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“You swore to me,” Syrena began, her voice cutting through the heavy silence, “that you were powerless. A common man of Lephyrin. Yet now you stand before me in a private trial, caught wielding the power of flame and striking my guards.”

Draevyn’s jaw ticked. “It was a mistake, Your Majesty. They tried to?—”

“I will have silence, Draevyn,” the queen interrupted as she stood. “You lied to me and this court. You betrayed the trust extended to you when all we’ve given you is a roof over your head. We asked if you possessed magic and you lied.” A look to Esmyra. “ Both of you lied.”

To protect ourselves . He ached to voice the words as Esmyra flinched out of the corner of his eye.

“Syrena,” Esmyra said carefully, “the male who was burned cornered Draevyn and put his hands on him. His magic worked to protect him, just as our own would. I would like to know why that happened. He’s not a threat. He?—”

“No threat?” Syrena raised a brow. “The restraint he shattered, the flame he conjured to scorch my guard’s arm—do those sound harmless to you?”

Draevyn’s heart hammered in his chest as Esmyra defended him. He wasn’t aware of the customs of Maerinys or what a punishment for this would entail. He knew if he were anyone else back in Lephyrin, he would face the noose for something far less.

The silence hung heavy in the room, the air thick with unspoken consequences. He knew Esmyra’s hands would be tied.

Draevyn took a step forward, and the sound of shifting spears echoed as the guards watched his every movement. “I sincerely apologize and take full responsibility for the act and the lie. Don’t punish Esmyra. I’m the one to blame.”

Syrena crossed her arms. “You think I would punish my sister for your incident?”

“With all due respect, I know nothing of you or your kingdom. So yes, I feel the need to protect her. If the dungeons are what awaits me, then take me to them. If it’s a noose around my neck, then let me hang. I will accept the consequences for my actions, so long as she goes free.”

Draevyn’s life hadn’t been filled with many good deeds—his nickname, the Phoenix, was proof of that—but if his final act involved saving the woman who had repeatedly done the same for him, he’d embrace death as it came for him.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Esmyra whisper-shouted at his back, her voice cracking.

The skin around Syrena’s eyes tightened as she glanced back and forth between him and Esmyra. “We are not savages and brutes, as the kingdom you hail from, Draevyn,” she finally said. “I’m not without mercy, unlike your god .” She spat the last word.

Draevyn’s brows furrowed as she spoke ill of Irah, as if she held something personal against the god of rage and war.

The queen stepped down from the dais, her golden waves bouncing with the slow movements.

She held out her hand, and Azarian stepped up to her, placing some strange cuff in her palm.

“Now, I don’t know or understand how a common man can wield Irah’s flames, but what I do know is the destruction they can cause… ”

Draevyn bit the inside of his cheek, the veins in his neck straining as he sensed what was to come.

“Syrena?” Esmyra’s voice cut through the silence, but the queen’s eyes remained on Draevyn, assessing him.

“If you prove you can be trusted, this shall come off. But for my safety and that of my people, if you wish to roam as a free man during your time in Maerinys, you will wear this cuff.” Syrena held a bracelet up before him as she took a step toward him, mere feet in front of him now.

Draevyn tilted his head, hoping to mask the challenge in his stare with feigned curiosity. “Velsinyte, I would assume?” How they came into possession of it still gnawed at him.

“You would assume correctly.” A cruel gleam filled her eyes, the glint like polished obsidian. It left Draevyn wondering if he was being punished for his magic or for his refusal of the queen.

Before he could say another word, the cuff snapped onto his wrist, and the flame in his chest winked out. A shiver ran along his spine, and he gritted his teeth as an invisible weight pressed down on him, as if the depths were trying to crush him.

Esmyra stepped up to them then, trying to stand between them. “I swear to you, it will never happen again.”

Syrena looked toward her twin, and Draevyn never got used to how eerily similar they were.

“I know. This will make sure of it. He will wear it until I deem him fit to be trusted again. Should he remove it without my consent, the consequences will be far graver.” She looked to Draevyn and gave him a bone-chilling smile.

His jaw locked, clenching his teeth to keep his retort in.

“Consider yourself lucky, for if Esmyra didn’t vouch so greatly for you, you wouldn’t stand before me here and now,” Syrena continued.

Draevyn looked to Esmyra, and she averted her gaze to the floor, her jaw ticking.

“Now, if you wouldn’t mind,” Syrena continued, “I have other matters to attend to.” That kind smile fell into place once more in the center of her golden features, but Draevyn saw right through it as her eyes bore into him.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” He bowed, playing the part. “Your kindness will not be forgotten, nor taken for granted.”

And when he turned away from the dais and stalked out of the throne room, Esmyra didn’t follow.