All Chapters of Chains Of The Heart: Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

The silence after Damian’s last words sat heavy as stone.No one wanted to be the first to speak—because being the first meant becoming the target of his attention.And yet, eventually, some fool always mistook quiet for permission.A councilman—older, tight-lipped, the kind who’d survived three reigns by never being the loudest voice but always being the nastiest one—cleared his throat.“Your Majesty,” he began, carefully respectful, “you speak of securing borders and restoring trade with Holt support… but the Holts may not cooperate.”The room subtly shifted.A few heads turned.A few breaths caught.The man pushed on, emboldened by his own survival instincts.“After all… you practically tore through Mercer border defenses. If the Mercers refuse trade, the Holt mages may refuse aid in solidarity. Or worse—they may distance themselves from the crown entirely.”A quiet wave of murmurs followed. Concern disguised as loyalty. Fear disguised as strategy.Damian didn’t even blink.“I will

 Alessio’s voice came out sharp, immediate—protective in the way only family could be when the threat wasn’t a blade but a sentence. “Rowan Mercer is still unstable,” he snapped. “His body is recovering, his mind is recovering—if you’re implying the Dravens want him dragged into some ritual or prophecy—” Ezekiel’s mouth curved. Not kind. Not cruel. Amused. “Lord Alessio,” he said smoothly, “it was a guess.” Alessio froze, like he’d been baited and only realized it after his teeth were already in the hook. Ezekiel tilted his head. “A ver

 Damian didn’t waste the quiet. “Lucian,” he said, already moving, already done waiting. “I want every family contacted. Personally. No letters passed through clerks, no softened language. You will tell them the truth—where their kin were, how they died, and why.” Lucian’s mouth tightened. “That will make enemies.” Damian looked at him. “They already exist. At least this way, they won’t be blind.” Lucian inclined his head once and turned on his heel. “I’ll need more ink. And less sleep.” “Luxury,” Damian said mildly. “You’ll survive.” 

Sereia and Cassian Mercer departed first.Damian had given them clear instructions—rebuild what was broken. Borders. Trust. Whatever could still be salvaged without spilling more blood. Sereia left already calculating costs and casualties. Cassian left with plans for words instead of weapons. Together, they were damage control in human form.When the doors finally closed behind them, the chamber exhaled.So did Damian.It was subtle—just a loosening of his shoulders, the faintest release of tension—but Nathan saw it. Ivy did too. You didn’t grow up Cross without learning how to read silence.Damian turned immediately. “Lucian. Inform the prophet. He gets the full account of this meeting. No omissions.”Lucian grimaced. “He’ll hate that.”“All the better,” Damian replied. “Let him arrive irritated instead of curious.”Lucian inclined his head and left, already muttering about saints and headaches.Damian then looked to Alessio. “Begin preparations for departure. Quietly. I want the sit

Ezekiel didn’t look away from the cave when he spoke again.“There’s another reason,” he said mildly, “why almost all royal-born have green eyes.”Nathan shifted his weight, wary now. “I’m listening.”“Most people think green eyes are just pretty proof of royal blood,” he said lazily, pacing again in slow, unhurried circles around Nathan. “But pretty things are rarely simple… and royals are rarely honest.”He plucked a stray blade of grass from the cracked earth and rolled it between his fingers.“The old belief,” he said, voice lowering, “was that the first royal houses were bound to the land itself. Not metaphorically. Literally.”His gaze flicked pointedly toward the cracked ground around the collapsed cave.“Green is not just a color. It is endurance, rebirth, and possession. The land chooses them as much as they claim it. Kingdoms don’t rise because of water or air—they rise because something stays put long enough to build upon.”He stopped in front of Nathan again, smiling that