The dust settled like a shroud over the broken sanctuary, thick and choking, carrying the metallic tang of blood and the acrid bite of shattered stone. Lyra's lungs burned with every shallow breath, but she forced herself to stay upright, one hand pressed protectively over the swell of her stomach where their son still kicked with fierce, insistent life. The heir's movements grounded her, a reminder that she was more than the vessel the Crown feared or the monster her bloodline had cursed her to become.Kael stood beside her, his massive frame trembling from the effort of the fight, blood streaming from gashes across his ribs and shoulder. The wounds from the Prime Purge Wolf refused to close quickly, the creature's unnatural enhancements slowing his healing like poison in his veins. Yet he did not waver. His arm remained locked around her waist, pulling her flush against his side as if the contact alone could shield her from the collapsing world."Lyra," he rasped, his voice rough
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