Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

" I f we are about to storm in there and commit murder, could we at least weapon up?"

My eyes went to Owen's green ones; my footsteps faltered. He wasn't wrong. We were back at Halikaara Keep. I knew few details other than Esta and Malachi had been attacked. And both were still alive but had to fight to the death to keep it that way.

We had left the night of the Harvest Festival back in Nerede, the night Kian had shown up on the shores with news of the assassination attempt. The people of Nerede had used their floatable fishing storage and quickly combined a few of them to form a makeshift raft for Kian to ride along with the boat and rest. We'd left late, or early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it.

That so many of my own people rallied to make it happen, with no ties to the people of Dra Skor other than knowing it mattered to me , their prince who turned them down and handed the throne off to his brother—well, there were a lot of emotions and thoughts wrapped into that which I would have to unpackage later. For now, my focus was on seeing Esta with my own two eyes. I wasn't sure my lungs were capable of breathing fully without it, they'd been in a vice since I had seen an exhausted Kian on Wylan's shores.

Kian had slept part of the way back and then as we neared Dra Skor, he'd personally taken Owen and me to the shore where two of Malachi's trusted were waiting to deliver us to the castle. We were now going on foot the rest of the way as we'd been instructed. Since the attack happened at the castle, Amory sent word we shouldn't really broadcast our return, but rather sneak back in.

I knew Esta was alive, but that didn't mean I wasn't absolutely irate. Murder, multiple murders if need be, were exactly what was on the agenda. The assassination attempts got old two attempts ago. Never mind the nagging guilt I felt having left Esta knowing the civil war in Dra Skor was far from over. I should have known better.

Owen gave me a knowing look and a pat to the shoulder. "I have already participated in a throne room rush, remember? And we'd not been thinking clearly to weapon ourselves better. I promised myself if I was ever in another one, I'd make sure to be armed to the teeth."

I let out a sigh. My room was where we were headed first anyway, but I knew for a fact I didn't really need weapons to kill. I had everything I needed built in. "Weapons it is."

We went to the entrance we were directed to, one I had used before when heading to the meadow behind the castle for the bonfires. The castle was on total lockdown, but Amory had instructed a kitchen staff member to wait for us and let us in that particular door.

We moved like shadows once in the castle, the sunset and dwindling light helping us even further. Of course, the patrols running could have easily spotted us from above before we had made it this far, but the shifters we'd gotten help from had given us this window in patrol switches to know exactly when to make our move. Waiting the extra twenty minutes for that specific window had been physically painful, but with the castle on lockdown, it was what it was.

We were finally in.

Owen signaled to me a guard coming down the hallway intersecting before us, so we split and hid. The cold stone at my back did nothing to settle the boiling rage crawling through my skin. Short of seeing Esta alive with my own two eyes, I wasn't sure anything would. Even then, I doubted the burn would cease. Not until we unmasked this culprit and dealt with them properly.

It wasn't the first time I'd disposed of a threat to a crown. I doubted it'd be the last. I was coming to rather enjoy the taste of well-served vengeance. Bloodthirst? Maybe. Whoever was orchestrating this more than deserved it.

Yet in this particular case, I still didn't know who my enemy was, where my focus and scheming should reside. It was driving me to insanity. It was all I had thought about on the way back to Dra Skor. Who could the traitor to the crown of Dra Skor possibly be?

The guard passed, his footsteps fading down another hallway with his turn.

Onward we went, into alcoves and slithering along the walls when needed. Most of the guards in this area of the castle I had seen before, some I had even been friendly to. Yet Esta and Malachi had been attacked here . Within the castle walls. Nothing was safe. Everyone was a suspect.

Finally, after what felt like double the usual time, we made it to my hallway. It was impossible to sneak right up to my old rooms, as Dex was posted as a guard outside of Emric's room, right next to mine.

He threw out a sound barrier to wrap around us as soon as he saw us. "You're back early." He'd been informed of our return, so I wasn't sure why he was stating the obvious.

"Kian came and told me what happened," I explained.

"And I wanted in on the action," Owen added. "Extra hands if needed."

Dex cocked his head and dipped his chin slightly. "Things are tense here for sure."

I fought the urge to swallow hard or close my eyes. "Esta is fine?"

Dex gave me a smirk. "Healthwise? Yeah, a little bruised, but fine. Word has it she is one angry queen."

I inhaled deeply.

Dex opened the door to my room for us before heading to grab John and Emric. I really didn't have time for this, to chitchat and get caught up on everything I had missed in the week I had been gone, when I needed to get to Esta. Needed to see and feel that she was alive.

I opened a floorboard I knew we had hidden weapons under, grabbed a sword for me, one for Owen, and a dagger for each of us.

