Chapter Sixty-One

Ruth's POVI found Chen in the medical wing, preparing Luna's evening supplements.She looked up when I entered, her face soft with the gentle concern she had shown since the day we met. Her hands were steady as she measured compounds. Her movements were precise. Professional.The hands that had signed my mother's death record."Ruth." She smiled. "I was just about to send for you. Luna's charts show excellent progress.""Good." I kept my voice neutral. "I wanted to check on the preparations myself.""Of course." Chen gestured to the table where the supplements were arranged. "Everything is documented, as always. You can review the formulations if you'd like."I moved closer.Examined the vials. The measurements. The careful labels in her distinctive handwriting.The same handwriting I had seen in the old ward register."Dr. Chen." I kept my eyes on the supplements. "How long have you worked at Silver Crown?""Six years officially." She didn't hesitate. "Though I consulted here occasi

Last Updated : 2026-09-25

Chapter Sixty-Two

Ruth's POVI didn't arrest Chen.At two in the morning, I walked into the nursery and found her exactly where I expected—sitting in the rocking chair beside Luna's cradle, watching my daughter sleep with an expression I had once mistaken for devotion.Now I saw it for what it was.Guilt."Ruth." Chen started to rise. "Is something wrong? Is Luna—""Sit down."My voice was quiet. Controlled. The voice of a woman who had spent the last six hours deciding how to have this conversation.Chen sat.I took the chair across from her, the cradle between us. Luna slept peacefully, her silver eyes closed, her small chest rising and falling with each breath. Innocent. Unaware. The most precious thing in my world, placed in the care of a woman who had been betraying us from the beginning."I know." I met Chen's eyes. "About the message you sent. About the full moon. About everything."Chen's face went white."Ruth, I can explain—""I'm sure you can." I leaned forward. "I'm sure you have an explana

Last Updated : 2026-09-26

Chapter Sixty-Three

Ruth's POVI gave her the hour.Then I made a decision that would either redeem Idris or destroy what little trust remained between us."Find Langmore." I caught Idris in the corridor outside the nursery. "The two of you are going to extract two children from a house eleven miles north. You have fifty minutes."Idris's face showed nothing. "The twins Chen mentioned.""Seven years old. Innocent. Being used as leverage." I met his eyes. "This is your restoration, Commander. Bring them back alive, and we start fresh.""And if it's a trap?""Then you die protecting children." I didn't soften the words. "That's what Silver Crown guards are supposed to do."Idris nodded once and disappeared down the corridor.I found Langmore in his quarters, already pulling on boots. The tether between us had grown stronger over the past weeks—strong enough that he had felt my distress before anyone told him."Ruth." He stood. "What's happening?""Extraction mission." I watched his face. "Two children, ele

Last Updated : 2026-09-27

Chapter Sixty-Four

Ruth's POVShe was dead before the second watch.I found out at three in the morning, when Idris burst into my chambers with a face like carved stone. He didn't need to speak. The way he stood—the tension in his shoulders, the grief he couldn't quite hide—told me everything."How?" My voice came out hollow."No forced entry." Idris's jaw tightened. "No struggle. No sound. The guards heard nothing.""The same signature.""The same signature as the sentry outside Mara's cell." He met my eyes. "Quick. Professional. Impossible."I walked to the warded cell myself.It was deep in the manor's foundations—a room my father had shown me when I was fourteen, explaining that some secrets required absolute protection. No one outside the family knew it existed. The walls were reinforced. The locks were keyed to Nightshade blood.None of it had mattered.Chen lay on the narrow bed, her face peaceful, her eyes closed. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought she was sleeping. But her stillness

Last Updated : 2026-09-28

Chapter Sixty-Five

Ruth's POVThe name on the letter was still burning behind my eyes when Elena arrived.She came without being summoned—word of Chen's death had spread through the compound like wildfire, and Elena understood what her absence would mean. An infant on a medical tether. A King on a poison protocol. And no healer who understood either."I need Chen's charts." Elena's voice was steady as she entered the infirmary. "All of them. Every record she kept for Luna, every protocol she developed for Marcus."I pointed to the locked cabinet in the corner."Everything's there." My voice sounded distant to my own ears. "She was meticulous about documentation."Elena broke the seal—my authority, given without hesitation—and began pulling out stacks of carefully organized papers. Charts. Measurements. Dosage calculations. Five months of medical records covering every aspect of Luna's tether and my father's treatment.I watched her work.Part of me wanted to tell her about the letter. About the name Che

Last Updated : 2026-09-29

Chapter Sixty-Six

Ruth's POVThe packet contained more than a letter.We gathered in the war room—Elena, Idris, Langmore, and me. The door was sealed. The windows were shuttered. Whatever secrets Chen had left behind, they would not leave this room until I decided they should.I spread the contents across the table.The letter we had already read. The vial of dark liquid. The pressed wolfsbane flower. But beneath these were papers we hadn't noticed before—thin sheets folded into the packet's lining, hidden so carefully that only a thorough examination would reveal them.Instructions. Dated entries. A timeline that stretched back five months.To the week Langmore moved into Silver Crown."Read them aloud." Idris's voice was tight. "All of us need to hear this."I picked up the first page.Chen's handwriting was cramped, hurried, as if she had written under pressure."Week one." My voice sounded strange to my own ears. "Subject arrived as planned. Medical tether confirmed and documented. Twelve-hour wind

Last Updated : 2026-09-30