Page 44

I had lived through more than a few horrid dinners, and two of those men sat across from me now. Charles, with his familiar golden eyes, and Victor, whose presence filled the space like a suffocating rain cloud. There wasn’t enough wine to drown the stare the king gave me.

Charles twirled his fork, slicing through the silence. “How many guards would you like at the wedding?” he asked the king. “We can’t risk an attack from the Forgotten during such a high-profile event.”

“Three at every entrance,” the king replied, his voice firm.

The humming in my ears rose to a roar. What even was my life now? A girl with fire in her blood, shadows at her call, and life in her touch, now trapped in a gilded cage, promised off in a political bargain.

“Severyn.” Charles’s voice cut through the fog. “What color flowers would you like? We’ve asked you three times.”

“Flowers?” I blinked, dazed. “I don’t… I don’t care. Pick whatever.”

“Hellebores?” Damien offered, all silk and charm. “Isn’t that your favorite? Fortunately, they’re in bloom in Night.”

“No.” The word snapped sharper than I meant. “No flowers.”

Charles slammed his goblet against the table. “It’s tradition. ”

“Then pick something else. Just not hellebores.”

“Roses, then,” Victor said smoothly, lifting his glass with a smile. “They grow well in our orchard. Roses are timeless.”

We ate in silence after that. Damien kept nudging me beneath the table, probably hoping I’d smile at him. Maybe he thought I still meant to keep that promise.

But I didn’t.

The king excused himself after dinner, and Charles stepped out to take a message from Lorna, leaving just Victor, Damien, and me alone.

“How can you want this?” I asked Victor, “You saw me with Archer not even two seasons ago. How can you sit here and discuss flowers?”

Victor lifted his chin. “My son made his bed. He chose to force an heirship on you, and if love was the reason, then my love for my son will save him from his foolish mistake.”

“I don’t believe this,” I hissed. “You don’t love your son. If you did—” My voice cracked. “You’d let him love who he wants.”

Victor’s face hardened. “Your mother and I had a complicated relationship. We were rivals, but she knew that title would never go to her because of her power. She bartered her way through school, and perhaps I learned something from her.”

I scoffed. “My mother did this? This… arrangement was her idea?”

“Yes,” Victor said. “She wanted you to live in Ravensla, and I agreed to that barter. Reina was her friend. Perhaps her death wounded us both.” He rose from his chair, the wood creaking beneath him. “Love breaks walls, but it builds them, too. A forced hand doesn’t have to be barren of hope.”

I glanced at Damien. His expression wasn’t one of devastation or even betrayal. Just quiet sadness. The kind that came from knowing that I would never love him .

Victor straightened his coat. “I expect you both to cooperate. In time, you’ll learn to accept the marriage. Reina and I did. And look at us, two powerful sons and a guard.”

The silence that followed his departure was heavy, the air between us strained and still.

Damien pushed back from the table, his hands braced against its edge. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Damien,” I said, my voice low and sharp. “What did you expect to happen tonight?”

He turned just slightly. “You didn’t smile. You embarrassed me in front of my father. But I thought you might at least pretend we were once friends.”

Tears stung my eyes. “To me, you died, Damien. And now you’re just a bastard forcing me to marry you.”

His fist slammed down on the table, rattling the plates. “Do you think I want this? To stand there knowing the girl I’m meant to marry will always love my brother?”

He inhaled sharply, struggling to contain it. “But you didn’t think of me. Not once. I’m the man, Sev. I’m expected to be strong. Always. But you can’t read my mind. How do you know I’m not breaking at the seams?”

I stood at my sides. “You never wanted me. Not really. You hated what a bond would reveal. You said I wouldn’t like what was in your mind.” My voice cracked, but I didn’t stop. “You had your chance, Damien. And you ruined it.”

“You were enamored with Archer the moment you saw him. He killed seven for you, pretended to withhold a cure, and now Kian is forced into Malvoria while a war is beginning. Love should not kill others, Severyn. It shouldn’t become tyranny.

