Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
The wind scraped at my skin as I perched on the balcony’s railing, my legs swinging over the abyss. The cold barely touched me now, dulled by the weight of the dungeon that still clung to my chest. Below, Icespire glittered in the dawn—a perfect sheet of frost, so pristine it mocked the graves hidden beneath. My breath fogged in the air, a fleeting warmth swallowed by a kingdom built on death.
From this height, I could see the soldiers below, their breath clouding the icy air as they marched their endless patrols. Their eyes were always watching, though they never met mine. The queen’s reach stretched even here.
Aeliana would have hated this. I tried to picture her, weaving flowers into her hair, her smile warmer than any fire. She was everything I wasn’t—graceful, kind, alive. And yet I was the one left to perform her sacred rites, hollow words whispered over lives reduced to ash.
I thought of Rhydian. Always watching. Always silent. He’d been a shadow in the dungeon, his presence steady but unreadable. Sometimes his gaze lingered, like he wanted to speak but couldn’t. Maybe he pitied me. Maybe he hated me too.
Dozens had been dragged through those iron doors—bound in chains, their magic drained to nothing. They had begged, cursed, or stared silently as I stole their lives with trembling hands. Their screams clung to me, even now, louder than the wind.
No matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn’t rid myself of the blood or the hatred in their eyes. Their stolen magic thrummed in the kingdom’s invisible barrier—a boundary built on their deaths. I wondered if it was worth it. If their sacrifice would hold the darkness at bay. Or if this kingdom was just another prison, gilded in frost and soaked in blood.
For now, I had no choice but to keep playing the part.
“Are you going to jump?”
His voice sliced through the quiet, startling me so badly my foot slipped on the stone. My hand shot out, gripping the railing as I steadied myself, my heart pounding.
I turned, my eyes narrowing as they found him. He stood just beyond the torchlight, his dark armor blending into the night, the gleam of his helmet catching the flicker of flames.
“You,” I said, the word cutting like a blade.
Valen leaned against the stone, his posture lazy, like he hadn’t just appeared out of nowhere. “You remember me. I’m flattered.”
“I remember the man who disappeared without a word,” I shot back, my suspicion sharp. “And now you’ve decided to reappear? On my balcony?”
“Should I have knocked first?” he asked, tilting his head slightly, the faint curve of his lips barely visible beneath his helmet.
I bristled at his tone, the teasing calm only aggravating the unease curling in my chest. “What are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer immediately, stepping closer instead, his movements slow and deliberate. “It’s a dangerous habit,” he said, ignoring my question entirely. “Sitting on balconies like this.”
“I wasn’t planning to jump,” I muttered.
“Good,” he replied, his tone cool but certain. “Because I’d catch you if you did.”
His words landed heavier than they should have, and I stiffened, gripping the railing tighter. “You still haven’t answered me. Why are you here?”
“I could ask you the same,” he said smoothly, taking another step closer.
I clenched my jaw, my patience wearing thin. “You vanished after that night,” I said. “Why? Where were you when the frostwolves attacked?”
His smirk faltered, just barely, and his shoulders tensed. “Not where I should’ve been.”
“No kidding,” I said bitterly. “I fought them off myself, in case you were wondering.”
“I heard.” Valen’s helmet tilted slightly, his gaze unreadable in the shadows. “You shouldn’t have had to.”
The words hung between us, and I hated the way they made my chest tighten. “Well, I did,” I said. “And I survived.”
“Barely.”
I swallowed hard, trying to shake off the unease coiling in my chest. “Why do you keep showing up like this? Are you a guard? A spy? Something worse?”
“Does it matter?” he asked, his tone light but with an edge that made me hesitate.
“Yes,” I said firmly, refusing to back down. “I don’t trust you.”
“You don’t have to,” he said simply, stepping closer again, his presence almost suffocating now. “But you should.”
The tension between us was unbearable, crackling like a storm about to break, but I refused to look away, even as his gaze seemed to pin me in place.
“I don’t know why I’m talking to you,” I said slowly, narrowing my eyes at him. “For all I know, you could be one of the Dragon King’s spies. Showing up on my balcony all secretive is not reassuring.”
Valen’s smirk returned, a flash of white teeth beneath the shadow of his helmet. “Maybe I am.” There was a dangerous undercurrent in his tone that made my skin prickle.
I straightened, my heart pounding. It was obvious he was up to no good. Instead of backing down, I decided to meet his challenge head-on. “Well, if you are,” I said, “then I have a message for the Dragon King.”
Valen’s smirk vanished as he stepped closer, his movements slow and deliberate, as though savoring the space shrinking between us. His shadow swallowed mine, and I fought the instinct to step back, even as my pulse hammered in my throat.
“And what exactly,” he murmured, “would you like me to tell him?”
