Liora stepped forward before she realized it, her voice shaking. "Then… then we can't stay here. If the king sent them once, he'll send them again. We need to..."
Her voice broke as Lucien's eyes locked with hers, raw and burning. He looked at her as if she were both an anchor and a blade at his throat.
"No," he said, voice low, iron-willed. "We don't run. Not anymore."
Rowan tilted his head, studying him. "Then you mean to fight."
Lucien turned his face toward the dripping forest, toward the castle that loomed invisible beyond the night. "I mean to uncover everything. The lies. The betrayals. The blood he spilled to sit his throne. If he wants me erased, then I'll carve my name into stone he can't shatter."
Liora's breath caught in her throat. For the first time, she saw not just the disgraced prince who carried his exile like a second skin, but a man preparing to tear open the very heart of the kingdom.
The king had drawn first blood. Now Lucien meant to answer.
