Chapter 1 - THE VIALThe tiny vial sat between Lord Vesper's fingers.

Moonlight passed through the glass and turned the liquid inside the color of black ink.

Karine stared at it.

“What is it?”

Vesper smiled.

“Something more dangerous than poison.”

She frowned.

“Then what?”

“Truth.”

He placed the vial on the table.

“One drop will not kill him. It will not even make him sick.”

Karine waited.

“It will make him dream.”

A chill ran down her spine.

“Dream what?”

Vesper leaned closer.

“The one thing King Draven fears most.”

Across the palace, Ren slept for the first time without waking every few minutes.

A fire burned beside her bed.

Rain tapped against the windows.

For the first time since she had escaped Baron Silas, there were no chains around her wrists.

No locked room.

No drunken footsteps outside her door.

No voice reminding her that she belonged to someone.

But just before dawn, Ren woke suddenly.

A shadow stood near the balcony.

She sat upright.

“Who is there?”

The shadow disappeared.

Ren rushed to the window.

Nothing.

Only rain.

Then she noticed something on the floor.

A black rose.

Its petals were wet.

Its stem had been cut with a knife.

Ren picked it up.

A sharp pain flashed through her palm.

She dropped it.

A thin line of blood appeared across her skin.

And somewhere in the palace, a bell began to ring.

Three times.

Draven woke instantly.

The king had never needed an alarm.

Years of war had trained his body to wake at the smallest disturbance.

He rose from his bed.

His scars pulled across his shoulders.

He dressed quickly and entered the corridor.

Captain Hale was waiting.

“Your Majesty.”

“What happened?”

“The eastern tower door opened.”

Draven's expression hardened.

“No one uses that tower.”

“I know.”

They walked together.

When Draven reached the tower, the door was still moving.

Slowly.

Back and forth.

As though someone had just gone through it.

He stepped inside.

Cold air swept across his face.

On the stone floor was a single object.

A ring.

Draven stopped.

He knew it immediately.

The royal seal of Blackwood.

But it had been broken in half.

Captain Hale stared.

“Who would dare?”

Draven picked up the pieces.

His fingers tightened.

“Someone who wants me to remember.”

“Remember what?”

Draven didn't answer.

Because he already knew.

Twenty years ago, before he became king, Blackwood had burned.

His father had been murdered.

His mother had vanished.

And Draven had been the only survivor.

At least, that was what everyone believed.

A scream echoed from the lower palace.

Draven ran.

When he reached Ren's chamber, the door was open.

The guards were unconscious.

Ren was gone.

Draven's blood went cold.

He crossed the room in seconds.

A torn piece of black fabric hung from the window latch.

He grabbed it.

Then he saw writing on the wall.

Three words.

THE KING BLEEDS.

Captain Hale arrived behind him.

“Your Majesty…”

Draven said nothing.

His jaw tightened.

Every instinct inside him screamed.

Not anger.

Fear.

Not for himself.

For her.

Ren.

The first person who had ever looked at him without flinching.

The first person who had touched his scarred hand as though it were human.

The first person who had told him he deserved love.

And someone had taken her.

Draven turned toward the window.

“How many riders?”

“Twenty.”

“Prepare forty.”

“Forty?”

Draven's eyes became cold.

“I am bringing her home.”

Then a messenger stumbled into the room.

He was bleeding.

He fell to his knees.

“Your Majesty…”

“What happened?”

The messenger looked terrified.

“We found the carriage.”

Draven's expression didn't change.

“Where is she?”

The man swallowed.

“We found the carriage…”

A pause.

“No Ren.”

Draven stepped closer.

“What did you find?”

The messenger lifted his trembling hand.

Inside it was a torn piece of fabric.

Ren's.

And beneath it was a second object.

A silver pendant.

Draven stared at it.

The pendant had belonged to his mother.

A pendant no one outside the royal family should have known existed.

His face went pale.

Captain Hale whispered,

“That's impossible.”

Draven closed his fist around the pendant.

Then he heard a voice behind him.

A woman's voice.

Quiet.

Broken.

Familiar.

“Draven…”

He spun around.

Ren stood in the doorway.

Soaked from the rain.

Bleeding from one shoulder.

But alive.

Everyone froze.

Draven crossed the room.

“Ren.”

She looked at him.

Tears filled her eyes.

Then she whispered four words.

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“They know who you are.”

And collapsed into his arms.