Chapter 55
Chapter Fifty-Five
REIYANA
T he chill of the night air pebbled her skin as Castiel led her out onto the terrace and onwards to the gardens. His grip was firm on her arm, guiding her toward the shadowy gate at the far end of the garden.
The wing-shaped pendant pressed against her palm, its edges biting into her skin like a silent plea to be released. She eased her fingers open, and the chain slipped free, falling without a sound to the cobblestones, where it caught the moon’s glimmer before coming to rest in a narrow crevice.
A subtle beacon, for when Kaelen and Alarik were searching for her.
Her breath steadied, her steps unbroken, even as her heart thundered in her chest. Castiel didn’t seem to notice. His attention stayed fixed ahead, his focus unnervingly serene. She allowed herself a brief glance downward, confirming the pendant’s position.
They’ll find it. They have to.
The next step was the braided bracelet. Her fingers brushed the cord, deftly unknotting the tie as she slowed her pace. Feigning a stumble, she bent slightly, her hand hovering just long enough to drop the bracelet on the stone paving the path .
“Careful, dove,” Castiel said, his voice low and taunting as he pulled her arm. “We wouldn’t want you to lose your balance.”
She straightened, keeping her expression vacant as she adjusted her dress. Her heart hammered, but she gave nothing away.
“Why? Worried you’d spoil the wares?”
His silence stretched for a beat too long, his smirk faltering just slightly before returning. “You’ll thank me one day, Reiya,” he said, his tone almost gentle.
Her jaw clenched, a surge of fury threatening to break through. “Keep telling yourself that,” she muttered under her breath, her steps falling into rhythm with his once more.
The gardens stretched out before them, a haunting stillness clinging to the air.
The moonlight cast long, skeletal shadows across the manicured hedges and flower beds, their beauty now marred by the oppressive silence.
The usual hum of palace life—the distant laughter of servants, the soft rustle of court ladies’ dresses as they strolled—was absent.
It felt wrong, hollow, as if the grounds themselves recoiled from what was unfolding.
Hassamir, draped in the regalia of an ancient Asadian king, stood by the gate, having evidently abandoned any pretence of subtleties with his choice of costume. Anna?s lingered just behind him, her crimson gown stark against the shadows.
Reiya’s pulse quickened, fury and disgust warring within her.
So it was true. They’d helped Castiel all along, and chosen their side.
Her gaze flicked to the gate ahead. It wasn’t manned, the guards conspicuously absent.
Her stomach roiled. Hassamir’s reach extended farther than she’d feared.
His subtle yet deliberate manipulation of the palace’s ground staff had left this path wide open, its loneliness a testament to his orchestration.
Her mind turned over the pieces of the puzzle she’d been gathering. The strained loyalties, the calculated movements, the strange alliance with Castiel—it all painted a picture she was beginning to see clearly.
Reiya’s gaze swept over them.
“I understand now,” she said, her voice cutting through the silence. “It has always been about the crown, hasn’t it? You’ve aligned yourselves with Castiel to secure your coup.”
Hassamir inclined his head slightly, as if she’d simply solved a riddle he never intended to hide. “And what of it, Princess? Surely, you of all people understand ambition.”
She ignored him, her focus shifting to Anna?s. “First, you tried to turn the princes against each other,” she said. “Your father wanted you to manipulate them to incite a civil war, didn’t he? Divide Asadia so he could pick up the pieces.”
Anna?s’s lips tightened, but she remained silent.
“And when that failed,” Reiya pressed, her tone sharpening, “you partnered with the very man who exploits Omegas like us. Is this truly what you want, Anna?s? To see Asadia burn just so he can wear its crown?”
“Enough of this,” Castiel interrupted smoothly, his voice a silken drawl. “The princess is stalling. She’s trying to provoke you, my lady. Don’t let her get under your skin.”
Reiya turned her attention to him, her voice cooling. “And you? What’s your price for their compliance, Castiel? What did you promise them in exchange for me?”
He smirked, tilting his head as if savouring her question. “Simple, really. I provide the High Chancellor with the means to destabilize the kingdom—smuggling weapons into the provinces, sabotaging trade routes, funding mercenaries to pose as loyalists. And in return?”
He leaned in slightly, his voice dipping into something almost intimate. “He ensures I can stroll into Turasid Palace and collect you.”
Hassamir’s calm voice cut through the tension. “An Omega as rare as you is an asset worth leveraging. This arrangement benefits us all.”
“A divided kingdom benefits no one,” she hissed.
