The throne room was a tomb.
The holographic screen was dark, the silence broken only by the faint, almost inaudible sound of Isabelle's ragged breathing.
The revelation had hit her like a physical blow.
The Sword King of Suzu, our greatest enemy, the man who had just effortlessly annihilated two of my Bloodkin, was her grandfather.
My brilliant, beautiful, and profoundly complicated commander was a mess.
"This changes things," Chloe stated, her voice a flat, cold whisper from the shadows. She was not looking at the screen. She was looking at Isabelle. Her amethyst eyes were narrowed slits of pure, undiluted suspicion.
"It changes nothing," I countered, my voice a blade of ice. I needed to control this. Now. Before it spiraled into a full-blown civil war in my own throne room.
"The mission remains the same," I declared. "Suzu will fall. The Sword King will be… dealt with."
I looked at Isabelle, my gaze hard. "Can you do what needs to be done, Commander?"
