Pain came in waves.
Not sharp.
Not clean.
Heavy.
Like drowning beneath freezing water while something kept dragging me back to the surface just long enough to breathe before forcing me under again.
Voices drifted around me.
Distant.
Blurred.
"…still losing blood…"
"…poison…"
"…remove the arrowhead first…"
"…if we do that she may—"
Darkness swallowed the rest.
I tried to move.
Failed.
My body felt wrong.
Too cold.
Too heavy.
Somewhere nearby, someone was shouting.
Not in panic.
In anger.
The sound cut through the haze enough for me to recognize it.
Raiden.
Of course it was.
"You're wasting time."
The shadows around his voice felt sharp enough to cut through stone.
One of the healers snapped back immediately.
"She'll die if we rush it!"
Silence.
Then—
"everyone dies if you fail."
That voice—
gods.
Cold.
Controlled.
Terrifying.
Not rage anymore.
Worse.
The kind of calm that comes right before kingdoms burn.
I forced my eyes open.
Instant regret.
Light stabbed through my skull hard enough to make my stomach twist.
Canvas ceiling.
Healer tent.
The scent of herbs and blood thick in the air.
My chest burned.
I sucked in a shallow breath—
and pain exploded through me instantly.
A sound escaped my throat before I could stop it.
Every head turned toward me immediately.
Muir was beside me in seconds.
"Easy," he said quickly.
Too quickly.
Too relieved.
"You're awake."
Barely.
My gaze drifted past him automatically.
Found Raiden instantly.
Standing near the back of the tent.
Covered in blood.
Most of it not his.
Shadows curled around him like restless wolves while lightning flickered faintly beneath his skin.
His eyes locked onto mine.
And gods—
the relief that slammed through the thread nearly hurt worse than the arrow.
Followed immediately by anger.
Sharp.
Terrified.
"You nearly died."
The words came out flat.
Controlled.
Which somehow made them worse.
I swallowed painfully.
"Technically," I rasped, "I'm still working on it."
Muir groaned.
Raiden looked completely unimpressed.
Good.
That meant he was functioning again.
Mostly.
"You should not be talking," one of the healers muttered while adjusting pressure against the wound in my chest.
That explained the pain.
I glanced downward.
Bandages wrapped tightly around my torso, already stained through with blood.
Wonderful.
"What happened?" I asked quietly.
The room shifted slightly.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Muir looked away first.
Interesting.
Raiden stayed perfectly still.
Also interesting.
"The battle stopped," Tadewi's voice said from the entrance.
I turned carefully.
She stood there with Willow beside her.
Revik lingered behind them looking like he'd been dragged through the entire war personally.
Honestly, he probably had.
"The king lost control of the army after the minister confessed," Tadewi continued.
My chest eased slightly.
Good.
At least that mattered.
"At first the soldiers refused further orders," Willow added, arms crossed tightly. "Then the civilians started turning too."
A small smile tugged weakly at my mouth.
It hurt immediately.
Worth it.
"What happened to the king?"
That killed the relief instantly.
Silence stretched.
Then Revik sighed heavily.
"He escaped."
Of course he did.
My jaw tightened.
"Coward."
"Mm," Raiden hummed softly from the back of the tent. "Usually the surviving kind."
I shot him a look.
He looked almost amused.
Almost.
But beneath it—
through the thread—
I felt something darker.
Restless.
Waiting.
Not over.
Nowhere near over.
"Where's Orenda?" I asked suddenly.
"Safe," Willow answered immediately. "All the children are."
Relief hit hard enough to make my eyes close briefly.
Thank gods.
"They're already moving refugees toward the northern sanctuaries," Tadewi said. "The camp is no longer liveable"
No surprise there.
I exhaled slowly.
Then immediately regretted it when pain lanced through my chest again.
"Don't move," Muir snapped instantly.
"You're becoming bossy."
"You were shot through the chest."
"Minor inconvenience."
"Lyra."
That one came from Raiden.
Quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
I looked toward him again.
His expression hadn't changed.
But the thread had.
Fear still lingered beneath everything else.
Deep.
Raw.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The Lightning Prince was still terrified of losing me.
Part of me wanted to laugh about it.
Another part—
felt strangely warm.
Which was probably the fever.
