Page 4 of The Rivaled Crown (The Veiled Kingdom #3)

CHAPTER 4

DACRE

T he rhythmic, constant dripping of water was the first thing I noticed. It echoed faintly against the cavernous stone, the sound bouncing inside my skull until I couldn’t tell if it was real or just my own mind turning against me. I blinked my eyes open, struggling to adjust to the dim light, my head pounding in time with the steady drips.

The stale, musty air told me all I needed to know.

I was back in the hidden city.

Not as a leader. Not even as a soldier. As a prisoner.

The irony would’ve been amusing if it weren’t for the iron cuffs locked around my wrists. I reached for my magic, but the iron simply burned against my skin. Truly a prisoner then.

A healer knelt beside me, his hands hovering over my chest. The faint hum of his magic prickled against my skin, a sensation that was both soothing and jarring, like a dull blade brushing too close. I recoiled instinctively, the motion making me groan in pain.

“Don’t move,” he ordered, his tone clipped.

I bit back the retort that rose to my lips.

I tried to piece together everything that had happened, the last moments that I could drag up through my memories. I had been with Wren and Kai, barely standing after they dragged me from the sea.

We hadn’t made it far.

I had been in no condition to run, my body weak from exhaustion, my hands torn from gripping the oars for gods knew how long. Even Kai had been struggling under the weight of my near-unconscious form.

And he had been in no shape to take them all on when they found us before we reached the outskirts of the coast.

I had known the moment I heard the rustle of shifting bodies beyond the tree line that we were outnumbered. The torches flared first, illuminating the rebels who had become like family to me as they emerged from the dense brush, surrounding us.

It was our men. My father’s men.

And they were there for us.

Wren had stepped in front of me, her bow half raised despite the way her hands trembled. Kai’s dagger was already drawn, his stance tense, protective.

But we all knew the truth, it wasn’t a fight we could win. Not in my condition. Not against so many.

Then, he had stepped forward.

The firelight had illuminated my father’s face, the deep lines of his scowl, the grim determination in his gaze. He had been waiting for me.

And I had been too damn weak to stop him.

I had managed a single step forward, my body screaming in protest, before the first blow landed. A swift, precise strike to my side. I had crumpled to my knees, the world tilting as the pain had crashed over me like a wave.

Through the haze, I had heard Wren scream my name. Heard the sharp clash of steel as Kai fought back. But it hadn’t mattered.

They hadn’t been who my father wanted.

And I had already lost the one thing that he desperately needed.

Everything after that was a blur. The journey back, the weight of the chains, the cold of the underground tunnels.

Now, I was here.

And Wren and Kai weren’t.

I gritted my teeth, my hands curling into fists as the healer’s magic pulsed.

He was only trying to help, and it didn’t matter that I had brought several members of our rebellion to his table for treatment. In this moment, I was simply a prisoner under his care, not the son of his leader.

Not someone he had once respected.

“You’re lucky to be alive,” he added, his voice taut.

“Luck had nothing to do with it,” I rasped, my throat dry and raw.

The healer snorted softly. “No, just sheer stupidity, then.”

His words held no malice, only the resigned familiarity.

I shot him a sharp look. “Where is my sister? Kai?”

He looked up at me, and he hesitated before he finally spoke. “They are both within the city.” His magic thrummed harder as it moved over my ribs. “Your father isn’t charging them with treason. He’s reserved that honor only for you.”

“They’re safe?” I asked the only question I cared about.

“Yes.” He nodded. “Both were a bit roughed up from when you were found, but they are safe. Your father is just watching them heavily. He questioned them about what they knew, but found them lacking.”

Before I could respond, the heavy thud of boots echoed down the corridor, the sound growing closer with each step. My senses went on high alert, my body tensing despite the ache that screamed at me to stay still.

The door pushed open with an ominous creak.

The healer didn’t flinch, his hand remaining steady above my chest. The faint warmth of his magic faded as he pulled away, as if he already knew his time was up. The air shifted, weighed down by something heavier than just another visitor.

My father.

“Leave us.”

His words weren’t a request.

Without hesitation, the healer obeyed, his footsteps retreating swiftly down the corridor. The absence of his magic left a cold emptiness in its wake. I forced myself up on my elbows, gritting my teeth as pain flared through my body.

My father stood before me, arms crossed, his expression a mask of disappointment.

“So,” he said at last, his tone dripping with disdain. “The prodigal son returns. Dragged back in chains, no less.”

