Seraphina's POV - Wedding Day, Present
Lord Blackwell stands between me and freedom.
Twenty armed men behind him. The locket clutched in my fist. And somewhere in that room, Kael is fighting for his life.
Maybe dying for me.
You've led us on quite a chase, my dear. Blackwell's smile is oil and venom. But it ends now.
I back up, but there's nowhere to go. The corridor is a dead end behind me.
The locket, he extends his hand. Give it to me, and I'll make sure your husband dies quickly. Refuse, and I'll make him suffer for days.
My husband. The word sounds strange. We've been married less than an hour and it's been nothing but blood and betrayal.
You killed my family, I say, stalling for time. Why? What did we ever do to you?
Business, child. Nothing personal. He steps closer. Your father's peace proposals would have cost me millions. The war is profitable for those who know how to profit from it. I couldn't let him end it.
So you framed him for treason. Made it look like he was the traitor.
Exactly. And it worked beautifully. His smile widens. Until that fool Kael kept asking questions. Gathering evidence. Becoming a problem.
That's why you wanted him married to Cordelia. To control him.
Very good. But when the Emperor forced this marriage instead, I had to adapt. He gestures to his men. Now I'll simply have to eliminate both of you and take the locket from your corpse.
The men advance.
I do the only thing I can think of.
I throw the locket as hard as I cannot at Blackwell, but at the lamp on the wall.
Glass shatters. Oil spills. Fire erupts.
The corridor fills with smoke and flame.
In the confusion, I dive past Blackwell's legs, scrambling on hands and knees through the forest of boots and swords.
Someone grabs my torn dress. I tear free, leaving more fabric behind.
CATCH HER! Blackwell roars.
I run blindly through smoke, coughing, eyes streaming. My hands are empty I threw the locket, but where did it land?
A hand catches my wrist.
Lord Blackwell in person is even more repulsive than I imagined. His expensive clothes can't hide the rot underneath. He wears his greed openly, proudly, like some men wear medals. Twenty armed men to capture one woman am I flattered or insulted by the excessive force?
I scream and fight
Seraphina! It's me!
Kael. Covered in blood, limping, but alive.
Relief floods through me so strongly I almost collapse.
You're alive, I gasp.
Harder to kill than I look. He pulls me close. We need to move. They're right behind us.
We run together through the smoke. Behind us, men shout and boots pound.
The locket, I pant. I threw it. I don't know where
Doesn't matter. You're alive. That matters.
We burst through a door into what looks like a storage room. Kael slams it shut and shoves a heavy cabinet in front of it.
That won't hold them long, he says.
I know. I lean against the wall, trying to catch my breath. Kael, I'm sorry. About the locket. Mother's proof
We'll find another way. He touches my face gently, checking for injuries. Are you hurt?
No. You?
I've had worse. But his smile is pained. The cut on his arm is still bleeding.
Something pounds against the door. Once. Twice.
We need another way out, I say.
Kael looks around the room. There. He points to a small window high on the wall. Can you climb?
In this dress? The wedding gown is barely holding together as it is.
Then we tear it. He pulls a knife from his boot and starts cutting fabric away. Sorry.
I hate this dress anyway.
He cuts away the heavy skirts until I'm left with basically a shortened shift. I can move now.
Kael boosts me up to the window. I wiggle through it's so tight I barely fit.
On the other side is an alley. Dark. Narrow. But empty.
The fire spreads faster than I anticipated. For a moment, I'm back in Valeria, back in the flames that consumed my home. The smoke chokes me the same way. The heat feels the same. History repeating, but this time I'm not running from the fire I'm the one who started it.
I reach back to help Kael
The door explodes inward.
Blackwell's men pour through.
GO! Kael shouts at me. I'll hold them off!
No! Come with me!
But there's too many. They're grabbing him, pulling him back.
Our eyes meet through the window.
Find the Emperor, Kael says urgently. Show him the evidence I have hidden in my study. East wing, third floor, behind the map of Valeria. Promise me!
Kael
PROMISE ME!
I promise!
They drag him away from the window. I hear fighting. Grunting. Then nothing.
I want to go back for him. Want to fight.
But I'd just get us both killed.
So I run.
Through alleys. Over walls. Through gardens. I don't know where I'm going. Just away.
Away from the palace. Away from the wedding that turned into a massacre. Away from everything.
I finally stop in some poor district, gasping for breath, alone.
My wedding day. I'm supposed to be celebrating.
Instead, I'm running for my life in a torn dress, covered in blood that isn't mine, having lost the only proof that could save us.
And Kael
I can't think about Kael right now. Can't think about him captured, hurt, maybe dying.
I need to get to his study. Find the evidence he mentioned. Get to the Emperor.
But first, I need help.
Kael appears like something from a nightmare, covered in blood that isn't his, limping but determined. How many men did he fight through to get here? How many bodies did he leave behind? The General earns his reputation in moments like this terrifying, efficient, unstoppable. But now he's on my side. When did that happen?
I need someone I can trust.
The problem is I don't know who that is anymore. Everyone I trusted has betrayed me.
I'm completely alone.
Then I hear it. A voice behind me.
Seraphina Valence?
I spin around, ready to fight or run.
A woman stands there. Middle-aged, dressed in servant's clothes, but her eyes are sharp and intelligent.
Who are you? I demand.
My name is Lyra Stone. She steps into the light. I served your mother. I was there the night of the siege. I survived.
My breath catches. You knew my mother?
I loved her like a sister. Tears shine in her eyes. And I've been waiting two years for you to escape that convent prison so I could help you.
Hope flares in my chest. You'll help me?
I'll do more than that. Lyra reaches into her apron and pulls out something that makes my heart stop.
Mother's locket.
I caught it when you threw it, she says with a small smile. I've been following you all day, waiting for the right moment.
She hands it to me.
The metal is still warm.
Your mother asked me to protect this if anything happened to her, Lyra says. And to protect you. I failed at one. I won't fail at both.
I clutch the locket to my chest. Thank you.
Thank me later. Right now She glances at the street. we need to get you somewhere safe and decode what your mother hid. Because Lady Seraphina, the real conspiracy is bigger than you imagine.
How much bigger?
Lyra's expression is grim.
The Emperor himself ordered your father's death.