The door to the dojo slid open, and General Earlton entered with the authority of someone who didn’t need to announce herself. She carried something wrapped tightly in dark cloth. Thea straightened without thinking, the exhaustion in her limbs forgotten the moment she saw Earlton’s face.Alex stood not far away, loose and at ease, but he still shifted a little when the general scanned the room with her eyes.Earlton crossed to Thea and unwrapped the cloth with a flick of her wrist. A set of throwing knives shined in the dim light, their sharp edges catching every stray sunbeam that slipped into the dojo.Without a word, she handed them over.Thea took them, feeling how heavy they were as they settled into her palms. These weren’t training toys. These were real, deadly tools.Earlton’s voice broke the silence. “You will throw at him.”Thea’s head snapped up. “At him?”Earlton’s eyes didn’t waver. “Stand in place. Throw.”Alex didn’t protest. He just walked to the center of the mat and

Morning sunlight spilled into Thea’s room, warm against the crisp sheets she hadn’t bothered to untangle during the night. She sat at the edge of the bed, staring at the floor, her hands resting loosely against her knees.Dr. Nelson’s words from the day before still rang in her ears.Her grandfather’s condition had improved. More than expected. More than medicine alone should have allowed.She trusted Dr. Nelson’s skills, but he wasn’t easily impressed. If he said something unusual was happening, it wasn’t just politeness. It was a fact.Thea ran a hand through her hair, her fingers snagging against a knot. She needed answers.Her mind turned, slowly at first, then faster, piecing things together. There had been another visitor before she left for training. Someone Reed had brought, someone important enough that even Thor Walton had agreed to meet him.Master Roman Reigns.Thea frowned slightly, trying to remember every detail Reed had given her at the time. There hadn't been much. Ju

The tension was thick enough to choke on.Alex stood calm in the middle of it, hands still tucked casually into his jacket pockets, every muscle in his body ready to move the second they gave him a reason.The first guard squared his shoulders, clearly preparing to escalate, when the heavy front door of the bar swung open behind them.All movement froze.A man stepped out, flanked by two more guards who hung back respectfully, almost blending into the shadows. He was older, somewhere past fifty, but moved with the easy, unhurried grace of someone who had commanded respect for most of his life.He wore a tailored grey suit that probably cost more than most cars on the street. His hair was slicked back, silver at the temples, and a heavy ring gleamed on one hand as he adjusted the cuff of his jacket.His eyes, sharp and assessing, swept the scene in a single glance.The guards stiffened instantly.The first one dropped his aggressive stance and took a half step back.The man’s gaze land

The early morning mist blanketed the path leading to the Imperial Palace of Mericania. Beneath its billowy shroud, marble steps stretched endlessly toward a towering gate crowned with golden dragons and pearl-laced carvings. The palace loomed above all a structure of celestial grandeur with vermillion columns, crystal-tiled rooftops, and murals of the founding emperors glinting in the sun’s newborn light.Alex Cole stood at the base of the steps.Clad in a plain black robe with a wide hood that concealed his face, he looked nothing like the man who had shaken the foundations of Trim City’s elite. Here, stripped of noise and identity, he appeared to be just another visitor. Yet in his chest pocket rested something far older than the empire itselfan ancient seal, gifted unknowingly by the quiet Freya of the medicine village.His steps were steady, silent, resolute.As he approached the first line of guards flanking the eastern gate, the air around him shifted. The guards wore obsidian

Thea’s thoughts were already unraveling, tangled in disbelief and reluctant curiosity as she stood just outside the Imperial Hall. Her fists were clenched behind her back. Her knuckles were pale beneath her black gloves. From the moment Alex revealed the Phoenix Seal to the time the Crown Prince had dismissed her objections without hesitation, her emotions had been lurching in directions she didn’t like.And now, this.As Alex followed the Crown Prince deeper into the Imperial Garden Pavilion, his eyes flicked briefly toward Thea, not with smugness, not with triumph, but with a knowing calm that somehow grated on her more than arrogance ever would.She stayed behind in the hallway, but a whispering palace aide lingered at the curve of the hallway, catching her attention with words that hit her like a slap."Did you hear? The Divine Physician and His Highness met before. In the city. At a bar of all places."Thea's breath caught.At a bar?She strode after them without permission.***