Ezra stood his ground, his hand still on his bleeding jaw. He watched Arion's chest heave with every ragged, furious breath, and knew that his words, no matter how true, would be lost in the tempest of the prince's grief. He had to show him the truth.
He reached into his tunic and pulled out a small, rolled-up piece of parchment. The paper was ancient, the color of old bone, and it hummed with a soft, ethereal light. He opened it and laid it flat on the table, revealing a map of the kingdom. But this was no ordinary map. The lines glowed with a faint, internal fire, and at the center of the kingdom, a single, brilliant purple light pulsed steadily, like a beating heart. It was a map of a soul.
"This is not a lie, Arion," Ezra said, his voice a low, steady rumble. "I can track her aura. We can find her."
Arion's anger gave way to a dawning, terrible realization. He looked from the map to Ezra's honest, unwavering eyes. The man had just taken a physical blow for him, and yet he was still here, ready to help. He had been so blind, so consumed by his own rage that he had failed to see the one person who could truly help him.
"I'm sorry," Arion said, his voice a raw, choked whisper. "I'm so sorry, Ezra."
Meanwhile, in a hidden, abandoned hut in the depths of the kingdom, a different kind of drama was unfolding. Seraphina, her face contorted with a vicious, triumphant malice, stood over Evangeline. The princess was tied to a chair, her wrists bound with thick, rough ropes. Her beautiful white hair was tangled, and her face was smudged with dirt.
"You thought you could win?" Seraphina sneered, her hand connecting with Evangeline's cheek in a sharp, stinging slap. "You thought he would choose a common beast over me? You're nothing! You're a pawn! A toy!"
She hit her again, and then again. The blows were hard and brutal, but Evangeline did not flinch. A cold, defiant smile touched her lips. "He did choose me," she said, her voice a calm, even tone. "He chose me over you, and your lies. And you can hit me all you want, but you can't change that. You can't break me."
Seraphina's eyes, filled with a crazed, jealous rage, narrowed to a slit. She slapped her once more, the sound echoing through the small hut. "You think you've won? I'll make sure he never finds you! I'll make you disappear, and when he finally gives up, I'll be there to comfort him, to tell him what a liar you were! I'll win him back!"
But Evangeline's smile only widened. "You're pathetic," she said, her voice filled with a cold, triumphant pity. "You can't win him back. He saw the truth, and he chose me. He chose me."