Hassamir’s composure didn’t waver, his tone almost conversational. “A divided kingdom is easier to seize . The princes will mourn you. Grief has a way of softening even the strongest wills. And when that grief settles?” His gaze flicked to Anna?s, his voice smooth as silk. “They will turn to her. ”
Reiya’s chest tightened, fury simmering beneath her skin. “Do you truly believe they’d fall for that?”
His smile didn’t falter. “They don’t have to.” He gestured subtly to the grand ballroom behind them. “The court will demand it. An Omega to soothe their loss, a queen to unite the fractured crown. Whether the princes want her or not, political necessity will leave them no choice.”
The implication in his words sank into her chest. He wasn’t relying on Kaelen or Alarik’s grief—he was relying on the world around them to push them toward Anna?s, trapping them in duty and expectations.
“So—is seducing the king a mere contingency, or a decoy to throw off the scent?” she pressed.
When neither answered, Reiya’s gaze shifted to Anna?s. “Is that what you want? To be passed around like a harlot, sacrificed on the altar of your father’s ambition?”
Anna?s’s mask slipped—just a fraction, just enough for something raw to flash behind her eyes. But she recovered swiftly, lips pressing together in a thin line.
Then—without warning—she struck.
The crack of Anna?s’s palm split the night air, sharp and searing.
Reiya’s head snapped to the side, heat blooming across her cheek—but she neither flinched nor stumbled.
Strangely, it was the most genuine thing she had seen from Anna?s, raw and unpolished, a flash of something real beneath the layers of charm and calculation.
Reiya swallowed the morbid urge to laugh. If the situation wasn’t so dire, she would have. Because it took this —a coup attempt and an abduction—to get Anna?s’s true self to emerge.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I met you,” the woman said, voice smooth but edged with a dark emotion—anger, envy, something Reiya couldn’t yet name. “You know nothing of what I’ve endured. Power isn’t given—it’s taken. ”
Reiya inhaled through her nose, forcing herself to remain still. Slowly, she turned her head back to face Anna?s.
“And what have you taken?” she asked softly. “A crown that will crush you? A legacy built on deception? Three Alphas who don’t really want you? ”
She let the silence stretch between them, then added, softly, “And there I thought you were more than your father’s pawn.”
Hesitation flickered across Anna?s’s face—a flash of doubt. She schooled her expression just as her father exhaled impatiently.
“Enough of this. Lord Castiel, take her to the carriage. We’ve indulged her nonsense long enough.”
Castiel’s smirk returned as he pulled her toward the carriage. “Let’s not keep our ride waiting, dove.” He turned to Hassamir. “You’ve had a horse prepared for me? For later?”
The High Chancellor nodded. “My man waits at a safe distance beyond Mezerin. The carriage will carry you past the gates unnoticed and bring you to him. From there, you’ll take the horse and slip into the desert.”
Reiya wrenched free of his grip one last time, stepping closer to Anna?s. Her voice was a whisper, low and fierce. “You don’t have to follow through with this. You don’t have to be part of his games. If you ever cared for the princes, for your people, for yourself , think about what you’re doing.”
Anna?s didn’t respond. But as she was dragged away, she caught the faintest fissure in the woman’s composure.
The carriage door slammed shut, cutting her view. The wheels began to turn, carrying her into the night. Her fingers tightened around her skirt, her mind racing.
‘It’s not over,’ she swore to herself. ‘Not yet.’
T he carriage rattled over uneven ground, heavy curtains shrouding them in darkness. Reiya pressed her back against the seat, pulse steady despite the tension coiled in her gut. Across from her, Castiel lounged with infuriating ease, the smirk playing on his lips sharp as a blade.
“You’ve grown quiet, dove,” he mused, tilting his head. “I thought you’d be throwing insults, especially now that we’re alone.”
She met his gaze. “I trusted you,” she said quietly. “You weren’t just my friend—you were my safe haven. ”
For the briefest moment, his smirk faltered. His expression softened—but only slightly.
“And you were mine,” he admitted, his voice low. “But we both outgrew that, didn’t we?”
“No.” Her voice was sharper now. “We didn’t outgrow it. You chose to destroy it.”
He arched a brow, a slow, infuriating smile tugging at his mouth. “I did warn you I’d ruin you, didn’t I? Back at the rose pavilion?”
Her jaw tightened until she swore she heard the faint grind of her own teeth.
He leaned forward, his sharp eyes gleaming with something cold and unrelenting. “You don’t understand,” he said quietly. “You never did. There’s more at stake here than you or me.”