Sedra POV
The screaming started an hour after I broke the spell.
It came from everywhere at once. The corridors. The chambers. The crystal walls that were supposed to protect this place. Hundreds of voices crying out in pain and confusion and terror.
I stood frozen in the heart chamber, blood still dripping from my nose, and listened to the sound of a kingdom dying because of me.
"Move." The knight who'd been with the prince grabbed my arm. Not gentle but not brutal either. Just firm. "You can't stay here."
"I need to help them," I said. My voice sounded weak. Broken. "I need to fix this."
"You've done enough." He pulled me toward the door. "Come on. Before someone decides to kill you."
I didn't fight. What was the point? He was right. I'd destroyed everything. The least I could do was not make it worse.
The corridors were packed with people stumbling around like they'd forgotten how to walk. Some were crying. Some were screaming. Some just stood there staring at nothing with blank eyes.
A woman collapsed right in front of me. Her body hit the stone floor hard. No one helped her. Everyone was too busy trying to help themselves.
I tried to go to her but the knight held me back. "Don't."
"She's dying."
"So are a lot of people. You can't save them all." His jaw was tight. "And if they see you helping, they'll realize you're the one who did this. Then they'll tear you apart."
He was protecting me. Even though he had no reason to. Even though I deserved whatever they wanted to do to me.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Evander." He didn't look at me. Just kept pulling me through the crowd. "And you're going to stay quiet and stay alive. Understand?"
I nodded.
He brought me to a small chamber in the oldest part of the fortress. The room was barely bigger than a closet. One window. One bed. Stone walls so cold I could see my breath.
"Stay here," Evander said. "Don't leave. Don't talk to anyone. Don't try to help."
"For how long?"
"Until the prince decides what to do with you." He moved toward the door. "If you're smart, you'll pray he's feeling merciful."
Then he left. I heard a lock click into place.
I was a prisoner.
I sat on the bed and put my head in my hands. My magic was almost gone. I could barely feel it anymore. Just a faint whisper where there used to be power.
I'd used everything I had to break that ward. And for what? To wake a kingdom that hated me. To free something dark and terrible. To destroy the only chance my family had at survival.
Mother was going to kill me when I got home. If I got home.
Through the walls I could hear the chaos continuing. People crying. People shouting. The prince's voice cutting through it all like a blade, giving orders, trying to bring control to something that couldn't be controlled.
His voice did something to me. Made my chest tight. Made my heart beat faster. Which was insane because he hated me. He'd made that very clear.
But my magic had recognized him. Had reached for him like it knew him. And I had no idea why.
I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes. Sleep didn't come. Just the sounds of suffering all around me.
By morning the screaming had mostly stopped. That wasn't a good thing. It just meant people were too tired to scream anymore.
I went to the window and looked out. The sun was rising over the mountains. The sky was pink and orange and beautiful. Like the world didn't care that a kingdom was dying inside this fortress.
My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten since yesterday. But I didn't call for food. I didn't deserve food.
The lock clicked. The door opened. Evander stood there looking even worse than yesterday. Dark circles under his eyes. Blood on his shirt. Exhaustion written all over his face.
"Come with me," he said.
"Where?"
"The prince wants to see you."
My heart jumped into my throat. "Why?"
"Just come."
I followed him through the fortress. It looked different in daylight. I could see the cracks in the walls more clearly now. See how badly everything was falling apart. See the people huddled in corners, weak and starving and afraid.
They stared at me as I passed. Some with confusion. Some with anger. One old woman spat at my feet.
I kept walking.
Evander brought me to a large chamber filled with people. Men and women in fine clothes that looked ancient. The prince's advisors probably. They stood around a table covered in maps and papers, all talking at once.
Then I saw him.
The prince stood at the head of the table. He'd changed since yesterday. His hair was pulled back. His clothes were clean. He looked like a king now instead of someone who just woke from a nightmare.
But his eyes were the same. Cold and hard and full of rage.
He saw me and the entire room went quiet.
"You shouldn't be here," he said. His voice was ice. Pure ice.
"I want to help," I said. The words came out stronger than I felt. "I know what I did. I know I destroyed everything. But I have magic. Not much but some. Let me use it to fix this."
One of the advisors laughed. It was a cruel sound. "You think we'd trust you? You think we'd let you touch anything else?"
"I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to let me try." I looked at the prince. Only at him. "Your people are dying. You need every resource you have. Even me."
His jaw tightened. For a moment I thought he might say yes. Might let me help. Might give me a chance to undo even a tiny bit of the damage I'd caused.
Then he spoke. "No."
The word was final. Absolute. Like a door slamming shut.
"But I—"
"I said no." He turned away from me. Back to his advisors. Back to his maps. Like I wasn't even there anymore. "Take her back to her chamber."
The rejection hurt worse than it should have. I barely knew this man. But something in me wanted him to look at me again. To see me as something other than the girl who ruined his life.
I turned to leave.
"Wait." A new voice. Smooth and beautiful. "Before she goes, I think we should discuss what she really is."
I looked up and saw him. A man I hadn't noticed before. Tall and golden-haired with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He was beautiful in the way poisonous things are beautiful. Dangerous and deadly and impossible to look away from.
"Lyrian," the prince said. There was a warning in his voice. "Not now."
"When then?" Lyrian stepped forward. His eyes locked on me. "When she's had time to do more damage? When the darkness beneath the ice has fully woken? When we're all dead?"
The room shifted. I could feel everyone's attention turning to me. Sharpening like knives.
"What are you talking about?" one of the advisors asked.
Lyrian smiled. "This girl didn't stumble upon our kingdom by accident. She was sent here. By her family. A family that's known about us for generations."
How did he know that? How could he possibly know?
"The Voss bloodline has been watching us for a thousand years," Lyrian continued. "Waiting for the right moment to strike. Waiting for someone desperate enough and stupid enough to break the ward."
"That's not true," I said. But my voice shook. Because part of it was true. My family had sent me here. They'd known about this place.
"Isn't it?" Lyrian turned to face the room. "Think about it. She arrives at exactly the right time. She has just enough magic to break the ward but not enough to be a threat. She destroys our protection and then offers to help rebuild. Classic infiltration tactics."
"I'm not a spy," I said. Louder now. "I didn't know what I was doing. I was trying to save my family."
"By destroying ours." Lyrian's voice was soft. Gentle. Like he was talking to a child. "You released the darkness beneath the ice. The thing we've been trying to keep imprisoned for three hundred years. Don't you think that's convenient?"
The advisors started muttering. Looking at me with new suspicion. New fear.
"She could be working with it," someone said.
"She could be its servant," another added.
"We should kill her before she does more damage."
My blood went cold. They were serious. They actually wanted me dead.
I looked at the prince. Waiting for him to say something. Waiting for him to tell them they were wrong. That I was just a girl who made a terrible mistake.
He stared back at me with those storm-gray eyes. And he said nothing.
"Kael," Evander said quietly. "You can't seriously believe this."
The prince didn't answer. He just kept looking at me like he was trying to decide if I was worth saving.
And I realized something that made my heart stop.
He wasn't sure.
He actually wasn't sure if I was evil or just stupid. If I was a threat or a victim. If I deserved death or mercy.
Lyrian saw it too. Saw the doubt in his cousin's eyes. And smiled.
"We should vote," Lyrian said. "All in favor of executing the outsider before she destroys what's left of our kingdom?"
Hands started to rise. One. Then two. Then five. Then more.
I was going to die here. In this frozen fortress. Surrounded by people who hated me for something I didn't mean to do.
And the man whose magic recognized mine was going to let it happen.