I’m not saying you should choose me, but the other choice doesn’t exist. You don’t fight for your heart when he’s holding your breath captive. ”

“Then show me your mind, Damien. Show me the secrets—everything. I’m not going to sleep with you, so don’t give me that look. But rider bonds form between wards. I want a moment.”

“You’ve seen my mind, and you ran from it.” He turned away before I could answer and I didn’t stop him. I didn’t call out or apologize. I let him leave, and I didn’t care to fix what was already broken.

For a second, I considered sleeping outside. Escaping the suffocating weight of this place. But I’d asked for honesty, for access to his mind, and he’d denied me again.

I didn’t plan on sleeping tonight. Not with the memories. Not when I could still feel Archer’s hands on me, even in the silence Damien had left behind.

The invitations were sent out three mornings later. Off-white parchment laced with silver foil, announcing the unification of two realms. A marriage. With my name beneath his.

Severyn Lynch.

The death of me.

Frost should have blanketed the hills by now.

The roots should have withered. But in Ravensla, the coldest thing was the midnight mist. The heat never faded, and I was beginning to hate the sunlight that never left.

Even the copper-rich soil kept blooming.

No wonder this realm thrived. Nothing ever died when it was supposed to.

I wanted to burn the estate. Burn the entire Continent if that was what it took to escape. A small fire would do for now. Just enough smoke to cover my exit.

Damien hadn’t said a word the morning the invitations were sent, but when he stormed out onto the porch, his shirt half-buttoned and eyes blazing, I knew he’d seen the fire .

“Burn the whole damn estate down, Severyn,” he shouted. “See if I care.”

I shrugged, keeping my expression flat. “I haven’t used my quell in a week. If I don’t release it soon, I’ll start burning everything I touch.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie.

He kept coming, jaw clenched. “Marriage is a contract. We don’t have to share a bed or even speak. You can live in Demetria. Your father gets his sunlight back, and everything works out.”

I scoffed. “And you’re fine with a loveless marriage?”

His smile twisted. “With you? Yes.”

“And without me?” I asked, voice quieter now. “You’ll find what I won’t give you with someone else?”

“There are plenty of offers.”

My hands curled into fists. “I won’t be made a mockery.”

He didn’t breach my shield. He didn’t have to.

“You have two choices,” Damien said. “Marry me completely, or don’t. But we stay bound by name alone. I’ll find the rest elsewhere.”

I didn’t blink. “That’s the difference between us. You think love is something owed.”

“Don’t paint me as heartless.”

“Then stop acting like it.”

His voice lowered. “You’re not afraid to love me. You’re afraid that loving us both would break you.”

I pulled my shield tighter around my mind. “No, Damien. I’m not afraid of love. I’m afraid of belonging to you.”

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

My breath caught. That hadn’t come from his mouth. It came from inside. Holy gods. I just heard his thoughts.

I stepped closer, flame curling at my fingertips. I touched them to his jaw. “Do you want to marry me?” I asked .

His mind reached for mine, and I burned him out.

“No,” I whispered. “If I can’t read your mind, you don’t get to read mine.”

“Let me in,” he said. “Please. I need to know what you’re thinking.”

“Drop your shield first.”

He shut his eyes. “I don’t know how.”

Archer had once told me that bonds, especially rider bonds, could deepen when you least expected. Maybe this was the only way—to pretend I cared, just long enough to see the unfiltered chaos inside his mind.

“Just try,” I said quietly. “Because I don’t know how to trust you anymore.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll try.” His hand rose to my cheek. I should have pulled away, but I didn’t. The air shifted. Magic stirred around us, a blend of quells, wards, and that breathless hum of something beginning to wake. And I felt it. The fragile barrier between us was unraveling.

And then, clear as fire-fed wind, his thought slipped through again like smoke under a door: “ She’ll never forgive me for what I’ve done.”

It was a sense of dread I felt deep in my bones. He didn’t even realize it. He couldn’t have, because why would he say that?

I didn’t react. Didn’t breathe. If I was going to marry someone I couldn’t forgive... Gods help me.

“I need to know,” I said carefully. “Why didn’t you tell me you were alive?”

