POV. Kai
The smell of dampness and rusty metal clung to my nostrils like a broken promise. Each step he took towards the dungeon sounded hollower than the last. The torches sizzled, and their shadows danced as if celebrating something I didn't know.
He was not wearing a crown. Nor a cape embroidered with gold threads.
Only darkness on his shoulders, and a certainty that weighed like cold iron: he had been locked up. To him.
My boots echoed on the steps, and with each step, I felt like I was leaving behind something other than the palace. Pride. Fear. And that's another... that which I do not even dare to name.
And there it was.
Archie.
Lying on the floor, hunched against the wall as if his body had surrendered. The robe, once white, now seemed to be made of dust, dried blood and abandonment. He trembled, curled up like a leaf on the brink of winter.
When he heard my footsteps, he raised his head with difficulty. And yet... Still, he smiled.
"Kai," he whispered. His voice was barely a thread. But for me, it was enough.
I knelt in front of the bars. Without thinking. Not calculated. Without dignity, without a throne. Only with the desperation that ate away at me.
"Tell me it's a lie," I begged, my voice torn to shreds. Tell me, even if it's a damn lie. I'm going to believe it if you say so.
He blinked with difficulty. His eyes, veiled by fever, struggled to focus on me.
"Of course not," he groaned. I have no motive. They framed me, Kai. Not me...
I swallowed hard. My throat was burning. My soul burned.
I slipped my fingers between the bars. His hand went up, trembling, until it reached them. I clung to it as if I could hold the world from there.
"Shh... I whispered. I know. I believe you.
"The cure... It's in the lab. The flower bloomed. It's there... in the box with the copper seal. The poison was the residue. They didn't let me speak... I was thinking of presenting it today...
"But how?" When?
"Last night... just before—" she coughed, drowning in her own pain. That they would come in and drag me out of there. I was writing it all down. I was going to tell you today...
I lowered my head. I closed my eyes. And I leaned my forehead against the bars.
"I love you more than this kingdom will allow me to admit," I murmured, my voice shattered and rage pulsing beneath my skin.
He raised his hand, as if he still had the strength to touch me. His fingers brushed my cheek with a tenderness that hurt more than any punishment.
"If the court rules against me..." if everything falls down and they corner me... I'll say I hate you," he whispered.
I let out a broken laugh. I don't know if it was a laugh or a sob.
"Is that also a lie?"
"Yes," he answered. And for the first time since we met... Smiled.
Night fell upon the kingdom, but sleep eluded me like an old enemy. The warmth of his hand was still burning in mine.
And a plan. Born of despair. Raw, clumsy... but real. It made me move. I had to do something now.
I turned with my newfound determination when the door burst open.
Oh my God.
Queen Sibylla was there, standing like a sentence. Her face impassive, her dress impeccable. Always so composed, even when her son fell apart.
"Do you have any feelings for the sorcerer?" He asked with a calmness that chilled me to the bone.
I didn't answer. What mattered now? My look said it all.
"The throne is not for those who desire, but for those who sacrifice," he continued. And this scandal can consume us. The most important thing now is to save the kingdom... to maintain power... and clean up the image of your name. From our name.
I felt a knot tighten in my stomach. He was like a snake. No. A betrayal. A dagger with my name written on the inside.
"You can't ask me that," I said, almost out of breath. Don't ask me, mother.
Sibylla watched me in silence. And for a moment... I saw sadness in his eyes. Maybe sorrow. Maybe a little colder.
I don't want to give it up.
"The plague does not kill as quickly as envy in the eyes of the court," he said. On the day of judgment, everything will be against you. And no matter what... You will always have my support.
I didn't say anything else. Not because I didn't have words. But because if he said them... there would be no turning back.
I rode Medusa. The black mare, faithful as fate that I don't want. I rode without looking back. The castle gates were left behind like a sealed betrayal.
The cabin of the merchant Eron de Valys was not far away...
And I was going to get the truth out of him, even if I had to burn his house to the ground.
Archie wasn't going to die in a cell.
Not while I was breathing.