The storm had finally passed, but the castle still smelled of wet stone and smoke a kingdom trying to breathe again after choking on its own secrets.Elias hadn’t slept. He hadn’t even tried. The candle had long since burned to nothing, leaving only a thin wisp of smoke that trailed upward like a dying prayer.When the first rays of dawn filtered through the stained-glass windows, they painted the chamber floor in fractured color red for blood, gold for betrayal.A knock came at the door.“Enter,” Elias said, his voice hoarse.It was Seren. His expression was grim, and the lines around his eyes seemed deeper than usual. “Majesty… there’s something you should see.”Elias followed him through the hallways, their footsteps echoing against the marble. The palace guards saluted stiffly but said nothing. Their eyes darted nervous, uncertain.When they reached the west wing, the air felt colder. The corridor was dim, the windows shuttered. Two guards stood outside a heavy oak door, pale and

Rain swept over the capital that night thin, cold, relentless. It drummed against the palace roofs, a steady whisper that seemed to echo Elias’s thoughts.He hadn’t left the war chamber since dawn. The fire had long burned out, and shadows coiled like serpents against the stone. Maps were strewn across the table the city quartered in ink and worry. Every mark felt like another vein bleeding control.The loyalty trap had worked or so Seren claimed. But to Elias, it only deepened the mystery. Mara’s spy had indeed gone to the alchemist quarter, yet Rhys had as well. Both denied involvement, both offered plausible excuses. Rynna, meanwhile, had vanished for hours the previous night, claiming she was “in the library,” and even that sounded like a lie.They were all fraying at the edges.A knock came at the door light, hesitant.“Enter,” Elias said.The door opened slowly, revealing Seren. Her hair was wet from the rain, cloak dripping on the floor. “There’s someone here to see you,” she s

The air in the council chamber was suffocating. The scent of wax and steel clung to the air, mingling with something more poisonous suspicion. The council had gathered under torchlight, their faces half-shadowed, half-burning, every pair of eyes locked on Elias as though waiting for him to strike the wrong person.The confessed servant’s words had spread faster than a plague. A noble had bribed him but which? Three names had already become whispers on every tongue: Mara. Rhys. Rynna.Elias sat at the head of the long table, hands clasped, his expression unreadable. The torch behind him made his crown glint like fire. Seren stood just to his right, silent, her hand resting lightly on the pommel of her blade a reminder to everyone in the room that the king was not unprotected.Mara broke first. “Your Majesty,” she began, her tone polished, but her eyes were sharp as daggers. “This farce cannot stand. You’ve allowed a terrified servant’s babbling to stain the reputation of your council.

Dawn broke like a wound over the capital.The sky burned copper and red, smoke from the bakeries mixing with the mist that clung to the palace spires. Below, the plaza filled with bodies nobles in silks, merchants in fear, peasants clutching bread they could barely afford. They’d come not for spectacle, but for proof. Proof that their king was strong enough to rule… or cruel enough to fear.The tribunal platform had been raised overnight, built from the old execution scaffolds that once served King Alden’s wars. It creaked with memory, as though even the wood remembered the blood it had drunk.Elias stood at the center, his cloak heavy with the weight of dawn. Seren was to his right, Rhys to his left, and Mara just behind all arranged like chess pieces he could no longer trust. Rynna lingered at the crowd’s edge, veiled and watchful.The accused were brought forward in chains. Their eyes darted between the soldiers and the crowd, seeking sympathy, leverage, escape anything.The herald

The war room still smelled of steel and fire when Mara stormed out, her boots striking against the stone like thunder. Elias remained seated at the table, his hand resting on the sealed documents Mara had tossed down execution orders for three nobles. The candlelight trembled in the silence she left behind.He didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. The crown on the table beside him seemed heavier than ever.“Do you mean to sign it?” a soft voice asked from the doorway.Rynna stepped into the light, her pale cloak brushing the floor, eyes glinting with quiet worry. Elias looked up, his exhaustion showing in the dark rings beneath his eyes.“Everyone wants me to sign something,” he muttered. “Orders. Edicts. Deaths. And somehow, every signature feels less like ruling and more like drowning.”Rynna’s steps were soundless as she approached. “You’ve been at this table for hours. The court’s waiting for your word.”“The court can wait,” Elias said. “Let them feel what it’s like to live in uncertainty