All Chapters of The Beta's Forsaken Daughter : Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

Aelion POVI had been awake since dawn, and I had already changed my jacket three times."You look fine," said Thane, my guard captain, leaning against the doorframe of my guest suite with his arms crossed. "You looked fine the first time.""I am not worried about how I look.""Then why are you holding two jackets?"I looked down. He was right. I dropped the gold one on the bed and put on the red one. "The Princess is going to walk me around a palace. That is all.""Mm-hm." Thane's scarred eyebrow lifted. "That is why your marks are glowing?"I looked at my wrist. The gold lines under my skin were shining softly, like small candles. I pulled my sleeve down fast."That is the morning light.""It is cloudy.""Thane.""I am only saying." He pushed off the doorframe, grinning. "In eleven years, I have seen those marks glow for a battle, a funeral, and the day your mother made you sing at court. Never for a girl at breakfast.""She is not a girl at breakfast. She is a princess. And this is

Valerie POV "You want me to sit in on the treaty meeting," I said flatly. "I want you to sit in on the treaty meeting," Killian agreed. We were in the war room, three days later. Isabella stood by the window with her arms folded, and Killian was leaning on the marble table like this was a totally normal thing to ask his sister at eight in the morning. "Why? You hate when I sit in on meetings. You said I talk too much." "You do." He pushed a thick roll of parchment across the table. "Isabella read the draft last night. She thinks something is hidden in it, but she does not know the timber laws well enough to find it. You do." I looked at Isabella. She gave me a small, sly smile. "You once told me you could recite the whole trade code backward." "I said that when I was angry." "Were you lying?" "...No." "Good," Isabella said. "Then you are the best person for this." I unrolled the scroll. It was forty pages long. The words were tiny. "Fine," I said. "But if I find something,

Valerie POV For five days, I was the happiest I had ever been. Aelion took me to breakfast every morning. We walked the garden every afternoon. He learned which of my braids meant I was in a good mood, and I learned that he hummed when he read. He had a bad habit of leaving little gold sparks on everything he touched, and by the end of the week, half my books, two teacups, and one very confused housemaid were shimmering. He never rushed me. He never tried to kiss me. He held my hand sometimes, when nobody was around, and every time he did, his marks lit up like a lantern and I forgot how to breathe. Then, on the sixth day, I heard something I was never meant to hear. It was late in the afternoon. I was hurrying down the east corridor with a stack of party invitations, going to find Aelion, when I heard voices behind a half-open door. One of them was cold and dry. Lord Corvin. "...the Queen was very clear, Your Highness. It was in her letter." "I know what was in the lette

Aelion POV The war room felt smaller than it had that morning. Killian stood at the head of the marble table with his arms crossed. Isabella sat beside him, very still, her sharp eyes fixed on the black dagger lying in the middle of the map. General Marcus stood by the door. Thane stood behind me, close enough that I could hear him breathing. And Valerie was next to me. She had not let go of my hand since the balcony. Nobody in the room said a word about it. "Tell me about the blade," Killian said. "It is a Sunlit household dagger," I said. My voice sounded flat, even to me. "Gold hilt. Rising sun on the handle. Only the royal guard and the Queen's closest servants carry them." "How many exist?" "Forty. Each one has a number carved under the guard." I picked it up, turned it over, and found the tiny marks near the hilt. My stomach dropped. "Number twenty-two." "Whose is it?" Isabella asked. I did not answer right away. "Aelion," Valerie said softly. "It was given to Lord Cor

Isabella POV Nobody slept that night. By the time the sun came up, the war room smelled like cold tea and burnt candles. Killian was standing at the window with his hands behind his back. Marcus was slumped in a chair, rubbing his eyes. Valerie sat at the table with a blanket around her shoulders, staring at nothing. Aelion sat right beside her. He had not left her side once. "Say it again," Killian said. "Slowly." "The mark on Brann's chest," Aelion said. "It is called a Moon Seal. It is very old Fae magic. The Sunlit Realm banned it a hundred years ago." "Why?" "Because it does two things." He pressed his fingers to his forehead, like his head hurt. "It forces a person to obey. And it silences them if they try to say too much." "So whoever put it on Brann knew he might get caught," I said quietly. "Yes." "And Darius?" Aelion hesitated. His eyes flicked to Valerie, then back to me. "If Brann had one, then Darius probably has a stronger one." Valerie made a tiny sound. I pu