جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 18

KAEL'S POVThe war room is cold and crowded.I called the meeting ten minutes after Lyra ran from the training field. Every captain. Every elder. Every warrior who witnessed what happened. They fill the long stone room with shuffling feet and whispered questions. No one knows why I summoned them.But I see the fear in their eyes.They felt it too.I stand at the head of the table and wait for silence. It takes longer than usual. When the room finally quiets, I look at Captain Dain."Report."Dain steps forward. His face is pale. He does not look at the other warriors. He looks only at me."This morning at the training field," he says slowly, "Lyra of Silver Ridge engaged in a sparring match with Warrior Rina.""Who won?"Dain swallows. "Lyra."Murmurs ripple through the room. Rina is one of our best fighters. A servant girl should not be able to touch her."How?" someone asks.Dain shakes his head. "She did not fight like a trained warrior. She fought like someone who has nothing to l

LYRA'S POV I cannot stop thinking about Prince Ronan.His green eyes. His easy smile. The way he caught my elbow like I was someone worth catching. The way he said you are not trouble.I guess I wasn't fast to adjust the leather in my wrist. I think he saw the symbol.There was something in his eyes when he saw it. Recognition. Curiosity. Like he knew something I did not. I just remembered he stirred at my wrist at that moment we saw.I lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling. The mark pulses softly under my sleeve. It has been doing that more often now. Not painful. Just... present. Like a heartbeat that does not belong to me.I should go back to the library.I need answers.---The training field incident changed everything.Warriors avoid me now. They do not look at me. They do not speak to me. When I walk through the hallways, they step aside. Not out of respect. Out of fear.I am a monster to them.A servant girl who made trained wolves drop to their knees.I do not blame them. I

RONAN'S POV---I don't follow her.I watch Lyra run from the training field, her dark hair flying, her shoulders shaking. She disappears through the fortress doors. I stay where I am.My hands are still warm from touching her.She landed on top of me. Her chest against mine. Her breath on my lips. I can still feel the weight of her. The fear in her eyes when Kael's voice cut through the air.She is mine. I will kill you if you touch her again.Kael didn't say it. But his eyes screamed it. Possessive. Territorial.I found her first.---I walk back to my quarters. The fortress is loud around me—warriors training, servants rushing. No one looks at me twice. I'm just another guest. Just another prince visiting from the Eastern Court.They don't know who I am.They don't know why I'm really here.I close the door. Lock it. Pull the pendant from beneath my shirt.Silver. Worn smooth. A crescent moon wrapped around a broken crown.The symbol of the Silver Crescent Pack. The bloodline I've

RONAN'S POVI press a cold cloth to my jaw and wince.Kael hits hard. I'll give him that.The bruise is already darkening. Purple and blue spreading across my skin. I look at myself in the mirror and almost laugh. A prince of the Eastern Court, beaten up over a girl who won't even look at me.A knock on my door.I turn. "Come in."My warrior enters. His face is pale. He's breathing hard like he ran here. In his hand, he holds a sealed letter."The reply," he says. "From the Eastern Court."My heart stops.I take the letter. Break the seal. Read the words.The Eastern Court welcomes the heir. Bring her immediately. The hunters are closer than you know. Do not delay.I read it twice. Three times.They're giving me permission. They're telling me to move now.I look at my warrior. "Leave me."He bows and disappears.I stand alone in my room, the letter clutched in my hand. My jaw throbs. My head spins.I can't wait anymore.---I walk through the fortress. My boots echo against the stone.