior before bringing his club down hard on the attacker's shoulder, and I sliced my left blade across another rogue's arm to keep them from swarming our position, and the noise of clashing steel and snarling beasts echoed off the palace walls while Kaelor's golden alpha fire illuminated the far side of the courtyard, and I asked James if he was k
(POV: Mae) I ducked my head as a flying splinter of wood whizzed past my ear, and I immediately lunged forward to tackle a panicked civilian out of the path of a lunging rogue wolf that had just broken through the courtyard lines, and I dragged the terrified person behind the relative safety of the stone fountain while arrows whistled through the air above our heads, and I told the civilian to stay low and keep crawling toward the lower shelter, and I ripped open my medical satchel with bloody fingers and pulled out a roll of clean bandages, pressing them firmly against a deep slash on a young guard's arm while he hissed in pain from the wound, and I asked him if he could stand on his own or if he needed someone to help him walk the rest of the way to the triage tent, and the guard gritted his teeth and told me he could manage as long as the bleeding stopped, and I nodded and tied the bandage securely before looking back up to scan the chaotic courtyard for more injured people who n
(POV: Alexander) I stormed down the stone corridor toward the inner armory with my sword drawn in my hand, barking orders at the rushing guards to secure every residential gate before the rogues reached the perimeter, and Mae ran right beside me carrying a heavy satchel filled with emergency medical supplies, and she refused to stay behind in the safety of the palace while the capital faced a sudden invasion, and I turned my head to look at her as we ran and told her she should have stayed in the lower shelter where it was safe, and Mae glared at me and told me to stop wasting breath telling her what to do because the wounded guards were going to need her out here in the courtyard, and I sighed and told her to stay close to my left side so I could keep watch over her while we fought off the attackers, and we burst out into the main courtyard just as the horns blared across the walls, and the guards were scrambling up the stone stairs to take their positions along the ramparts, and Ja
(POV: Zareth) I pulled away from Kaelor and pressed both of my palms flat against the cold stone floorboards of the throne room, closing my eyes to channel my silver oracle magic deep into the foundation of the palace so I could trace the lingering magical signature of the foreign emissary and read his true intentions, and the silver energy surged through my veins like liquid fire, and I whispered ancient words under my breath while searching through the ether for the threads of his mind, and the images flashed behind my eyelids with terrifying speed, revealing a massive web of betrayal woven by exiled rogues hiding out in the dark shadow woods beyond the valley, and I gasped loudly as a sharp pain pierced my temples, and I lost my footing and stumbled backward right into Kaelor's waiting arms, and he caught me tightly against his chest and asked me what I saw, and I looked up at him with wide, panicked eyes and warned him that tomorrow morning's duel was nothing more than a carefull







