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He didn’t answer. Instead, his daggers clinked as he walked the line of heirs.

“The Forgotten have called for war. They want their land back. And we, the Malvoria guards, have chosen to fight. If we win, they’ll stay out of Verdonia.

But that choice came with a bargain, one that required every heir to fight. ”

Caius jerked forward. “You bargained our lives?”

“A fair bargain,” said Rok. “The Forgotten believe this land was stolen. They think only one ruler should reap its power. That is how the first war began. Heirs and rulers whose power shaped the borders. The Forgotten expect us to fight them, but they do not know we have a weapon on our side.”

His gaze slid to me.

“Severyn Blanche. She holds a forbidden quell. One that can save lives. With conditions, of course. A life must be taken to save her own.”

“Shut up,” I spat. “No.”

Rok tilted his head. “You asked for answers, Severyn. A desperate plea opened a whole new door.”

“No one will die for me.”

“Maybe no one here . But you have an entire realm sworn to protect you whether they want to or not.”

He wouldn’t. Not after what he said last night. Not after Delair .

“You know what it’s like,” I hissed. “I’ll die before I let you touch Demetria. I am not your weapon.”

Rok’s smile returned, slow and cruel. “Your shadow lover should’ve been friendlier. I imagine most would favor a second chance at life. They’re heirs. A civilian’s life means nothing.”

“I won’t let you,” I choked out. “I’ll end myself. I swear it.”

But maybe everything he’d said last night was a lie.

“A life worth shattering a bond is unusual, if you ask me,” Rok mused. “Almost like he knew to break the bond with his dragon.”

“He didn’t know—” I started, but the words caught. He had known, even before the pearled wings rose when Naraic chose me. Even before I stepped outside that cabin the morning after a beast swiped at him.

Find him. Maybe he’d read Klaus’s stories. Maybe he knew more about what was coming. All at once, I realized those journals he had kept of Klaus’s had every answer for him.

Damien’s voice cracked through my shield.

“I warned you, Sev. Archer does what he wants. Hate me all you want, but you know the truth.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Rok lifted his arms in mock surrender. “Then where is he? A boat takes a day and a half to reach us. He’s not in a hurry. You’re just an heir.”

“He wouldn’t,” I said—but doubt curled around the words like smoke.

“Think, Severyn,” Rok said, sharper now. “He severed the bond with his beloved dragon. An heir is always replaceable. That’s the foundation of the Serpent Academy.”

Maybe I was. The fifth to claim. Grasping at the edge of a dying title, with false blood in my veins. The heir of a realm I’d never truly belonged to. And that sinking feeling? I’d known it before .

Rok raised his hand, voice rising. “Who will fight? We won’t get another chance before the Forgotten strike again. Next time, it might be your home.”

Bridger stepped forward. “I will.”

Three others followed, their steps slow and uncertain.

“I’ll fight,” Kian said, gripping his daggers like they were the only things keeping him upright.

Rok snorted. “Of course you will. You’re a guard.”

“Oh. Right . Everyone was doing it. Seemed dramatic,” Kian muttered, mostly to himself.

“You’re a coward,” I snapped, my voice brittle with anger and something close to grief.

Rok’s expression shifted. “And you,” he said coldly, “are weak. You’ll never survive as a leader.”

But it was my power that had sealed Demetria’s shields. My blood that spilled to make Archer’s heir. I did survive.

Rok threw a dagger at my boots. “Take it. Combat class starts now. And that blood won’t clean itself up in the dungeons.”

I glared at the dagger but said nothing as I picked it up. Then Damien’s hand brushed my elbow, and I flinched back. “Please go away,” I said, barely holding it together.

He glanced at the dagger, then met my gaze with an unsettling calm. “I’ve seen the terror in your mind. You won’t be mopping up blood.”

I forced back the sting of tears. “Honestly, Damien—fuck you. You knew this would happen when he siphoned your quell.”

Damien scoffed. “Looks like your little plan backfired, Sev.”

Kian stepped in, uncertain. “Look, I don’t know what happened, but if you lose in combat, they’ll use that weakness against you. Can you two just... get along? For everyone’s sake?”

Damien didn’t even look at him. And I realized this was their first time speaking in years. Kian’s swollen eyes said it all. There’d been no reunion between them .

I gestured to both of them. “Between us? I could say the same for you two.”

The last time they’d seen each other was six years ago, before Damien was sent to that strange boarding school he had mentioned a few times.

Kian shoved his hands deep into his leather pockets. “He’s an elite now. He doesn’t care about me.”

