EMBER POV
I looked up at him through a haze of pain and sweat. I saw the smirk, the entitlement in a way he thought everything in this world had a price.
"I would rather die," I rasped, spitting blood into the dirt. "I would rather rot in the earth than let a vulture like you touch me."
Cassian's face contorted. "Then rot you shall."
He stood up, his hand raised to signal the guards to continue ,but he never got the chance.
The heavy iron gates of the courtyard didn't just open; they were blasted off their hinges. A roar ripped through the air, vibrating in the very stones beneath my chest.
Evander was there , not on a horse. He was on foot, his shirt torn and skin covered in a sheen of sweat and the black veins of the madness pulsing violently across his throat. He looked like death made flesh.
"Touch her again," Evander whispered, his voice carrying further than any shout, "and I will feed your hearts to the crows while you're still awake to watch."
The guards backed away instantly, dropping the lash. Cassian stood his ground, though his hands were shaking. Julian stepped out from the shadows to join his brother, trying to look brave.
"She disrespected a Crown Prince, Evander!" Julian shouted. "She struck Cassian! She's a guest in our kingdom, and she must be punished for her insolence."
"She is a Princess," Evander growled, stepping toward them. With every step he took, the shadows in the courtyard seemed to stretch and darken, as if the sun itself were afraid of him.
"A Princess?" Cassian laughed nervously, gesturing to my bleeding back. "She's a debt, brother! Her own father sold her to this kingdom like a mangy dog. She has no status here."
"He sold her to me," Evander corrected, his voice like grinding tectonic plates. "Not to this kingdom or you. She is my tool and her breath is mine. And you just spilled it."
The tension was a physical cord about to snap. Everyone had gathered on their balconies and on the streets whispering among themselves with their eyes hungry for the fallout.
"You can't use your authority here, this is wrong against a royalty brother . You know the law of our pack" Julian fired back.
"I want an apology!" Cassian demanded, his voice cracking. "I am a Prince! I will not be humiliated by a bastard stray in front of my own men!"
Evander looked at me, then back at his brothers. The madness in his eyes flickered, a battle of wills happening behind his silver gaze. To the shock of everyone, Evander bowed his head slightly.
"Then you have it," Evander said, the words sounding like they were being ripped out of him. "On her behalf, I apologize for the strike. The debt is settled."
A collective gasp went up from the balconies. The Great Shadow King, apologizing? The gossip started instantly the "conveyance" had actually managed to tame the beast.
Cassian's smirk returned, wider and more loathsome than before. "No. Not from you. It must come from her."
Evander looked at me, his eyes pleading for a second. Just say it and survive this.
I looked at Cassian. I felt the wetness of the blood on my back. "I'm sorry," I said, my voice hollow.
Cassian stepped closer to me, leaning down as if to help me up, but his hand stayed on the hilt of his sword. He leaned into my ear one last time.
"Not enough," he whispered. "I still want that night, Ember. And now that I know how much it hurts him, I'm going to make sure I take it."
The disgust finally broke me. . I didn't care about the consequences, I pulled back and spat directly into his face.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Cassian's face went white, then a bruised, violent red. He didn't scream. He didn't shout. He reached for the heavy broadsword at his hip and drew it in one fluid, murderous motion.
"Then die, you bitch!"
The blade swung toward my neck.