I sat up slowly, the iron cuffs rattling as I shifted. “You better not have hurt Wren.”

“Threats?” he asked, stepping farther into the room. “That’s bold for someone who needs my help.”

I clenched my fists, forcing myself to hold his gaze. “I am here because your men dragged me here. I didn’t need your help.”

He barked out a harsh, bitter laugh. “And what about now?” He looked me up and down, as if assessing the damage. “Whose help is it that you need now?”

I gritted my teeth, biting back the response that surged up my throat.

“You were supposed to help me bring back the heir, help me save our people.” He shook his head. “You have defied me at every turn, and now you expect me to clean up your mess?”

“It’s not my mess,” I snapped back, my words heated. “This is yours. This rebellion was supposed to be about freedom, about justice, but all you do is use people as pawns, sacrificing them for your own ambition.”

His jaw tightened, his expression contorting into one of barely contained anger. But he didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he strode over to the small wooden table in the corner of the room, his fingers lightly brushing against the chipped edge as if he were trying to calm himself.

“You sound just like your mother.”

The mention of her was a punch to the gut, a wound that refused to heal. I forced my breathing to remain even, my nails digging into my palms.

“She believed in this rebellion,” I said, my voice steady despite the fury bubbling beneath the surface. “In what it could be. Not in what you’ve turned it into.”

His eyes narrowed as his gaze met mine. “Don’t pretend you know what she believed,” he spat. “You were barely more than a child when she died.”

My teeth ached from clenching them together. “And yet, I remember enough.” I looked down at myself, my clothes still covered in sand, dirt, and dried blood. “Verena is back in her father’s hands. Mother never would have let that happen.”

His expression darkened, but he said nothing.

“She wouldn’t have been hunting her down and ready to hand her over as a bartering tool. She would have protected her,” I pushed, my voice growing rougher with every word.

His fingers curled into fists at his sides. “You think she would’ve risked everything for the heir? That I should?”

“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.

His expression twisted, something between frustration and exhaustion flickering in his eyes. “You’re a fool,” he said quietly. “You think war is won with reckless emotions? That peace comes without a cost?” He stepped closer, his gaze pinning me in place. “How much more are you willing to sacrifice for her? Our resources, our secrets. Your loyalty to her has cost us more than you can imagine.”

“It’s not about my loyalty to her,” I said, though the lie was made evident by the way I searched for our thread of connection. I would have been loyal to Verena no matter the cost. “She’s the only way this war ends.”

He stepped closer, his expression unreadable. “What we’re fighting for comes at a price.”

“And that price shouldn’t be her.”

For a moment, we stared at one another in silence, but it was my father who finally broke first.

“You’ll stay here.” He turned on his heel, his voice cold and final as he headed toward the door. “Until you remember where your loyalties lie. Until you remember that the blood in your veins has been spilled by the blood of the very one you’re trying to protect.”

With a resounding thud, the door slammed shut behind him, leaving me alone, and I forced myself to take a deep breath. The air in the cell was stale, thick with dampness, but it wasn’t the stench of captivity that unsettled me.

It was the certainty that my father had no intention of helping me save Verena.

I pushed myself further upright, my muscles stiff from disuse, my ribs aching from the fight aboard that ship. My wrists were raw from the bindings they used to drag me here, the remnants of saltwater stinging the torn skin.

He was wrong.

This wasn’t a reckless emotion.

This wasn’t some foolish attachment to a girl.

This was about her , about what she meant to this rebellion, to this kingdom. To me.

I had seen firsthand what she was capable of, the way she had fought even when everyone, including herself, had thought she was powerless.

And I would not let that be for nothing.

I would not let everything that she had suffered be for nothing.

She deserved far more than this kingdom had ever given her.

I rolled my shoulders, ignoring the pain that shot through them. I couldn’t sit here and wait for my father to understand what she had already given, to come to the decision that she was worth protecting. I needed a plan.

The rebellion’s prison cells weren’t like the ones in the palace. They weren’t made to keep enemies locked away for years. They were meant to hold traitors long enough for judgment to be passed.

And judgment was coming for me.

I knew they would be discussing me, that they would be trying to decide if I was still one of them.

I had bled for this rebellion. I had fought for it, killed for it, and now, because I had decided to fight for her, I had become their enemy.

But I wouldn’t let them decide my fate for me.

I wouldn’t let them decide her fate either.