The Hidden Heiress Is Back

been stolen, not only from her family-but from the realm itself. A rot left

low, steady. "But fall is not the end of a hou

d hair. He bore the scars of old campaigns-half a dozen rings on his fin

City clings to order with desperate hands. Alliances crumble in whispers. Coin buys

rward, her gaze sharp and slanted like a ha

said. "Not with armies, but with lies. With a coronatio

tilted his head. "And you expect us to believe you are the rightful c

n the table, but her voice cut th

es," she said. "I have the truth. A

the room hel

The wax seal was frayed but intact. The sigil unmistakable-Hous

furle

e royal charter, the blood-mark of her father, and the

with something like recognition. Ethryn remained

ght destroyed,

said. "But even f

nd the bloodmark? How do

lass vial. Inside, nestled in oil, was a shard of c

id, handing it over, "test

ng p

t lightly across her palm, and a single drop bloomed like wine on stone. Cael caught i

he hearth guttered. The basin shi

scaped f

pered. "It's true t

Line," Cael said. "More than a na

ed the room. The h

followed. He

spine. "If this is true-the

t blink. "So st

he first to

t idle, either. I'll send word to my captain in Velg

Not until I see the High City shake. B

"You'll need a dressmaker. And a tutor in court custom. If you wa

gaze. "Then teac

arely. But it

ft befo

rses vanished into the rising mist. The hall

beside her. "They'll spr

" she

ten years to be believed. On

r a long time. "You s

The house became a fo

duction to old allies. Bram returned with forged travel papers and an unmarked carriage. And Ethryn's cap

of the ruling houses. Rehearsed lines of forgotten law,

just strateg

nce. How to let silence do more than

sky, she walked into the ruined

ith soot. But beneath the dust, the bon

e and placed it where

red. "To Velgrave. To t

flickered.

l found her standing at the mir

aven feathers at the shoulder. Her hair was braided back, laced with

e your mother

a turned

arry silence," he

, faint an

ready?"

tted. "But I'm

r moonlight, throu

days if weather held, longer if patrol

anym

red behind them, Sera

ood silent.

remembe

so would