Celeste set the black folder beside Ethan's dinner plate hard enough to rattle his fork."Papa wants it signed tonight. For the family. Do it."Nine members of the Vance family stopped eating and looked at him. They waited.Ethan opened the folder. Inside was a transfer form, already witnessed. His ten percent of the Vance Group would go to the family trust. The price was one dollar. The shares were worth eighty million.They were a gift from Celeste's late grandfather, the only person at this table who had ever treated Ethan like family."You're the only one in this house who gives and builds," the old man used to say. "The rest of them only take and waste."Now the takers wanted the last thing he owned.Ethan had married into this family five years ago. He had designed the three towers that made the Vance Group famous. At the office, he was the engineer. At this table, he was the servant.Ethan had grown up in an orphanage, and the Vances were the first family he had ever had. For t

Three days east, the roads worsened, and the villages grew quieter. On the morning of the third day, the cart stopped on a bare ridge."This is as far as I go, my lord." The driver wouldn't meet his eyes. "Whoever sets foot in Thornmere gets bad luck."There was no spite in his voice, only pity. It stung worse than the capital's laughter.Kingsley climbed down with one bag and started walking.Far to the east, the Mist Wall stood between earth and sky, grey and churning. It moved in slow, wet rolls. Even from this distance, it made his skin crawl.That thing breeding monsters borders my land.From the ridge, he surveyed the village the way he once read a failing building site.The fields stretched down to the river, white with salt instead of soil.The houses had sagging roofs and patched walls. His ancestors had built strong foundations, but everything above them had been neglected for years and was falling apart.Of forty roofs, only four chimneys smoked on a cold morning.The peopl

Mara lay in front of her own door with her cheek in the mud. Kingsley knelt, got his arms under her, and lifted the frail body. She weighed almost nothing.Doors opened all along the lane. The villagers stepped out and stood in a loose ring, whispering among themselves. They had never seen a capital lord carry a dying peasant woman.He laid her on the bed inside her house and put his coat over her legs."My lord." Her voice had gone thin overnight. "A baron carrying old women through the mud. What would the other nobles say?""They have nothing worse to say about me," Kingsley replied. "What happened to you?"Mara smiled with grey lips. "The rot in my belly finally put me down. I held on this long because I didn't want to die while this land was still lordless.""I still need you," he said. "You're the only one in this village who can guide me.""No, my lord. Forget about me. A baron of Thornmere never ruled alone. There were old families sworn to him."Her breath rattled as she spoke

"The girl is not going anywhere," Kingsley said.The lean Appleby man nudged his partner. "Show his lordship the papers, Garth."Garth was the big one, red-bearded and wide as a door. He pulled a folded paper from his coat and held it high."The sale is legal, my lord. Your own headman signed it.""He signed it as a thief," Kingsley said. "People aren't sold like objects on my land."He pulled the barony's purse from his belt and shook it once. "I'm canceling the sale. But I will be fair with you. Appleby will get every coin back."The two men put their heads together and whispered, then turned back grinning."Hold on now," Garth said slowly. "Now I remember. You're the beggar lord with F-grade talent. The capital laughed you out of its own gates."He dug a gold coin from his pocket and flipped it at the baron with a chuckle. "I see your game. You want a higher price for the girl. Baron Grubb is generous towards the needy."The coin struck Kingsley's chest and clattered on the stone.

Kingsley set out for the north border soon after the funeral, with Gina at his side.Word had gone around in Thornmere about the baron's travel plans.Five young men stood waiting at the crossroads with staffs and wood axes. Not one had an awakened talent, but they were broad in the shoulder."We'll walk with you, my lord," the boldest one said. "The roads aren't safe."Kingsley could read the real reason on their faces. He had turned a white field green and summoned water from a dead well in front of the whole village. After a long drought, the villagers finally had hope.A lord who could work miracles might stand between them and the capital's collector, and so the men wanted him alive.Kingsley allowed them to escort him.Gina kept her chin high, but her voice stayed low. "The men keep staring at me, my lord. Do they suspect my identity?""Let them stare. You're wearing my family's colors proudly. Nobody is looking at Ginny Finch. All they see is Gina Carmine. Never forget that."S