Smoke rose before dawn.By the time Elias reached the eastern battlements, the air was thick with ash and the bitter smell of burning oil. The gatehouse shuddered under distant thunder not from the sky, but from rams pounding against ironwood.“Archers, to the wall!” Seren’s voice cut through the chaos. “Hold the gate!”Elias drew his sword, the same blade his father had once carried into the War of the North. Firelight flickered along its edge, reflecting in his eyes like molten gold. The night before had been politics. Now, it was war.A soldier stumbled toward him, blood streaking his face. “Majesty they came from inside! Someone opened the gate from within the guardhouse!”“From inside?” Elias snapped.“Yes, sire. The locks were undone before they struck.”Mara appeared at his side, cloak torn, a cut on her cheek. “The signal fires they’re burning from the lower city too.”Elias’s stomach tightened. This isn’t an attack. It’s a message.He turned to Seren. “Seal the inner gates. N