Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 20

"The order was simple," Sable said. "Protect the bloodline. Never reveal the order exists. Not to the bloodline itself, not to anyone in power, not even to the king I served.""Why?" I asked. "If you're trying to protect me, why hide it from the one person who could actually help?""Because the last time our order trusted a king with this information, it got back to the people hunting us." Her eyes flicked to Draven. "Not you. Before you."Draven's jaw tightened, but he said nothing, letting her continue."Ysolde's location leaked from inside a royal court," Sable said. "We never learned which one. That's why the rule exists. Trust no throne completely, because thrones talk to each other, and money buys loyalty faster than blood does."My stomach turned cold. "You think someone in Virell sold her out.""I think it's possible someone in Virell has been working with the people hunting this bloodline for longer than any of us realized." Sable's voice dropped lower. "And I think the same

"Now!" Draven's shout cut through the chaos, and we ran.I stayed low behind him, Sable at my back, arrows cutting the air around us as we broke from cover and sprinted across the square. A man dropped from a rooftop directly into our path, blade already swinging, and Draven took him down in one motion, fast and brutal, barely breaking stride."Keep moving!" Sable shoved me forward when I froze.We reached the gap between buildings just as another attacker lunged from the shadows, and this time I didn't freeze. Instinct took over faster than thought, and I twisted away from his blade the way Cassian had drilled into me years ago, driving my elbow hard into his ribs. He staggered, and Draven finished what I'd started before the man could recover."Through here," Draven said, pulling us into a narrow alley that opened onto the road beyond the village.The fighting behind us hadn't stopped, but the sound of it grew fainter with every step, and by the time we reached the treeline at the e

"Take the ring off," Sable said."Are you insane?" I stared at her across the empty training yard, the morning air still cold enough to bite through my sleeves. "You saw what happened last time.""That's exactly why we're doing this now, in a controlled space, instead of somewhere it happens again without warning." Sable crossed her arms. "You can't suppress this forever, Elara. Ysolde tried. It killed her faster than the people hunting her did."My stomach twisted at that, but I pulled the ring off anyway, my fingers trembling slightly as I tucked it into my pocket.Nothing happened at first. I stood there in the empty yard, waiting, half expecting the gold light to come crawling back beneath my skin the way it had before."Now what?""Now you try to feel it," Sable said. "Not fight it. Just notice it's there."I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but all I felt was the cold morning air and my own racing heartbeat, nothing that resembled the burning pull from before."I don't feel an

I couldn't sleep, so I went looking for answers myself.Varek's study sat at the far end of the east wing, dark and empty at this hour, the door left unlocked in a way that felt almost like an invitation. I told myself I'd only look. I told myself that twice more before I actually pushed the door open.The room smelled like old parchment and cold ash from a long-dead fire. Shelves lined every wall, stacked with ledgers and correspondence, and I moved through them quickly, quietly, my heart hammering with every creak of the floorboards beneath my feet.Most of it was ordinary. Trade reports. Border patrol schedules. Letters from minor lords requesting favors Varek had clearly denied. Nothing that looked like proof of betrayal, nothing that matched the cold, clinical tone of the letter Draven's guard had intercepted.Then I found the drawer that wouldn't open.Locked, deliberately, unlike everything else in the room. I ran my fingers along the edge, searching for a latch or a weakness,

I couldn't stop seeing Bram's face.I found Draven on the same terrace where Mordreth had first landed, standing alone at the edge overlooking the mountains, the night air cold enough to bite through my sleeves."You should be resting," he said without turning around."So should you."He didn't argue. I moved to stand beside him instead, close enough that our shoulders nearly touched, and for a long moment neither of us said anything at all."He served my father for fifteen years," Draven said finally. "I used to think that kind of loyalty meant something permanent. Tonight proved me wrong.""Grief made him dangerous," I said. "Not disloyalty. At least, that's what he believed about himself.""Does that make it easier?""No." I wrapped my arms around myself against the cold. "But it makes it more honest than pretending he was simply evil. People rarely are, even when the things they do are."Draven turned to look at me then, something unreadable moving behind his eyes. "You've had a h