I was just putting the dagger in my boot when the door opened and Emric arrived.

"I—" He cut off as I sent him a glare. "Weapons are a fine addition to any strapping man. I would never doubt you, my prince."

Under any other circumstances, his immediate backtrack from some smart comment he was surely about to bestow on us would have been funny. As it was, I was in a hurry and not in the mood for anything other than murder. "Owen's idea."

Owen examined the dagger, the light of the lantern reflecting off it. "Not rushing a throne room without more weapons this time."

"I was to send for Whit when you arrived and I did," Emric offered calmly. "Esta has been holed up in her rooms since the attack, so there will not be any throne room rushing required, I'm afraid. Whit will take you there."

"I'm still going to tag along with Keir," Owen told him. "There are some odd happenings going down in this castle."

"That's for sure," Emric agreed. "We might have all taken part in a rebellion, but this seems to run deeper. Civil wars are quite volatile, as it turns out."

Owen shot me a look while taking in Emric's words.

John poked his head in the room and interrupted with, "Oh good, you're back."

"Only to grab weapons," Owen declared. "Next stop, see the queen of Dra Skor so Keir's magic can stop flaring every three-point-two seconds."

It was my turn to send him a glare.

Owen gave me an innocent shrug. "You're a wreck. Let's go see your woman, and you'll feel better. Trust me."

"About the weapons," John began.

My temper was about two seconds from snapping entirely. I hissed, "There was an attack in this castle! The weapons are obviously needed."

John held up a hand to stop me. "You would be correct, it might just be helpful for you to understand that we, as Wylan's representatives, were all questioned in regard to the attack." A pause. "It would likely be best to keep all weapons sheathed until needed. That's all I'm trying to say, Keir."

"What?" I snapped.

John gave me a little shrug. "There are those among the queen's advisors who believe that none of this began happening until after we arrived in Dra Skor. Can we really blame them for wanting to vet us?"

I squinted, unconvinced. Zaire stood on rocky ground with Esta, a failed engagement between them. He would stop at nothing to be rid of us, it seemed. "Why would we help to get their shifters healed, their queen healed, if we wanted to destroy them from the inside out?" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Also, I was not even here when the attack occurred."

"Exactly," Owen agreed.

John continued, "The attack happened in the dining room Malachi and the queen prefer." I knew the exact one he was referring to. I had been in it myself. "Three shifters and one human broke in through the windows. Malachi and the queen were outnumbered and had to shift to protect themselves. All perpetrators have been dealt with."

He meant dead. Dammit. I had rather been looking forward to that part. I clenched my jaw. "Any leads?"

"None. One shifter got away," John said before looking to Emric.

Emric added, "Yet was found impaled on a broken tree trunk the next morning."

I let out a deep sigh. "So yet again, no one to question?"

John shook his head. "Afraid not."

I opened my jacket and handed John a roll of parchment. We'd been in a hurry to leave Wylan for Dra Skor, but I hadn't forgotten the entire reason I had left Esta to begin with. To buy her more time. "Look over this while I'm gone. I will be presenting it soon. As soon as possible."

John perched his glasses on his nose and unrolled the scroll. His eyes went wide a moment as he read the title and the first few lines while I put the floorboard back. "You—this is brilliant, Keir. I will look it over yet tonight."

"Esta needs more time, so that is exactly what I got her." My magic burned under my skin and I allowed it to, if only for something else to focus on. "I just never thought that in fighting for her to have more time, someone would try to attack her in my absence."

John looked up and cocked his head, as if trying to decide what to say to me or what not to. As if I was a gauge of sorts he was reading.

I thought the fact that I was two seconds away from becoming rage itself was more than apparent enough. "What?"

John's eyes moved to Emric, Owen, and then back to me. "This assassination attempt at least told us more than the last one. A clue of sorts. The last one it was unclear if the culprit was after you or her." He swallowed as he considered his next words. "This one happened while you were gone. They are not after you, Keir. They know you are vital in getting a healthy Dra Skor back. Whoever is doing this, whether that is a group or a person, they do not want Esta on the throne."

Whit arrived as I wrestled my magic beneath my skin, Dex letting him in.

Ready?

I gave him a nod. "Of course."

I'm going to take you the shortcut way, with lockdown making traipsing across the castle far more difficult than usual.

"Thank you, Whit. Thank you for coming right away."

My queen may not admit it so easily, but she needs you.

Owen and I moved to leave, but I stopped before John on the way out. "Whoever did this. An enemy of hers is an enemy of mine."

John's voice struck a determined chord. "No enemy of yours has ever stood a chance. This will be no different. It is only a matter of time." He gestured with his head toward the door. "I should warn you she is a bit worse for wear, a bit rattled and angry, but she is still every bit the dragon queen. Go."