"If you've killed her, brother, Father will have your head."
The voice cut through the darkness as I lay gasping on the ground. Pain radiated through my entire body—my legs, my back, my already-injured shoulder. But I was alive. Somehow, impossibly, I was alive.
"She's breathing. I can hear her heartbeat from here." That was Kael's voice, tight with anger. "Now get out of my way, Darian."
"I don't think so." The first voice again, Darian, one of Kael's brothers. "Father wants to see you both. Immediately. And he's not in a patient mood."
I forced my eyes open and tried to sit up. Everything spun violently. Through my blurred vision, I could see shapes moving, men with torches, weapons gleaming in the firelight. And two figures standing apart from the rest, facing each other like wolves about to fight.
Kael and another man. The brother.
"Elara, don't move." Kael didn't take his eyes off his brother. "You might have broken something."
"I'm... fine..."
I managed, though I wasn't sure that was true. I tried to stand, got halfway up, and my legs gave out. Strong hands caught me before I hit the ground again.
But they weren't Kael's hands.
"Careful, Princess." The man holding me had the same dark hair as Kael, the same sharp features.
But his eyes were different, blue instead of gray, and cold. So cold. "That was quite a fall. You're lucky the shade caught you partway down, or you'd be dead."
The shade. Kael's shadow. It had wrapped around me as I fell, I realized, slowing my descent just enough to keep the impact from killing me.
"Let her go, Darian." Kael's voice was deadly quiet.
"Or what? You'll set your shade on me? On Father's guards?" Darian smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We both know you won't. Not here, not with so many witnesses. Father would have the justification he needs to declare you rogue, strip your titles, maybe even execute you for treason."
"He's going to try that anyway. We both know it."
"Perhaps. But why make it easy for him?" Darian's grip on my arms tightened slightly. "Come peacefully, brother. Bring your lovely bride. Have an audience with Father. Clear up this little... misunderstanding."
"There's no misunderstanding. Father wants me under his control, and he'll use my wife to do it."
"Well, yes. Obviously." Darian said it so casually, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "But that's just politics, Kael. You know how it works.
Father needs leverage over you, and the princess provides it. It's nothing personal."
"It's personal to me," I said, finding my voice. Both brothers looked at me in surprise. "I'm not a piece on a game board. I'm a person."
Darian laughed. "Oh, she's spirited. I like her. Father will enjoy breaking that."
Kael moved faster than my eyes could follow. One moment he was standing several feet away, the next he had Darian by the throat, slamming him against the wall of the inn. I stumbled free, barely keeping my balance.
"Touch her again," Kael said softly, "and leverage or not, witness or not, I will kill you. Do you understand?"
Darian couldn't speak, Kael's hand was crushing his windpipe, but he managed a strangled nod.
The guards surged forward, weapons raised. But they hesitated, clearly torn between following orders and attacking a prince of the realm.
"Stand down!" A new voice rang out, authoritative and sharp. Another man pushed through the guards, identical to Darian. The twin. "Kael, release him. Now."
Kael's jaw clenched, but he let Darian go. His brother slumped against the wall, coughing and gasping.
"Theron," Kael said, not taking his eyes off Darian. "Come to help your twin kidnap my wife?"
"Come to prevent bloodshed." Theron looked between his brothers with an expression I couldn't quite read. "Father wants to see you, Kael. Both of you. But he was very clear, the princess is not to be harmed. She's to be treated as honored family."
"Until she's useful as a hostage, you mean."
"That's not—" Theron paused. "Look, I'm not going to lie to you. Father has concerns about your marriage. About your loyalty. He wants to discuss them."
"By sending armed guards in the middle of the night?"
"You ran from your own wedding convoy," Darian wheezed, still rubbing his throat. "What did you expect? Clearly you're not stable. Clearly the curse is affecting your judgment"
"We were attacked by shadow beasts," I cut in. "Prince Kael saved my life. We weren't running away, we were surviving."
All three brothers turned to stare at me.
"Shadow beasts?" Theron's expression sharpened. "Where?"
In the forest between Eldoria and Shadowmere. They killed all the guards, destroyed the carriage." I lifted my chin, meeting his gaze. "If Prince Kael hadn't fought them off, I would be dead."
"Interesting," Theron murmured. "Shadow beasts don't usually come that far south. They prefer the deep forests around Shadowmere itself."
"Unless someone summoned them," Kael said quietly.
The implication hung in the air. Someone had deliberately sent those creatures after us. Someone who wanted Kael dead—or at least wanted to test him.
"That's a serious accusation, brother," Darian said, but he wouldn't meet Kael's eyes.
"It's the truth. Those beasts were hunting me specifically. They ignored Elara completely until I sent her away." Kael's gray eyes were hard. "Someone in Shadowmere wanted me dead before I could bring my wife home. I wonder who?"
"Not me," Darian said quickly. "Or Theron. We were at the castle all day yesterday, dozens of people can confirm it."
"I'm sure they can. But there are other ways to summon shadow beasts. Ways that don't require you to be present." Kael took a step toward his brothers.
"Tell me, did Father seem disappointed this morning when he received word that I'd survived?"
Theron's expression flickered, just for a moment, but I saw it. Confirmation.
"This is pointless," Darian said. "We're not going to resolve anything standing in the street. Come back to the castle. Talk to Father. If you're innocent of whatever he suspects"
"I am innocent."
"Then prove it. Face him. Defend yourself." Darian straightened, adjusting his clothes. "Unless you're afraid?"
It was a calculated challenge. Kael knew it, I knew it, everyone standing there knew it. If Kael refused to face his father, it would look like he had something to hide. Like he was guilty.
"Fine," Kael said after a long moment. "We'll come. But my wife stays with me at all times. She doesn't leave my sight, she doesn't stay in separate chambers, she doesn't meet with Father alone.
Agreed?"
Theron nodded slowly. "Agreed. You have my word."
"Your word means nothing if Father overrules it."
"Then you'll have to trust that I have more influence than you think."
Theron gestured toward the horses waiting in the street. "Shall we?"