LOGINAziel’s POVI woke up slowly, my body heavy and warm. Soft sheets covered me. The bed felt larger than mine. For a few seconds I lay still, trying to remember where I was. Then the memories came rushing back. The heat. The wine. Stumbling into Ragnar’s room. Throwing myself at him. His hand on me. The pleasure that had torn through my body.My face burned, but I refused to let shame win. I was Aziel Valcairn. Former king. Warrior. I had faced death and betrayal and I would not crumble over one night of losing control.I sat up. The movement made my head spin slightly. I was naked under the blanket. My clothes lay folded neatly on a nearby chair. Ragnar’s scent was everywhere. On the pillows. On my skin. I looked around the room. Sunlight streamed through the tall windows. It was morning.Ragnar stood near the table by the window, pouring water into a glass. He wore only loose pants. His bare chest and strong shoulders were fully visible for the first time. I stared. The man was built
Aziel’s POVThe heat started slowly, like a fire someone had lit deep in my belly. At first I thought it was just leftover anger from the meeting with Seraphine. My skin felt too warm. My heart would not slow down. But the longer I sat alone in my chambers, the worse it became. Every breath felt heavier. My thighs pressed together without meaning to. A low ache spread through my body until I could not ignore it anymore.The kiss.That was what started it. Ragnar’s mouth on mine. His hands pulling me close. The taste of him. The solid strength of his body. Something inside me had woken up, and now it refused to sleep again.I stood up too fast. The room spun for a second. I walked to the small table near the window where a bottle of fine wine waited. The servants had left it earlier, thinking I might want something to calm my nerves after the long day. I poured a full glass and drank it in one go. The wine was rich and strong. I hoped it would dull my thoughts and knock me out so I cou
Aziel’s POVI stood frozen in the middle of my chambers, my heart still racing from the kiss. Ragnar’s warmth lingered on my lips and the feel of his hands on my back refused to leave my skin. The door had barely closed behind Magnus, but the silence he left behind felt heavier than any words he could have spoken.Anger burned in my chest. Not at Ragnar. Not even at Magnus. At myself.I had stood there in front of Seraphine like a fool. I had let her words cut into me. I had shown weakness in front of the entire court, in front of Ragnar, in front of everyone who mattered. The proud Alpha warrior I once was would have laughed at the idea of letting a woman like her shake me. Yet here I was, trembling after a single confrontation. My new body felt like a cage. My emotions felt like chains.I pressed my fingers to my lips. The kiss replayed in my mind. The way Ragnar had pulled me close. The heat of his body. The taste of him. A strange warmth spread through my stomach. It was not the s
Ragnar’s POVThe walk back to our quarters was quiet. The palace halls stayed busy like always. Servants carried clean sheets and clothes. Guards stood straight and bowed when I passed. Maids talked about the evening meal as if the big meeting today had never happened. Life in the palace went on.It always did.Big empires lived through wars, deaths, and scandals. By tomorrow, most people would forget what they saw. They would talk about something new.But Lior would not forget.I looked at him walking next to me. His eyes stayed on the floor. His shoulders were tight. His hands were clasped so hard his knuckles turned white. He had not said a word since we left the hall. Every few steps his fingers squeezed tighter, like he was holding himself together with pure will.He looked like a soldier who had been cut deep inside but refused to show it.When we reached his room, I sent the guards away.“No one comes in unless the palace is burning.”They bowed. “Yes, Your Majesty.”The door c
Aziel’s POVI couldn’t understand why her words still affected me.She had stood before an entire court and admitted that she had expected Ragnar to kill me. When that failed, she had admitted she intended to do it herself. There should have been nothing left to question after that. Any doubt I still carried should have disappeared the moment those words left her mouth.Instead, they stayed with me.Not because I believed her. Because a part of me had spent so many years believing everything she ever said that it no longer knew how to stop.Weak.Ungrateful.A burden.Those words had followed Lior through almost every memory I had recovered. They had been repeated so often that they no longer sounded like insults. They sounded like rules. Rules I had never realized I was still obeying.I hated that. I hated that after everything she had confessed, I still found myself wondering if I really was making a mistake.I lowered my eyes for a moment and quietly drew in a slow breath. The voic
Ragnar’s POVThe audacity of this woman.I had met arrogant people before. Kings who believed their crowns placed them above the law. Nobles who thought wealth could erase every mistake they had ever made. Generals who believed victory on the battlefield gave them the right to ignore every order that followed.Lady Seraphine was different.She had just admitted, before my court and her own delegation, that she had expected me to kill Prince Lior. When that failed, she had calmly declared that she would do it herself. Yet she still stood there as though she believed she could walk away from this meeting with her reputation untouched.She truly believed she could talk her way out of anything.The throne room remained silent. No one rushed to defend her. No one dared interrupt. Even the nobles who had arrived with her looked uncertain. Some avoided meeting my eyes altogether. Others stared at Seraphine with expressions that suggested they were questioning everything they thought they kne
Aziel’s POV The moment Soren and I stepped into Ragnar’s chambers, I knew exactly how the next part of my day was going to unfold.Ragnar was seated behind his desk with several reports spread before him. From the way he looked up the moment the doors opened, I could tell he already suspected some
Aziel’s POV“So you and Lyrielle, huh?”I looked at Ragnar with a teasing smirk as we walked through the palace corridor side by side, the tension from the dining hall finally fading now that we were away from watching eyes.Ragnar didn’t even look at me at first.“I knew you were going to start ta
Aziel’s POVSleep did not come easily in this palace.The silence here was different from the silence of war camps or abandoned battlefields. Those places carried exhaustion. This place carried tension. Even the walls felt awake, listening to every movement, every breath.I lay on the bed staring a
Aziel’s POVThe battlefield burned beneath a crimson sky.The scent of blood and iron choked the air as steel clashed against steel. Bodies fell beneath my blade, one after another, until the enemy’s banners were torn down and trampled beneath our feet.Victory. At last.I laughed, breathless, and







