The West Wing was never meant to hear screams.
Vanella had just finished changing the linens when the air shifted—too sudden, too wrong. Her skin prickled, instinct screaming before her mind could catch up.
The door burst inward.
Three figures moved fast.
She barely had time to turn before the first blow struck her ribs, knocking the air from her lungs. She hit the floor hard, breath tearing painfully from her chest. Hands grabbed her hair, yanking her head back.
"Stay quiet," a voice hissed. "Or you die."
She tasted blood.
Another strike—this time to her shoulder. Something sharp bit into her side, heat blooming as pain exploded through her body. Vanella cried out despite herself, fingers clawing at stone as she tried to crawl away.
Water answered her panic.
Not visibly. Not consciously.
The air thickened. Lamps flickered. The ground beneath her attackers grew slick, as if dampened by unseen waves.
One of them faltered.
"What is—"
Vanella gasped, body trembling violently. She didn't know what she was doing—only that something inside her was thrashing, desperate, furious.
A kick slammed into her stomach.
Everything went dark.
Raven felt it.
The moment her blood hit the floor, something in him snapped.
The palace shook—not physically, but spiritually—a dragon's rage tearing through stone and bone. Raven moved without thought, power coiling beneath his skin as he stormed the West Wing.
Kallen was beside him in seconds.
The door splintered under Raven's hand.
The attackers were already fleeing—too late. One never made it past the corridor. Kallen took the others.
Raven dropped to his knees beside Vanella.
She was pale. Too still. Blood soaked through her clothes, pooling beneath her.
"No," he breathed, hands hovering helplessly for half a heartbeat before pressing down to stem the bleeding. "Stay with me. Vanella—look at me."
Her lashes fluttered.
"Kallen," Raven snapped, voice shaking with restrained violence. "Get the physician. Now."
The royal physician arrived breathless. Orders were barked. Bandages torn. Magic whispered.
Raven never left her side.
He held her hand while she drifted in and out of consciousness. He wiped blood from her cheek himself. When her body shook, he anchored her against him without hesitation.
"They will pay," he said softly, fury coiled tight beneath each word. "Every last one of them."
Vanella stirred faintly.
"Don't… let them hurt my people," she whispered.She still has the energy to think about others in her condition? Such an idiot.
Raven closed his eyes.
"I swear it," he said. "On my crown."