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Chapter 13
publish date:
2026-09-19 05:46:35
Latest chapter
USURPED Chapter 45
By the third night, Soren had stopped pretending he wasn't waiting.The new moon had put out every light but the lamp in the cellar. It hung from its hook and burned low, its flame bending whenever a draught came down the stairs. The pallets lay in their rows; four of them were still empty, and a folded coat sat on the end of the nearest one.Soren had not slept a bit , he had changed his shirt and scrubbed the brown stain from his cuff, but he still could not settle. He had spent most of the night at the table of crates, writing on a scrap of paper and crossing out every line. Boots sounded on the stairs making Soren look up quickly.It was only Tobin. He came down slowly, wet to the knees, with his hood still up and mud covering both boots. He stopped at the bottom step and pushed it back."Nothing?" Soren said."His lodging's empty." Tobin wiped his palms down his coat. "I went at midday, and again at dusk. The landlady says he came in four nights ago, wet through, and went straigh
USURPED Chapter 44
Kael covered forty paces in the time it took Nessa to push a folded square of paper deeper into her apron.He did not hurry, he never hurried. He crossed the lawn at the same measured pace he used in the corridors, one gloved hand resting on his sword hilt. By the time his shadow fell across the white cloth, Nessa was pouring lemon water as though nothing had happened. A loose curl had slipped from beneath her cap, and she tucked it behind her ear without looking up."Your highness." Kael bowed, exactly as deeply as protocol required. "The king requests you."Jade rose from the cloth and smoothed her skirt with both palms, then pressed her fingers against the silk when she noticed they were not quite steady."Now?""Now.""Then I suppose I mustn't keep him waiting."She slipped her feet into her slippers and glanced briefly at Nessa. The maid was still arranging the cups, but her fingers moved a little too quickly.The garden was bright, and a bee droned past Jade's ear. She tilted he
USURPED Chapter 43
The queen had rehearsed her speech for an hour, and in the end only one question came out."Has your father told you anything?"Margaret asked quietly, one hand resting on the back of her chair. The fire crackled behind her. Across the room, Jade stood near the door in her grey night robe, holding her left wrist against her side."About the envoys?" Jade said. "No, Mother. I heard it when you did. At the table.""Yes." Margaret's eyes moved to Jade's hand and the faint smudge of rust on her fingertips. She looked at it briefly before turning away. "No. Of course you did."She crossed to the table, picked up the teapot and set it down again without pouring."The courts of the east do not send three envoys for a courtesy," she said. "They do not cross a sea for a courtesy. When they come, they will ask for you. They will ask to be seen with you, and to hear you speak, and to measure you." She paused. "You will say as little as you can. You will smile. You will not agree to anything, no
USURPED Chapter 42
Jade had been told that everything of Aurelia's was gone, and a thief knew better than to believe it. "Again," said Madame Vosk. The drawing room smelled of beeswax and rosewater, with the faint scent of old books lingering in the air. A tall mirror stood against one wall. Jade could see herself in it, standing stiffly in her grey morning dress, a teacup balanced on its saucer in her left hand. "The foreign courts do not curtsy as we do," Madame Vosk continued. She was a thin woman dressed in black wool, with a cane she rarely used for support and sharp eyes that missed very little. "When an envoy of the eastern coast greets you, you incline your head and wait. You do not speak first. To speak first is to ask a favour. Do you understand?" "I understand," Jade said. "And if the envoy offers his left hand?" "I take it." "You take it with your right, Highness, and you do not squeeze. To squeeze is to claim kinship." Her cane tapped the floor. "Again." Jade placed the cup on the
USURPED Chapter 41
Breakfast at the royal table was always quiet, but this morning the silence had teeth.Pale morning light entered through the tall windows of the morning room, falling across the white linen and the polished silver. A long table stood in the centre of the room, laid with warm bread, fresh butter, sliced fruit, and a bowl of apricots that nobody had touched. The smell of baked bread and black tea filled the air, yet there was something uncomfortable about the room, something that made even the smallest sound seem louder than it ought to be.King Adrian sat at the head of the table with a letter in one hand and a cup of black tea in the other. His eyes moved across the page, his expression giving away nothing of what he read. He had been that way since he arrived, paying little attention to anyone beyond the words in front of him.Queen Margaret sat at his right, upright and composed. Her hair had been pinned into a perfect coil, and a delicate necklace rested against the high neckline
USURPED Chapter 40
Four nights after the attack, Soren was still counting empty bedrolls.The cellar beneath the tannery district smelled of damp stone, old tallow, and the stale remains of fires that had burned out days ago. A single lamp hung from a hook in the ceiling, its weak light barely reaching the far corners. Each time someone moved above them, the floor creaked, and the lamp swayed slightly, sending shadows crawling across the walls.Four straw pallets lay untouched along one side of the cellar. No one had bothered to clear them away. A coat had been folded at the end of one, its sleeves tucked neatly beneath it, as though its owner might return at any moment and ask for it.But he would not, Soren stood behind a table made from old crates, both palms pressed against the rough wood. He had not changed his shirt since the night of the attack. The blood on his cuff had dried to a dark brown, and the fabric had stiffened around it. He had tried washing his hands earlier, but the smell of blood s
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