All Chapters of Chains Of The Heart: Chapter 81 - Chapter 83

The air in the room tightened—thick, metallic, like a blade being drawn.Nathan didn’t need to raise his voice; the shift happened in his spine, in his eyes. One heartbeat he was calmly talking about how amazing Lady Sereia was—next heartbeat he was Lord Nathaniel, heir of Cross, the commander who had survived Vitale courts and lived to sneer about it.“Lock the gates,” Nathan said calmly.Ivy's breath stuttered, then steadied, matching his.“Seal the western road first,” he continued, already moving. “Southern scouts favor fast routes. They’ll test us there before committing. Double the watchtowers. I want crossbows manned, not stored. Anyone without orders does not move.”Within seconds Ivy was issuing sharp orders to the guards as if a string had been yanked. The hall erupted—boots striking stone, armor rattling, messengers sprinting. Cross men snapped into formation with a fear-born reverence; no one questioned Nathan’s command, not with that look on his face, cold as a frostbite