2026-10-22 23:57:46
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 263: Open the gates or die:
He did.The bronze doors swung wide, revealing a long, torchlit corridor beyond, lined with plush crimson carpet and flanked by tall, narrow windows. At its far end, perhaps sixty paces away, stood a pair of massive doors of carved dark wood, bound in gold and guarded by two more soldiers in black and gold livery. These two had evidently heard the commotion, for both had drawn their swords.“Halt!” one of them shouted. “Who goes there?”“The Sorceress Melissa,” she called back. “I demand an audience with your master.”“Lord Darius has retired for the night!”“Then wake him.”“We cannot!”“Then I will.”She did not hurry. She walked down the long crimson carpet with Pell at her side and Elvyn a pace behind, her gown whispering against the floor, her staff tapping a slow, steady rhythm. The guards watched her come, their swords trembling. When she was twenty paces away, the taller of the two, a thick-necked man with a scar on his chin, stepped forward.“That is far enough,” he said hoar
Chapter 262: I demand to see Lord Darius:
“Yes, Sorceress.”“Good.”They passed down the long, dim corridor, their footsteps muffled by thick carpet. Torches burned in iron brackets at intervals, throwing long, wavering shadows across the portraits of Lord Darius that lined the walls. Pell stumbled along between the two women, blood drying on his face, his breath coming in short, shuddering gasps. Every few paces, he glanced over his shoulder, as though expecting a knife in the dark.“Do not look back,” Melissa said. “It makes you look guilty.”“I am guilty.”“You are a pawn. There is a difference.” She did not slow. “Keep walking.”The palace at night was a different creature from the palace at midday. The great halls were deserted, their marble floors reflecting the torchlight in long, pale streaks. The tapestries hung motionless on the walls. Somewhere far above, a clock struck the half hour, a slow, deep note that echoed through the stone. They passed an alcove where a servant girl was polishing a candlestick, and she too
Chapter 261: The servant they feared:
Alice blinked. “I know her. Dessa. She is a sweet child.”“Fetch her. Quietly. Bring her to this room. Tell no one, and tell the laundry-mistress she is wanted by the Sorceress.”“At once.” Alice glanced at Pell, and a flicker of something, pity, perhaps, or understanding, crossed her face. “Is he—”“He will live. If he behaves.”“I will go.”“Alice.”The servant paused in the doorway.“Thank you,” Melissa said.A brief, startled silence. Then Alice bowed her head, very slightly, and hurried off down the corridor.Elvyn stared at her sister. “You said thank you.”“I did.”“You never say thank you.”“I never had reason to.” Melissa bent, seized Pell by the collar, and hauled him upright with a strength that belied her thin frame. He stumbled, nearly falling, and she steadied him with a hand under his elbow. “Can you walk?”“I think so.”“You had better. I have no intention of carrying you.”“Where are we going?” Pell whispered.“To see the one man in this palace who can still be reason
Chapter 260: The Wrath from the Valley:
“Who pays me,” Melissa repeated, in a very quiet voice.“Yes.”“He wished me to remember.”“Yes, Sorceress.”“How thoughtful.” She rose slowly, the dagger loose in her hand. “And what else did your captain say about me?”“That you are dangerous. That you are not to be trusted.” Pell wiped his face with a trembling hand. “That Lord Varek believes you may turn against the crown.”“Does he.”“He said that if you did, he would see to it that you were—” He stopped.“That I was what?”“Removed.”The word hung in the air. Elvyn felt something cold coil in the pit of her stomach. She looked at her sister, and her sister’s face was perfectly smooth, perfectly calm, a mask of white porcelain without a single crack.“Removed,” Melissa said. “That is a gentle word.”“Yes.”“What would it entail?”“I do not know.”“Guess.”“Poison, perhaps. Or the Scribes. A knife in the dark.” Pell’s voice shook. “I truly do not know. I am only a watcher.”“A watcher who was told to deliver a threat.”“I was told
Chapter 259: Last Chance to Confess:
“It is three stories to the garden. You would break your legs. And then I would simply walk down and collect you.” She shook her head. “No. You will not be leaving this room through the window, Pell.”“I was not—”“Stop lying. You are exhausting me.”She pressed the tip of the dagger into the hollow of his throat until a thin line of blood ran down and pooled in his collar.“Last chance,” she said. “I will count to five. Then I begin.”“Sorceress, I beg you—”“One.”“I cannot say—”“Two.”“He will know! He will know it was me!”“Three.”“He has men everywhere! He has eyes in the kitchens, the stables, the chapel! If he learns I spoke, my sister will—”He stopped.The word hung in the air like smoke. Melissa’s expression did not change, but something behind her eyes sharpened.“Your sister,” she said.“I did not mean—”“What about your sister?”“Nothing.”“Pell.”“She is only a child,” he whispered. “Sixteen. She works in the laundry. He said— he said that if I ever failed him, if I ev
Chapter 258: The Varek's spies:
She did not move. She knelt beside him, utterly still, the dagger steady in her hand, and the minutes stretched out like cooling wax. The fire popped. A log sank into the ashes. Outside in the corridor, one of the guards shifted his weight and then froze again, as though he had been caught breathing.Pell’s breath grew ragged. Sweat ran down his temples and soaked into the carpet. His eyes closed, then opened, then closed again. Every so often his lips moved in a silent prayer, and each time they did, Melissa’s fingers twitched, and the prayer died unspoken.“You are stalling,” she said at last.“No.”“You are waiting for something. Or someone. Or you are telling yourself a story about how brave you are.” She sighed. “I have seen it many times. A man decides he will say nothing, and he builds a wall in his mind, brick by brick. He thinks of his family, his duty, his master’s gratitude. He tells himself that the pain will end, that the Sorceress will tire, that someone will come.”“No
You may also like
ONCE BULLIED: LYON ARMSTRONG IS BACK.
ASystem20.7K viewsAn Important Villain
P. Artim29.7K viewsHealing God's Heir: Abandoned Son-in-law
Abysalyounglord40.5K viewsThe Resurrection Of The God Owner Of The Sky
Jajajuba21.0K viewsThey Sold Me For Rice
Queen Blue209 viewsThe Cult's Failed Summoning
Ora_Leo2134 viewsThe Demon King who wanted peace
ANIMETALE78 viewsThe Humiliated Son-in-Law Who Ruled the Island
Lesora70 views