As much as I hated Damien, Kian deserved a proper family. So, I shoved Damien forward. “Hug him. He’s your brother.”

Damien raised a brow, arms slowly unfolding. “Being inflicted by Severyn isn’t exactly a blessing.”

Kian laughed and yanked him into a rough hug. “I tried flirting with her once. Archer didn’t take it well.”

“Of course not,” Damien said flatly. “What’s more romantic than risking everything to sleep with your dead best friend’s sister?”

Kian shoved him back. “Watch it. I don’t like the way you talk about her.”

Damien’s gaze sharpened. “So, you two are close now?”

“Closer than you and I,” Kian muttered. “I don’t see you for six years and this is how you treat me?”

But Damien didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch. “You never believed me about our mother.”

Kian’s shoulders tensed. “I was barely a teenager. I’d just lost her. Then I lost you.” His fist hovered, then dropped. “No one gave a damn about me except for Archer.”

I nudged Kian gently. “Come on. Let’s go before we get paired with the worst fighters.”

Behind us, Damien’s expression twisted into something I recognized. It was that look he made when he couldn’t read me. The one that reminded me he’d never fully understand me.

Once we were out of earshot, Kian exhaled sharply. “He’s alive... and he doesn’t care that I mourned him. ”

“Don’t let him get to you,” I said gently. “He was never dead. Not really. I mourned every version of him I thought I knew.”

Kian kicked at a loose stone, sending it skittering across the path. “Yeah, well, I nearly lost my mind for weeks. Even my father never said a word about it. Just let me believe he was gone.” He let out a tired breath. “Both my brothers are powerful elites. And me? I’m just... here.”

It should’ve been him. Not me.

“I need you to rise in the ranks,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Focus on that. If you don’t, they’ll shove you aside and leave you mopping up blood for the rest of your life here.”

Kian’s mouth twisted. “When Damien accused our father of killing our mother, it was like everything went gray for him. He woke up screaming, convinced Victor had done it. My father couldn’t reason with him.”

“Archer never really spoke about that day.”

“Yeah. Guards had to drag Damien out. It was… horrible.”

“I’m sorry no one was there for you.”

“Archer tried to shield me, but I think he was just delaying the inevitable.”

We stepped into a rowdy circle of lost heirs. Most looked like they hadn’t fought since their Serpent days. The guards stretched nearby, flaring quells and flashing scars like trophies.

“I get it,” I said quietly. “I’m the youngest in my family, too. They all tried to protect me, but now I’m crashing headfirst into everything they kept from me.”

Kian placed a hand on my shoulder. “Cheers to being underestimated since birth.” He took a breath. “And I’ll try to rise the ranks. Unfortunately, I got the charm, not the strength in my gene pool.”

Rok raised his arms and yelled. “We’ve got one week until war. Sorting begins now. Flame with flame, wind with wind. Your powers work best when quell-shared. Remember that. ”

“Flame with flame?” Caius sneered, his gaze locking on me from the side. “No. I’m not quell-sharing with that mud-wielder.”

Rok rolled his eyes. “Is that any way to treat your little sister?” He grinned, completely unbothered. “The scripts don’t lie.”

Caius’s nostrils flared. “She’s not my blood.”

Rok’s voice cut clean through the space. “I don’t care if she is or isn’t. You’ll fight beside her.”

Then he turned, pointing toward the cluster of shadow-wielders, his chin flicking toward Damien. “You’re with them. First round.”

Damien’s smirk was pure venom. I remembered sparring with him at the academy. He never lost once. And from the way he twirled his dagger now told me this wasn’t about victory, it was about dominance.

I summoned the flame to my palm, steadied my breath, and forced the tremor from my limbs. “Let’s get this over with,” I said.

Across the mat, Damien tilted his head, assessing me with all the arrogance of a predator. “I never noticed that you only have flame in one hand,” he said.

“You’re trying to distract me,” I said, jaw tightening. “And that’s because I have shadows in the other.”

But I was already too late.

A blast of shade slammed into my chest. I hit the ground hard, fingers clawing through dirt as the breath punched from my lungs.

“No,” Damien said, circling slowly. “Just stating facts. That flame could be stronger.”

“It’s not mine,” I whispered. “It never was. I inherited it.”

A voice cut through the air, low and familiar. “That’s because it’s mine. ”

Everything stopped in that moment. No breath, no breeze, no time between one heartbeat and the next. My world cracked open.

I turned and screamed, “Klaus!”