KAEL'S POV
Twenty minutes later, we stood in the old execution yard.
The platform where I'd 'killed' Sera five years ago loomed in darkness, a skeletal structure of wood and metal that no one had bothered to tear down. Nobody came here anymore. Too many ghosts. Too much bad history.
Which made it perfect for a secret conversation.
Sera walked to the edge of the platform where she'd fallen. Stared down at the ravine below, where water churned over rocks that gleamed in the moonlight.
I remember falling, she said quietly. The water hitting me like ice. The current dragging me under. My shoulder on fire from the bullet. She touched her left shoulder unconsciously. I thought I was going to die.
How did you survive? I had to know. Needed to understand how she'd escaped death itself.
Mira. She smiled slightly, the expression soft with affection. My maid. Turns out she was a spy for the resistance. She pulled me out downstream, hid me in a cottage, nursed me back to health.
The woman in the video.
Yes. She saved my life. Stayed with me for six months while I healed. While I learned to walk again without falling. While I decided whether I wanted to live or die.
The casual way she said it decided whether I wanted to live or die hit me like a fist.
You wanted to die, I said. Not a question.
For the first three months, yes. The pain was unbearable. The infection nearly killed me twice. And the grief Her voice broke. Losing my mother. Losing my crown. Losing you. It was too much.
What changed?
She turned to look at me, violet eyes reflecting starlight. Mira asked me what my mother would want. If she'd want me to give up. Or if she'd want me to fight.
And?
And I remembered my mother's last words. 'Run and live.' Not 'run and hide.' Not 'run and survive.' Run and live. She smiled bitterly. So I decided to live. To become someone who could come back here and make them all pay.
Is that what this is about? Revenge?
It started that way, she admitted. I wanted them to suffer like I'd suffered. Wanted them to lose everything like I'd lost everything. Wanted them dead.
And now?
Now it's more complicated. She looked back at the ravine. I saw Lyanna today. Had tea with her. And she's... she's broken, Kael. Trapped in a cage of Casimir's making. She's a victim too.
She still betrayed you.
I know. But she was seventeen and manipulated by a monster. Does that make her guilty? Or just weak?
I didn't have an answer. Justice and mercy were rarely compatible.
After I healed, Sera continued, Mira and I left the kingdom. Spent five years in exile. I learned to fight really fight, not the basic training you gave me. Learned espionage. Political manipulation. How to create false identities. How to become someone else entirely.
Elena Frost.
Elena Frost. She nodded. Cold. Calculated. Everything Princess Sera wasn't. And then I came home.
As someone who could walk into that palace and tear it apart from the inside.
Yes. Except... She trailed off.
Except?
Except I didn't expect to feel anything. Didn't expect seeing you would hurt so much. Didn't expect Lyanna to be so miserable. Didn't expect She gestured helplessly. Any of this.
We stood in silence, two broken people in the place that had broken us both.
The video, she said finally. Someone powerful sent it. Someone who has access to old security footage. Someone who knows Casimir's plans.
Someone on the inside, I agreed.
But who? And why help us now?
My phone buzzed before I could answer. Another message from our mysterious friend:
Tomorrow. Shadow Legion compound. Casimir has sent assassins disguised as your soldiers. They'll kill Sera during training. You have two choices: Keep her away and confirm her identity publicly. Or bring her anyway and watch her die. Choose wisely. A Friend
I showed Sera the message. Her face went pale in the moonlight.
He's forcing our hand.
We cancel tomorrow, I said immediately. Keep you safe
No. Her jaw set stubbornly that same stubborn look I'd seen a thousand times before. If we cancel, Casimir knows I'm suspicious. Knows I'm onto him. He'll just try again, and we won't see it coming.
So what do you suggest?
She met my eyes. We spring the trap. But we flip it.
You want to use yourself as bait.
I want to expose the assassins publicly. Prove Casimir tried to kill the royal consultant. It won't directly prove I'm Sera, but it'll show he's threatened by me. Show the Council he's dangerous.
It's too dangerous.
Everything is dangerous now, Kael. She stepped closer, close enough that I could smell violets again. Someone is helping us. Someone wants Casimir exposed. We need to trust that.
Trust a mystery ally? That's insane.
So is coming back from the dead. She smiled bitterly. But here we are.
She was right. We were already playing a deadly game. Might as well play to win.
Fine, I agreed, hating every word. Tomorrow. We go to the compound. But I'm watching you every second. And at the first sign of trouble
We fight, she finished. Together.
The word hung between us. Together. Like we used to be. Like we might be again if we survived this.
We turned to leave the execution yard. Toward the gate that led back to the palace grounds.
A figure stepped out of the shadows.
Duke Casimir.
What a touching reunion, he said, clapping slowly. Each clap echoing in the darkness like a death knell. The dead princess and her failed executioner. How very poetic.
Guards emerged from the darkness around us. At least twenty of them. Armed. Professional. Surrounding us completely.
Did you really think I didn't know where you'd go? Casimir smiled, and it was the coldest thing I'd ever seen. I've been listening to your entire conversation, Your Highness. He pulled out a recording device from his pocket, held it up so we could see the red-light blinking. Such useful confessions.
My hand went to my weapon.
I wouldn't. Casimir gestured casually. Archers appeared on the walls above us, arrows nocked and drawn. You're outnumbered and outmaneuvered.
Sera's voice was ice. What do you want, Uncle?
Simple. You're going to die. Again. He smiled wider. But this time, the whole kingdom will watch. They'll see the traitor princess who faked her death and returned to destabilize the crown. They'll cheer when I execute you properly this time.
He raised his hand. The archers drew their bows tighter. Aimed at Sera's heart.
I moved to shield her. You'll have to go through me.
That can be arranged. Casimir's hand started to fall
Sera grabbed my hand. Whispered two words that changed everything: Trust me.
Then she jumped backward off the platform, pulling me with her into the ravine below.
For the second time in my life, I fell through darkness with Sera.
And for the second time, I prayed we'd survive.