hick like secrets and the river ran black with forgotte

, licking at marble walls and silken banners, devouring the remnants of a noble bloodline that once stood unshakable. Th

her hood, her voice low and her steps measured. She delivered letters, helped the cathed

he had

et: Five hundred crowns for the name of a girl with violet eyes. A trait that had once been

ssy-eyed and asking questions. And then, the letter. Tucked in

have until the blood moo

rried the weight of the man who had writ

e Crown. He was supposed to be rotting away, his name erased from every l

important

e old texts said, of endings. And of things

a knife, and a ring shaped like a raven-her mother's ring. The symbol of House Trelling. Once,

back on the estate long ago, shunning it like a cursed relic. Windows shattered, doors left to rot. The once-mani

amp stone and ash filled her lungs. The house loomed before her, just as she remembered-grand, imp

le who had once filled this place with laughter and music. Her mother's portrait still hung above the staircase, its e

ack," she

rd creaked

, knife

n't a ghos

othing away. His coat was dark, buttoned high, and a faint scar split his brow. She didn't know hi

ect you to co

er grip on the knife.

dn't have

have muc

silver at his collar-a pin shaped like the raven of Trelling. N

you?" she

replied. "I was your f

d n

, voice quiet,

ng up her throat. "You're mistaken

ng heir. Whether you claim it or not, the blood in yo

falt

this isn't a tr

. "If it were, you

g toward the study, expect

the center, layered in dust. Shelves lined the walls, most of them empty now. Looted.

from a drawer and unro

said. "But he's not the one sending bounty

d. "Stop t

our blood-they want your name. They want the la

lood drain from her

r, his expression gr

elling had never been royal. Nobility, yes-ancient,

ael said, "no

t from the drawer-yellowed and bri

eyes catching on the seal pr

the Trel

the roy

y," she said, but

a Trelling. Your mother was of royal blood-hidden, married in secret during

at the document,

believe I'm the he

ect you to understand w

broken glass. The bounty. The message. The shadows

because I'm a thr

hin the court-who rose to power after the fire. They've ruled in the vacuum your family le

t need t

rdens. The wind tugged at the ivy, and something ancient stirred in her chest. A memory of her m

t to be Quee

ft. "Wanting has no

osed h

She had buried it beneath layers of silence, afraid that remembering

at the blood m

meet to renew their pact. If you appear-alive, und

if I

heir. A puppet. And cr

im. "Then we don't wait for the

ross Cael's lips. "Then

d the sky darkened with the coming storm. But within the manor's r

heiress h

e had only