Vanella was sent to mid-court again.
This time, the summons felt wrong.
The air in the hall was heavier than usual, thick with incense and restrained hostility. Ministers stood in clustered groups, voices low, eyes sharp. Vanella took her place behind the throne, posture straight, face composed.
She did not look at Raven.
She did not need to.
She could feel him—steady, watchful, coiled like a predator at rest.
Then the Tiger Clan entered.
Lord Jinhai walked at the front, his presence commanding without effort. His gaze swept the room once—dismissive, calculating—before passing briefly over Vanella.
That was all it took.
The world tilted.
Vanella's breath caught sharply.
The marble beneath her feet felt suddenly wet.
Not damp—flooded.
The hall vanished.
She stood knee-deep in water that reflected fire instead of light.
Screams echoed—not one voice, but many. Overlapping. Familiar. Agonized.
She saw banners burning—Rossenvale's sigil torn apart, sinking beneath blackened waves. She tried to move, but chains wrapped around her ankles, dragging her down.
Above the water, shadows argued.
Not faces. Clans.
A tiger's roar.
A dragon's snarl—distant, furious, restrained.
Voices chanting war, treachery, necessity.
Then—
A crown.
Heavy. Cracked. Pressed down by blood-soaked hands that did not belong to the one who wore it.
She saw soldiers breaking chains in darkness—freeing captives quietly, desperately—only for the water to surge again, swallowing names, faces, truth.
Finally—
A man stood alone in the center of it all.
Not a monster.
Not a savior.
A king, drowning in choices he never wanted.
Vanella gasped.
The vision shattered.
She stumbled forward, barely catching herself on the edge of the throne's platform. Her heart slammed violently against her ribs. Her hands were trembling.
The hall had gone silent.
Someone murmured her name.
Raven was already standing.
He turned—not to the court—but to her.
His eyes locked onto hers.
And in that instant, he knew.
Not suspected.
Knew.
The way the air had shifted.
The way the water in the ornamental basin at the side of the hall trembled faintly, responding to her agitation.
The way Lord Jinhai's expression had changed—just slightly—when she staggered.
Raven felt the truth settle into place like a blade sliding home.
She sees echoes.
She touches what water remembers.
And worse—
She doesn't know.
"Remove her," Raven said sharply.
The command snapped the hall back to life. Two guards stepped forward, hesitant but obedient. Vanella did not resist as they escorted her out. Her thoughts were chaos—fire, water, chains, blood.
Behind her, Raven turned slowly back to the court.
Lord Jinhai was watching him carefully now.
Too carefully.
Raven smiled.
A thin, dangerous smile.
"Court is dismissed," he said. "Any further discussion will wait until I say otherwise."
No one argued.
They bowed and withdrew, the Tiger Clan among them—heads high, but minds racing.
Vanella was taken to a quiet antechamber, seated, given water she did not drink. Her breathing slowly steadied, but the images refused to leave her.
Why did it feel real?
Why did it hurt like memory?
The door opened.
Raven entered alone.
He dismissed the guards with a gesture.
Silence fell between them—thick, charged, unbearable.
"You did not faint," he said calmly. "You saw something."
Vanella's jaw tightened. "I don't know what you're accusing me of."
"I'm not," Raven replied.
He stepped closer.
"Water responds to truth," he said quietly. "And today, it responded to you."
Her breath stuttered.
She shook her head. "I don't understand."
"I know," he said.
That was the most terrifying part.
Raven studied her as one would a weapon left unattended—dangerous not because it was sharp, but because it was unaware of what it could cut.
"You will say nothing of what you felt," he continued. "To anyone."
Vanella met his gaze then, anger and confusion blazing. "And if I can't?"
His eyes darkened. "Then the palace will no longer be able to protect you—from them… or from me."
She swallowed hard.
Raven straightened, masking everything he had just confirmed.
The Tiger Clan has made their move, he thought.
And they've awakened something they cannot control.
As he turned to leave, one truth burned unmistakably in his mind:
Vanella Ross was no longer just a survivor.
She was a key.
And the war for Acosta had just entered a far more dangerous phase.