جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 260

The palace erupted into chaos within minutes, servants and guards alike rushing through every corridor, checking every room, every closet, every space large enough to hide even the smallest infant. Nolan moved through the frenzy like a man possessed, his fury barely contained beneath a thin veneer of composure, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as though he might tear the walls down with his bare hands if it meant finding his daughter one moment sooner."Check the towers," he barked at a passing guard. "Check the cellars, the stables, every wagon leaving through the gates. No one leaves this palace without being searched thoroughly, do you understand me?"The guard nodded frantically and rushed off to relay the order, and Nolan turned to find Gianna standing near the empty crib, her posture rigid, her eyes dry despite the devastation clearly written across every line of her face."You should be crying," he said, moving toward her, uncertain what else to say in the face

The strange guard gave them what he could, or claimed he could, before Elmund's men bound him securely and dragged him back toward the palace for further questioning. He named the general direction of Vaelthorn, described a mountain pass that marked its border, and warned, with that same infuriating smile, that they would find the journey far harder than the telling of it.Back within the palace walls, Nolan wasted no time assembling his forces. He called together his most seasoned warriors, men who had fought beside him through the darkest days of his reign, choosing each one carefully with an eye toward both skill and unshakable loyalty."We leave within the hour," he announced, moving through the war room with brisk, purposeful strides, maps already spread across the table before him. "Pack light. We travel fast.""I'm coming with you," Gianna said, standing at the edge of the room, her arms crossed, her expression daring him to argue.Nolan looked up, and though concern flickered

They broke camp at first light, the strange, unnatural clouds still hanging low overhead, though they hadn't produced the storm Gianna had feared through the night. The entire group rode hard, following the general direction Wren's guidance had provided, pushing their horses as far as the animals could reasonably endure before finally slowing to conserve their strength for the days still ahead.Nolan rode in near total silence for most of the journey, his eyes fixed forward, his jaw set in a hard, unyielding line. Gianna understood the silence well enough. She recognized the same fear consuming him that gnawed at her own chest with every mile they covered, the terror that no matter how quickly they moved, they might still arrive too late.By late afternoon, exhaustion had begun taking its toll on both riders and horses alike, and Elmund suggested they stop briefly at a small village they'd spotted nestled at the base of a hill ahead, hoping to rest the animals and gather what supplies

The ground gave way in a rush of falling rock and dust, and for one heart-stopping moment Gianna felt her horse lurch violently beneath her, the animal's front legs sliding into the widening crack that had opened across the narrow path. She screamed, grabbing desperately at the saddle, but the horse's panic sent them both tilting dangerously toward the edge.Nolan reacted instantly, spurring his own horse forward and reaching across the gap between them, his hand closing around her arm with bruising force just as her horse stumbled fully off the crumbling ledge. He hauled her sideways with brutal strength, pulling her free of the saddle entirely as her terrified horse plunged over the edge alone, its scream cutting off abruptly moments later.Gianna clung to Nolan, her heart hammering against her ribs, gratitude and horror tangled together as she realized how close she'd come to following her horse into that fatal drop. But the relief was short-lived. Cries of alarm echoed from furthe

Nolan surged forward the moment he registered Gianna's warning, his instincts screaming at him to break the cell door down regardless of consequences, his need to reach his daughter overriding every ounce of caution he might otherwise have exercised."Wait," Elmund said sharply, grabbing his arm and holding him back with surprising strength. "This could be a trap, Nolan. Think. Why would they leave her so easily accessible, with no additional guards, no further obstacles? Something about this feels deliberately staged."Nolan's chest heaved with barely restrained fury, torn between the logic of Elmund's caution and the overwhelming need to simply act, to reach through those bars and pull his daughter free from whatever nightmare she'd been dragged into."We can't just stand here," he said, though he made no further move to force the door.Gianna's eyes swept carefully over the cell, searching for anything that might explain the strange, unsettling ease of their discovery. Her gaze fin