“You seemed happy.”

“Why did you lie?”

“I don’t know.”

Then another whisper from his mind crept through our bond. “ Because I loved you. ”

Was he letting them slip on purpose, or was I finally breaching his shield? “Did you tamper with my father’s mind at the titling ceremony?”

“No, Sev.”

But the thought came louder. “I was surprised he gave her up so easily.”

“And if I gave in,” I asked, inching closer, “if I said yes to this arrangement… would that be enough for you?”

He leaned in. “I’d be satisfied with a smile, Severyn.”

Then his gaze flicked past my shoulder. “And… your brother’s watching.”

“Charles?” I turned.

But Damien caught my jaw, gently guiding my face back to his. “I’m still owed that handhold.”

“No,” I said flatly, stepping away.

A gust of cold wind swept between us as Charles approached. “Severyn. May I speak with you?” He shot Damien a look. “Alone.”

This wasn’t just my brother standing before me, it was the royal guard of Malvoria. And honestly, if he ordered me back with him, I might’ve gone.

I followed him past the estate walls, toward the cliffside fence where the ocean roared below. For a long moment, he didn’t speak. Just stared at me, jaw tight, like he didn’t know where to start.

“I came by the other night,” he said at last. “Wanted to see if the rumors were true, that my little sister was marrying the heir of Ravensla.” He studied my face. “I can see it now. You don’t want this.”

“Father made a bargain,” I muttered. “I can’t just walk away.”

“I can’t say much. The wards are still active. But there’s a way out of this. ”

My breath hitched. “How?”

Charles dropped to one knee, clutching the stone fence like it might hold him together. “Give me a minute,” he rasped. “I need to close my bond with Lorna.”

I knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Charles…”

“Sev…” His voice cracked. “I’ve been a shit brother. I should’ve told you about the bargain. I tried to warn you at the academy, that you needed to claim Victor’s title before Damien could. But I never thought… I never thought he’d actually follow through.”

“Charles—” My throat tightened.

“Run, Sev,” Charles said. “Take Naraic. Cross the borders near the Iron Wastes, there’s distant family waiting for you there.”

“The Forgotten?” I hissed. “You can’t be serious, Charles. They are not family.”

“Mother has fled, she’s gone, and I’ll be forced to fight against her. You can warn them.”

“I don’t understand. You’re the lead guard. Why are you telling me to run to our enemies?”

“Because I’d rather fight against you than force you to kill your own blood,” Charles said, his voice low. “There’s a war coming, Sev. Soon. And if you don’t leave now, you’ll be dragged into it.” He paused. “The higher-ups know about your quell. They know you can heal the dead.”

My breath caught. “You said I was only accused of having a forbidden power.”

“If you marry him,” he said, “you lose your chance to run. Marriage is a magical bind, Sev. Like a rider bond. And once it’s sealed, Night is too far for it to reach. You’ll be stuck here—trapped in Ravensla.”

“How do I leave? Verdonia is my home. ”

“Run, and don’t look back.”

“What if I want to fight?” The words slipped out before I could stop them.

“You have a choice that I don’t. None of this was ever my choice.”

In that moment, I saw the truth in him. He was the brother who had killed his own blood to keep him from the prisons. Once the golden child, now worn down to iron.

I touched his cold cheek. “Charles, stop.”

“My choices will haunt me forever.”

“I know why you did it. I saw the prisons…”

Ice settled in his eyes. “I don’t deserve forgiveness. And I can’t prove your forbidden quell. But if I had the choice…” He hesitated. “I’d take it from you.”

“At the prisons—”

Charles raised a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. The less I know, the better. You’ve scratched the surface of what they do to criminals there.”

“You never talked about it. You glorified the institute and told me I’d make ranks fast. You hurt others to grow. You beat them to lead the outposts.”

“Sev. Pick your battles, and the poisons.”

“What if I marry him? Save Father’s land, and keep our legacy?”

“Then you die without a fight.” He raised his leather-covered hands and dropped them to his sides, turning on his heel. “And Mother raised you better than that.”