Lira limped down the corridor, blood drying on her temple and shame dragging behind her like a chain.
She had failed.
The plan was reckless — sneak past the outer ward, slip Ariya out of the citadel while the guard changed. She'd timed it perfectly. Or so she thought.
But she hadn't accounted for him.
Corven.
The moment she'd gotten close, he was already there, waiting in the shadows like a ghost of her brother's past. He didn't try to kill her — no, that would've been merciful. Instead, he toyed with her. A warning. A reminder.
Ruvan may hesitate. Corven never would.
Now she was bruised, battered, and worse — exposed. If Ruvan found out what she'd done, there'd be hell to pay. Not for her, maybe, but for Ariya. And that was what terrified her most.
She turned the corner and slipped into her chambers, locking the door behind her.
The silence was a scream.
She collapsed onto the chair by the window and stared out at the distant mountains. Somewhere beyond them, Ariya's friends were surely regrouping, plotting a rescue. Kael. Lyra. That chaotic sparkplug Jax.
They wouldn't sit still. They wouldn't let her rot in this frozen fortress.They wouldn't fail.
But she had.
Lira slammed her fist onto the desk. Her knuckles stung.
She was Ruvan's sister — raised in ice, trained in silence, taught to play the long game. And yet, one girl with fire in her veins had turned her entire world sideways. Ariya was fierce, stubborn, reckless…
And completely unforgettable.
A knock.
Lira froze. "What?"
A voice slipped through the door — calm, low, and dangerous.
"You're lucky it was me who found you, not my brother."
Corven.
She opened the door slowly. He leaned against the frame like he owned it, a half-smile on his lips and a wound on his cheek — from her blade.
"You should leave," she said coldly.
He stepped in anyway. "You're not as clever as you think, Lira. Ariya isn't just a fire you can steal. She's a storm. And your brother… he's standing too close."
"She's not a weapon."
"No," he said softly. "She's something worse."
"What do you mean?"
Corven looked at her for a long moment — as if debating whether to tell her the truth or twist it.
Then: "There's something inside her. Something ancient. Something neither of them understand. And if that mark binds them… it may burn through everything."
Lira's breath caught.
Was that what she'd felt, even during the brief moment she touched Ariya's arm? A whisper beneath the skin, like lightning coiled too tight?
"What are you saying?" she asked.
Corven turned to leave. "I'm saying… you better decide whose side you're on. Because this won't end with fire and frost."
"It'll end with a crown."
He paused.
"And I don't think either of them is ready to wear it."