บททั้งหมดของ The Dragon King's Weak Mate: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

Kael's fury at the news was a quiet, controlled thing, more dangerous for its restraint than any outburst would have been, and Sable watched him absorb the full weight of what Torv's escape meant for everything they'd carefully built toward over the past days."Search every road leaving the mountain," Kael said, voice flat. "Eastern, southern, the old trade paths through the lower passes. I want to know which direction he took within the hour."Faelan was already moving, dispatching riders in every direction with the efficiency of a man who had anticipated exactly this possibility and prepared contingencies accordingly, though even his careful planning hadn't accounted for Torv managing to slip past the watch so completely."How did he get past the guards you posted?" Sable asked, once the immediate flurry of orders had been given."That's what worries me most," Kael admitted. "I had men stationed at every formal exit from the palace. If he left before dawn without being seen, he eith

The palace moved through its final preparations with the particular hush of a place bracing for something it could no longer delay, and Sable found herself, in the last quiet hours before Kastor's force reached the base of the mountain, standing once more in the garden where so much between her and Kael had first begun to shift.Faelan's teams had spent the day acting on Torv's ledgers, quietly detaining two minor nobles and a border pack elder whose support for Kastor had been bought outright, weakening the alliance considerably before a single soldier had even engaged in battle. The southern packs Sable had helped rally arrived throughout the afternoon, warriors filling the lower courtyards with a steady, determined presence that offered some comfort against the dread building with every report of Kastor's advance."You should be resting," Kael said, finding her there as the last light faded, his own exhaustion evident in the lines around his eyes despite the steadiness he still car

The first wave of Kastor's forces hit the eastern approach with a speed that caught even Faelan's careful preparations slightly off guard, riders breaking from the main body of the army in a coordinated charge meant to test the wall's defenses before the full assault began in earnest.Sable watched from the healer's hall window, having been sent there over her own protests, Kael's voice carrying no room for argument when he'd insisted she stay clear of the direct fighting this time, bond-mate or not. "You carry more value to this kingdom than a single sword arm on the wall," he'd told her, gripping her shoulders with a fierceness that left no doubt how much the insistence cost him. "If something happens to you, I will have no reason left to win this at all."She hadn't argued further, understanding the particular terror behind his request even as every instinct screamed at her to be useful somewhere closer to the danger. Instead, she positioned herself exactly where she'd proven most

The news landed like a physical blow after the hard-won relief of victory, and Sable felt Kael's arm tighten around her shoulders as the runner's words settled into the exhausted morning air."Show me," Kael said, voice gone flat with a fury that had nowhere left to spend itself after an entire night of battle.The lower dungeons sat beneath the eastern wing of the palace, accessible only through a narrow guarded stairway that had, until this morning, seemed secure enough to hold a single aging prisoner without incident. They found the cell exactly as the runner had described, door standing open, the lock itself unbroken, suggesting whoever had freed Torv possessed a key rather than any need for force."Who held duty here through the night?" Kael demanded of the guard captain waiting nervously near the stairs."Two men, my king. Both were pulled to the eastern wall when the battle turned, same as every able body in the palace. I take full responsibility. I thought a locked cell suffic

Kael's joy from moments before hardened instantly into something colder and more purposeful, the news settling over the balcony like a sudden drop in temperature, and Sable felt her own happiness tangle uncomfortably with the fresh urgency of the threat still unresolved beyond the mountain's walls."How long ago was he sighted?" Kael asked, already moving toward the door."Less than an hour, my king," the guard said. "The garrison commander sent the bird the moment his scouts confirmed the sighting, but by the time we organize riders and reach the watchtower ourselves, he may already be gone.""Then I won't wait for riders," Kael said, already shifting, scales rippling up his forearms with the same speed Sable had come to recognize whenever his fear for someone he cared about overrode his usual careful restraint. "I can reach the watchtower faster than any horse.""Kael, wait." Sable caught his arm before he could move further, old fear sharpening her voice despite understanding exact