Page 10 of The Rivaled Crown (The Veiled Kingdom #3)

CHAPTER 10

DACRE

T he sun had just begun to set when the capital shifted into something else entirely.

By nightfall, the city moved with a different rhythm, slow and fevered. The capital was alive in the way all dying things were, clinging and desperate.

The streets, once bustling with the shouts of merchants and beggars, had grown quieter, but not empty. Never empty.

The king’s guards patrolled in thick rotations, their torches flickering like the last remnants of a world the king was burning to the ground.There were more of them than there had been yesterday, and that was a problem.

I tugged at the stiff collar of my stolen uniform, trying to ignore the suffocating weight of the fabric against my skin. The crest embroidered on my chest made my stomach churn, but Micah had been right. This uniform, this guise, it was the only way we were getting inside the palace.

Still, it made my skin crawl.

“Do you see them?” Wren’s voice was barely more than a whisper. She crouched low beside me, her fingers hovering just above the handle of her dagger as her eyes scanned the streets.

Kai was just behind us, blending into the shadows of the alleyway. His magic hummed softly in the air, weaving an illusion around us, a simple stretch of empty cobblestone where our bodies should have been.

A well-placed distraction, one that had kept us hidden thus far, but Kai couldn’t hold it for much longer.

Magic never came without a cost.

I exhaled slowly, watching the guards move in pairs along the perimeter of the palace gates. Micah had given us everything we needed: rotation schedules, blind spots, weaknesses in their patrols. He had spent enough time as a guard to know the weak points, enough timeat the king’s sideto know where the cracks were in his defenses.

But there were more guards on patrol now than he said there would be, more guards than I had ever seen before.

Something was wrong.

“There are more than Micah said,” I murmured.

The guard presence had doubled. Tripled. They weren’t just patrolling. They were bracing for something.

A sharp, icy shiver raced down my spine as the thought consumed me. Despite everything Micah had done, I had still let him become part of our plan to get to Verena.

I had ignored my instincts, buried them deep, and now they resurfaced with a vengeance.

What if Micah had given us the wrong information? What if he led us into a trap?

“They’re on edge.” Wren’s muttered words mirrored the unease that crept through me. “Something has them spooked.”

Kai shifted beside us, his magic pulsing. “Then we use it.”

His voice was steady, but I could see the way his fingers flexed. He was already preparing to push his magic further than he should.

“Not yet,” I cautioned.

He let out a sharp exhale but nodded.

We needed to move. The plan was already set. We had mapped it out last night, traced every step through the tunnels beneath the city after my grandmother convinced me how big of a fool I was to try to charge into the palace.

If we could get inside undetected, we’d have a fighting change.

And a chance was all I needed.

I swallowed the dry burn in my throat. My bond with Verena pulsed faintly in my chest, a tether that refused to break.

She was alive.

I could feel it with every beat of my heart, but she was suffering.

And I was running out of time.

The passage was still hidden beneath a thick curtain of ivy at the edge of the city’s perimeter.

I hesitated for only a breath before I gripped the lip of the opening and dropped down into the dark.

My boots slammed into the unforgiving ground, sending a jolt of pain through my knees.

The silence engulfed me, only the sounds of Wren and Kai landing beside me broke it.

The statue loomed in the darkness, its stony eyes watching us. Watching me.

I ran my fingers along its weathered surface as we passed, and I wished I hadn’t as that same feeling from before coursed through me. This place felt like a grave.

We moved quickly, our footsteps muffled against the damp ground as we followed the tunnel forward. I could hear a steady drip of water echoing off the walls, creating an eerie symphony that seemed to follow us.

My heart raced as I took a deep breath and pushed forward. We walked for what felt like an eternity, before finally, a faint light flickered ahead.

We were close.

I crept forward, pressing myself against the stone as I peered through the opening. A corridor stretched ahead, silent and empty for now. With a slow exhale, we pushed forward.

Micah told us that Verena had been moved from the dungeons to her room, which meant we needed to go up.

But as we reached the end of the hall, I froze. A figure stood in the shadows, his uniform identical to mine.

A palace guard.

I motioned for Kai and Wren to stay back. My heart pounded as I stepped forward, every muscle in my body tense, ready to spring into action.

The guard didn’t move, but his gaze was fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

Micah had said nothing about a guard being on patrol here.

“Who goes there?”

I continued forward, refusing to falter as I kept my voice steady. “Just patrolling the lower levels. Everything is secure.”

The guard’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not supposed to be down here.”

“I was about to say the same of you.” I moved closer to him, and I mentally tallied the weapons on my body. “Who approved you for this patrol?”

There was a flicker of uncertainty then came his anger. “You little…”

I didn’t let him finish before I charged.

My dagger found its mark between his ribs with ease. The blade slid in clean, and he gasped, a strangled noise escaping his lips. I pressed my other hand over his mouth, shielding the sound as I lowered him to the ground. His eyes were still open, glazed with shock.

I didn’t look away, even as his breathing stopped, and I didn’t allow myself to feel even a flicker of remorse for taking his life.

Wren crouched beside me, fingers wrapping around the hilt of my dagger as she pulled it free. She wiped the crimson blood on his tunic, meeting my gaze.

“We need to move.” Kai reached down and gently wrapped his hand around Wren’s arm before pulling her back to her feet.

I nodded, feeling my heart race as I stood, releasing a slow exhale through my nostrils.

I swallowed hard, the sudden taste of iron thick on my tongue.

Verena was close. I could feel her.

We reached the final door, a massive slab of iron that bore the weight of time and wear, and I wrapped my fingers around the cold handle and pulled.

Its hinges groaned in protest, the sound loud and bouncing off the dungeon walls that stretched before us.

The hall was cold and dark as we stepped inside, empty, but then I felt it, her magic. It pulsed like a second heartbeat beneath my skin, curling through me, pressing against my ribs.

“What’s wrong?” Wren gripped my arm and tried to force me to look at her. But I shook off her touch and darted through the rows of cells, searching frantically for any sign of Verena.

My heart pounded in my chest, threatening to cave it in, as I scanned each cell, my palms growing slick with sweat. The dank smell of metal and mold filled my nostrils, but I could still taste blood on my tongue.

“Verena is close,” I hissed. “I can feel her.”

My breath came in ragged gasps as I whipped around, searching for any sign of her.

“Where is she?” My voice was sharp, panicked.

Kai’s footsteps echoed behind me as he backtracked. “I’m going up into the palace. Micah said they had moved her to her room. If she’s not down here…”

I was barely listening as I scrambled to find her, but then, a scream.

Muffled, distant, but unmistakable in its terror.

My entire body wrenched, my magic snapping tight like it had been hooked and dragged forward.

Verena.

The sound of her scream tore through me, and I was running before I could think. Kai and Wren were at my heels, their weapons drawn.

Another scream. This time closer. Down. She was below us.

I ran harder, shoving the door open and tearing down the stairs.

The thick, metallic scent of blood filled my senses, almost causing me to retch as I gripped the rough wall for support.

I gritted my teeth, forcing my body forward down the narrow staircase that creaked beneath my weight.

Her scream came again, this time closer. It fueled a fire within me as we reached the bottom of the staircase.

“Dacre.” Her voice was so weak, so broken.

But I heard it, and I did not stop.