Interlude - Victor - The Trap Springs
Victor didn't move when the light flared.
He didn't need to.
He had been waiting for this moment since the first stone cracked in Silverwood's wall.
His eyes stayed fixed on the inner gate through drifting smoke and chaos as the faint glow on the ground finally ignited into brilliance.
There.
Right where he had calculated she would step.
Right where the first breach had distracted them long enough for his mages to carve the runes unnoticed into the stone.
It had never been about breaking the gate.
It had been about placing the circle.
A royal-binding circle.
Ancient magic.
Forbidden magic.
Magic designed for one bloodline only.
Goldenthorn.
Victor exhaled slowly as the energy surged upward around Athena's legs like bands of light.
He could feel the spell lock onto her from here.
Recognizing her blood.
Claiming it.
Thomas stepped beside him, eyes wide. "It worked?"
Victor's lips curved faintly.
"She was always going to step into it," he said calmly. "She cannot help herself. She moves toward the center of things. It's in her nature."
He watched Silas run toward her.
Watched the wolves react too late.
Watched the invisible barrier begin to form between them.
This wasn't a battle spell.
This wasn't chaos magic.
This was precise.
Calculated.
Personal.
The kind of spell Victor had spent years studying after the fall of her family.
The kind meant to bind royalty without killing them.
Because dead royalty is useless.
Living royalty can be controlled.
The light intensified.
Victor's expression didn't change.
But satisfaction settled in his chest like a long-awaited breath finally released.
"I'm taking her home," he thought.