The doors closed behind them.
The sound echoed like the sealing of a tomb.
Vanella turned on Raven.
"Why didn't you stop it?"
Her fists struck his chest before he could answer—once, twice—rage tearing through the restraint she had clung to for weeks.
"You knew," she cried. "You knew something was wrong and still let Ross burn!"
Raven did not retaliate. He did not move.Those visions make sense now.
Her strength failed. She swayed.
Raven caught her—not to silence her, but to keep her from falling.
"You are wrong," he said quietly.
That stopped her.
"What?"
"Ross was betrayed," he said. "Before my armies ever crossed its borders."
Her breath caught painfully.
"The Tiger Clan," Raven continued. "And three others. They forged evidence—false attacks on Acosta's southern routes. A Ross noble confirmed it."
Vanella shook her head in denial. "No. Ross would never—"
"A man trusted by your king," Raven said. "Close enough to command guards. Close enough to open gates."
Her heart shattered.
"They weren't preparing for war," Raven said. "They were evacuating. Smuggling out children. Servants. Anyone they could."
Tears spilled freely now.
"They were buying time," he added. "For one person."
Her throat closed.
"My men arrived too late," Raven said. "But there was a report—"
Vanella's voice broke apart.
"She dressed like me."
Raven froze.
"My friend," Vanella sobbed. "Laura. She wore my clothes. My cloak. She pushed me through the window and told me not to look back."
Her body shook violently.
"She was bleeding," Vanella whispered. "Blood in her mouth. She smiled anyway and told me to live."
Raven's grip tightened.
"She dragged me to the cliff," Vanella went on, tears blinding her. "Even wounded. Even dying. Then she went back."
Silence swallowed the room.
Raven slowly released her.
"You said… my parents earlier," he said carefully.
The world tilted.
Vanella inhaled sharply.
She had said too much.
"That's impossible," Raven said, voice sharpening. "The Ross royal family was confirmed dead. Every last one."
"I watched them die," Vanella whispered. "They held each other. They wouldn't leave without the other."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"Confirm it," he demanded. "Tell me who you are."
Her knees gave way.
"I am Vanella Ross," she said. "And Ross died so I could live."
The air shifted.
The torches flared—unnaturally bright.
Water stirred along the chamber walls, rising in trembling arcs.
Raven inhaled sharply.
"No," he muttered. "This cannot be—"
A voice—not sound, not thought—rolled through the chamber.
"When the Sea's Daughter weeps before the Dragon's Crown,
the lie of ash shall surface.
Blood betrayed shall demand fire.
And the king who spared the heir
will either burn the world—
or remake it."
The water collapsed.
The torches dimmed.
Silence returned.
Vanella crumpled, sobbing.
Raven stared at her as if seeing the truth of the world for the first time.
"The world believes you are dead," he said quietly.
She laughed weakly. "So does my enemy."
His eyes hardened.
"Then let them," he said.
"And let them learn what it means to bury a princess alive."