The words brushed against my skin like a warning, warm despite the bitter cold around us. My spine hit the balcony railing as I spun away, the icy stone biting through the thin fabric of my dress. My fingers gripped the edge behind me, anchoring me, but Valen was relentless.
He followed, closing the distance with a single step. His gloved hands braced against the railing on either side of me, caging me in, his armor brushing against my sleeve as though daring me to push him away. The chill of the stone beneath his hands seeped into my bones, but it was the heat rolling off him that made my breath falter.
I refused to shrink beneath his gaze, though every nerve in my body screamed at me to run. Instead, I tilted my chin, defiance burning through the unease. “Tell that bastard,” I said, my voice trembling—not with fear, but with the barely contained fury that surged in my chest, “that one day soon, I’ll be strong enough to avenge Princess Aeliana.”
Valen didn’t move, didn’t so much as blink. His stillness was more unnerving than anger, the tension between us crackling like a storm about to break.
“And when that day comes…” I let the silence stretch, my gaze boring into his as though I could carve the truth into his guarded, inscrutable face. “I’ll kill him.”
For a moment, Valen said nothing, the intensity of his gaze cutting through me like a blade.
“And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?” He leaned closer, the weight of him crowding me further against the railing, until his helmet was a breath from mine. But his eyes narrowed with a predatory gleam. “You’re bold,” he murmured, almost as if speaking to himself. “And reckless.”
I hated the way his voice seemed to curl around me, as though he could peel back my defenses with words alone.
“I’ll deliver your message, Princess,” he said at last, the word twisting on his tongue like a blade. “But you should know…”
His voice dropped to a murmur that sent a shiver through me despite my best efforts to hold still. “He likes his prey to struggle.”
Before I could respond, Valen stepped back, his movements as fluid as the shadows he disappeared into.
The night swallowed him as easily as he’d appeared, leaving me alone with the wind, the cold, and the weight of the challenge he’d just laid bare.
My mind was racing with questions—Who the hell was Valen? What did he want from me? And why was the Dragon King keeping me alive?
Before I could make sense of any of it, the door to the balcony burst open, and Rhydian stormed in, his eyes wide with alarm, his sword drawn. “What happened?” he demanded. “I thought I heard someone else here, but it was muffled.”
I blinked, the shock of Rhydian’s sudden appearance snapping me back to reality. “I’m fine. Just talking to myself,” I said, though the words felt hollow. I didn’t trust Rhydian enough yet to reveal Valen to him. He’d probably report it to the queen and she’d find a reason to blame me for the strange man on my balcony.
As Rhydian’s wary gaze swept the balcony, I found myself lost in thought. Valen’s words echoed in my mind, his presence lingering like the scent of smoke after a fire. The encounter had shaken something loose in me, a resolve I hadn’t known I possessed.
Aeliana’s face flashed before my eyes—her laughter, her kindness, the way she had carried herself with quiet strength even in the darkest times. I had failed her once, but I wouldn’t fail her again.
I needed to take control of my life. I couldn’t keep stumbling from one disaster to the next, reacting only when the world forced my hand. If I wanted revenge for Aeliana, if I wanted to take down the queen, the Dragon King, and everyone who had ever hurt her, I had to start thinking ahead. I had to start planning.
King Ciaran had the largest army in the realm. He was feared and respected, a man whose name alone was enough to strike terror into the hearts of his enemies. And I was being sent straight to him. It was time to start using the resources being handed to me on a silver platter.
My eyes flicked to Rhydian, who was still scanning the shadows for any sign of danger. The thought of Valen drifted through my mind again—how he had fed me in the cage. There was something about him that didn’t add up, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to tell Rhydian. Not yet.
“Rhydian,” I began, my voice steady, “I want you to tell me everything you know about King Ciaran.”
He straightened, his posture stiffening as he turned to face me. “Why?” he asked, his tone suspicious.
“Because,” I said, meeting his gaze with a new determination. “It’s time I start preparing for my life.”
Rhydian’s eyes searched mine for a long moment, as if he were trying to figure out what I was really up to. And then, for the first time since I’d met him, I saw a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. It wasn’t a warm smile, not by any means, but it was something.
He gave a curt nod, as if he’d decided to trust me, if only for now. “Alright, Princess,” he said, the word no longer carrying the edge it once had. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
As he began to speak, outlining the key players in King Ciaran’s court, the structure of his army, and the politics that governed Emberfall, I listened intently, absorbing every detail. This was my chance to take control, to learn, to plan. I had been thrown into this world with no warning, no preparation, but that didn’t mean I had to stay helpless. I would turn every bit of information into a weapon, every ally into a shield, and I would carve out a future on my terms.
And when the time came, I would make them all pay.