Definitely the fever.
Probably.
Tadewi stepped further into the tent, her expression sharpening.
"There's another matter."
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Raiden straightened slightly against the wall.
Muir's face darkened.
Politics.
Right.
Of course we weren't done.
"We intercepted communications from the palace before the king fled," Tadewi said. "Half the capital is in open unrest."
Good.
"The other half is demanding retaliation."
Less good.
"The council needs leadership," Willow added. "Immediately."
My gaze drifted automatically toward Muir.
He noticed instantly.
"No."
Oh, this should be fun.
"You're the crown prince," I said.
"I was the crown prince."
"You're still the only legitimate heir."
Muir swore under his breath.
Revik looked deeply entertained already.
"You want me to take the throne after all this?" Muir demanded.
"Yes."
"Lyra—"
"You care whether people live or die," I interrupted quietly. "That already makes you more qualified than your father."
That shut him up.
Good.
The thread pulsed faintly with approval behind me.
Raiden.
Again.
Interesting.
Muir dragged both hands through his hair violently.
"The kingdom is collapsing."
"Then rebuild it."
"The nobles will fight me."
"Then best them."
"That is terrible advice," Revik muttered.
"I wasn't asking him to be polite."
Muir looked exhausted suddenly.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like the weight of everything had finally settled onto him all at once.
I understood that feeling.
Gods, I understood it too well.
"You won't be alone," I said quietly.
His eyes lifted toward mine.
"The tribes will support you," I continued. "Tadewi will."
The Air leader nodded once.
"The small amoung of Earth Kingdom refugees already trust you," Willow added.
Muir blinked.
Then looked toward Raiden unexpectedly.
The prince still leaned against the far wall wrapped in shadow like darkness itself had chosen a favorite form.
"You?" Muir asked carefully.
The tent went very still.
Ah.
Right.
That.
Raiden's expression barely shifted.
"This kingdom's politics are not my concern."
A lie.
Not a full one.
But not truth either.
Because I felt it immediately through the thread—
conflict.
Calculation.
Distance.
Something pulling at him.
My stomach tightened faintly.
Before I could examine that feeling further—
the shadows behind him moved.
Subtle.
Small enough that no one else noticed.
But I did.
Of course I did.
A figure emerged silently from the darkness near the back corner of the tent.
Dressed entirely in black.
One of Raiden's operatives.
The room shifted instantly.
Revik's hand moved toward his blade.
Willow's vines curled instinctively beneath the floor.
Tadewi's wind sharpened.
But the operative never looked at any of us.
Only Raiden.
Then he knelt.
"The search is complete, my prince."
Every instinct in my body sharpened instantly.
Raiden went completely still.
Not visibly.
Not to anyone else.
But through the thread—
everything tightened.
"The Earth Relic has been located."
Silence.
Cold.
Heavy silence.
And suddenly—
I understood.
Not fully.
But enough.
The docks.
The kingdom.
The war.
The chaos.
A distraction.
Not entirely.
But partially.
The realization settled slowly into my chest like ice sinking beneath water.
He had helped us.
Saved us.
Protected me.
But while all of this happened—
his people had been searching.
Working.
Advancing toward another goal entirely.
The relic.
The operative lowered his head further.
"The exact location was confirmed."
The thread pulsed violently.
Victory.
Satisfaction.
And beneath it—
guilt.
My breath caught softly.
There it was.
The truth.
Raiden's gaze lifted slowly toward mine.
And for the first time since I met him—
he looked uncertain.
Not weak.
Not ashamed.
Just—
caught.
Like he suddenly wasn't sure which side of himself would speak first.
Mortimer's influence stirred faintly behind his eyes.
The thread pulsed dark.
Approval.
Amusement.
It worked perfectly.
The kingdoms weakened themselves.
The Water Kingdom destabilized.
The tribes exhausted themselves.
And now—
the path to the Earth Relic stood open.
Exactly as planned.
The silence in the tent stretched painfully.
No one else understood yet.
Not fully.
But I did.
Because I could feel him.
Every piece of him.
The conflict.
The ambition.
The pull toward something darker.
And underneath it all—
the horrible realization that he didn't know what to do.
That hurt worse than I expected.
Because part of me already knew—
eventually—
he would leave.