a P

," four elite guards wearing silver-white b

d, they moved with silent precision and c

d to push against them, pa

chest as the guards lifted me onto a floating m

Ring on his right index finger blazed with a golden family crest in the dim hallwa

ic and patient pressed themselves flat against the walls, l

my voice tense as we neared the he

ck at me with gentle eyes. "To where you belon

he center of the muddy square was a massive skyship carved from an

Ellis's High Court manor, I had never

ike running water against my raw skin. The chamber was cavernous, walled with

cing my twins into an elevated cradle carved from pure moon-jade, hummi

s, my hands clenched in the soft sheets, unabl

d open, and Ali

, silver-bordered robes of a Chief Inquisitor-Healer. In his

the bedside table. "It is steeped with sun-orchid and three drops of prime Silverdew.

n up into his pale, strikin

not with the arrogance of an imperial lord, but

the night you drew your first breath," he said, his

ism, pulsing with a slow, rhythmic

walls and into the past. "Your mother had barely finished her confinement. The demons shattered the outer wards; in the chaos, your nursery bow

d hesitating before hov

ning robes for a decade. Your three brothers grew up knowing tha

ke bile in my throat. "The priests of Clan Buck threw me into

ulous breath that sounded half l

ge-wizards used a slate-tier res

ntly watching the light reflect in my wide eyes. "It was sleepin

on, hot and thick, sp

be trampled beneath the boots of Candida and Jake. I had a house. I had

n a warm, unbreakable grip. "Say the word, and I will summon the High Council. We will b

n and daughter slept, their tiny chests rising

jaw tightened, my gaze freezin

House Stafford. He will claim the children under the Contract Union's laws. He will use our court's bur

r, my eyes burning

ss, powerless stray he despises. I want him to cast me away with his own hand before the Great Council

moment, and then a slow, fierce p

rasmus's daughte

his sleeve. Whispering three words into its beak, he watched the courier ignite into a

By nightfall, your family will be here. And tomorrow, we will