They tried to take Kael's body from me. Guards, healers, court officials—all of them reaching for him, speaking in hushed tones about procedures and proper handling of royal remains. I refused them all with a ferocity that surprised even me.
"No one touches him," I snarled, positioning myself between Kael and the growing crowd. "His body goes to our chambers. I will prepare him myself. That's final."
"Princess, there are protocols—" one official began.
"I don't care about your protocols. My husband is dead. I will honor him my way." I put every ounce of command I'd learned from watching Queen Elara into my voice. "Captain Thorne, please have your men carry Prince Kael to our chambers. Gently."
The captain nodded, gesturing to guards we'd specifically positioned for this purpose—men who knew the truth and could be trusted to maintain the deception. They lifted Kael's body carefully, and I followed, my grief very real even though the death was staged.
Behind us, the great hall remained in chaos. I heard King Aldric's voice raised in fury, demanding to know how this happened, who was responsible. Heard nobles speculating wildly. Heard someone—Theron, I thought—calling for calm and order.
But I focused on just walking, one foot in front of the other, following my husband's supposedly dead body through corridors that suddenly felt like a gauntlet. Every person we passed stopped and stared. Some showed genuine shock and grief. Others looked... satisfied. I memorized those faces, cataloging who seemed too pleased by this development.
We reached our chambers and Captain Thorne's men deposited Kael on the bed with surprising gentleness. I dismissed everyone except the captain, Elena who had appeared from nowhere, and Mira who'd been waiting in the room.
"Lock the door," I ordered Mira. "No one comes in. No matter what they say, no matter who they claim to be. No one enters without my explicit permission."
She obeyed immediately, throwing the heavy bolt that would keep intruders out. At least for a while.
I turned to Elena. "Check him. Make sure the poison is working correctly."
She moved to the bed, placing her hands on either side of Kael's face. Her eyes went silver with magic, that same eerie glow I'd seen when she shared the memory of Queen Arianna's death. For long moments, she remained still, her magic probing Kael's apparently lifeless body.
"He lives," she said finally, relief evident in her voice. "The magical signature is faint but present. The shade still exists, which means Kael's consciousness persists somewhere beneath the poison's effects. He should wake when the toxin processes out of his system."
"Should," I repeated. "But you're not certain."
"Nothing about this is certain. But for now, all signs are positive." Elena withdrew her hands, and her eyes returned to normal gray. "You did well, Princess. The deception is holding."
"For now." Captain Thorne moved to the window, looking out at the courtyard below. "But we have a new problem. King Aldric has ordered the castle locked down. No one enters or leaves until the assassin is found. And he's demanding to see you, Princess. He wants to question you about what happened."
Of course he did. The King's son had just been murdered during a formal meal. I'd been sitting right beside Kael when it happened. Of course I'd be suspected.
"How long can we delay?" I asked.
"An hour at most. You're grieving, so some delay is expected. But he'll insist eventually. He's the King."
"Then we have an hour to begin identifying who knew about the poisoning in advance." I moved to our desk, pulling out parchment and ink. "Elena, you said you can sense magical signatures. Can you detect when someone uses magic to communicate long distances?"
"Sometimes. If the magic is strong enough and I'm close enough. Why?"
"Because Daemon's agents will need to report what happened. They can't leave the castle because of the lockdown, but they can use magic to send messages. If we can detect those messages, we can trace them to their sources."
Elena nodded slowly. "That could work. But I'll need to position myself somewhere central where I can sense magic throughout the castle. The library tower would be ideal—it's the highest point and has clear magical sight lines."
"Then go. Take two of Captain Thorne's most trusted guards. Tell anyone who asks that you're conducting magical rituals to determine if curse magic was involved in Kael's death." I looked at the captain. "Can you arrange that without arousing suspicion?"
"Consider it done." He moved toward the door, then paused. "Princess, there's one more thing. Prince Theron is demanding to see his brother's body. He's insisting he has the right as family. I can only put him off for so long."
I thought quickly. Theron was one of our primary suspects as the potential traitor within the royal family. Letting him see Kael's body was risky—he might detect the deception. But refusing him completely would seem suspicious and might tip our hand.
"Give me thirty minutes to compose myself, then allow him to visit. Briefly. I'll stay in the room the entire time. If he tries anything, I'll scream and your guards will enter immediately."
Captain Thorne didn't look happy but nodded. "Thirty minutes. I'll position men outside your door."
After he and Elena left, Mira and I were alone with Kael's body. I moved to the bed, sitting beside him and taking his hand. It was cold, the skin waxy and pale. If I didn't know better, I would believe completely that he was dead.
"How are you holding up?" Mira asked quietly.
"I'm terrified," I admitted. "What if he doesn't wake up? What if the poison is stronger than Isla calculated? What if we've just killed him for nothing?"
"Then we grieve and we continue. That's what he would want." Mira moved to the other side of the bed. "But I don't think it will come to that. Look at him, Elara. Really look."
I did. And I saw what she meant. Kael's body was still, yes. Cold and apparently lifeless. But there was something subtle, something I wouldn't have noticed if Mira hadn't pointed it out. A faint shadow beneath him, darker than it should be given the candlelight in the room. His shade, still present even though his conscious control had ceased.
"It's still there," I breathed. "His curse is still active. He's still in there."
"Which means he's still fighting. Still alive. He just needs time for the poison to wear off." Mira squeezed my shoulder. "You did the right thing. Now we need to see this through."
She was right. I couldn't afford to fall apart now, even though every instinct screamed at me to do exactly that. Too much depended on maintaining the deception and using this opportunity to expose Daemon's network.
I forced myself to think tactically. Who had access to poison? Who would benefit from Kael's death? Who had the means and opportunity to slip something into his wine?
The answer to that last question was uncomfortably obvious—I did. I was sitting right beside him. I had motive, having been forced into marriage with the cursed prince. And I was from a foreign kingdom with potentially its own agenda.
If someone wanted to frame me for Kael's murder, they couldn't have asked for a more perfect setup.
A knock at the door made me jump. "Princess? It's Prince Theron. Please, I need to see my brother."
The thirty minutes had passed faster than I'd expected. I nodded to Mira, who unlocked the door but kept the chain fastened, opening it only a crack.
"Prince Theron," I said, my voice deliberately raw with grief. "I'm sorry. I'm not ready for visitors."
"I'm not a visitor. I'm his brother. Please, Elara. Just let me see him. Let me say goodbye."
There was genuine pain in his voice. Either he was the best actor I'd ever encountered, or his grief was real. Which didn't necessarily mean he wasn't the traitor—guilt could coexist with betrayal.
"Five minutes," I said. "Mira, let him in."
She removed the chain and Theron entered, his face pale and drawn. He moved immediately to the bed, staring down at Kael's body with an expression of absolute devastation.
"I can't believe he's gone," Theron said, his voice breaking. "We were finally... we'd just started to rebuild our relationship. To be brothers instead of enemies. And now..."
He reached out as if to touch Kael's face, and I tensed. If he detected something wrong, if he realized Kael wasn't actually dead, everything would fall apart.
But Theron's hand stopped short, trembling in the air above Kael's cold skin. "I can't. I can't touch him. If I do, it makes it real."
"It is real," I said, the lie tasting bitter. "Someone poisoned him. Someone murdered your brother."
"Who?" Theron turned to me, and I saw rage building beneath the grief. "Who did this? Do they know yet?"
"The investigation is just beginning. But Theron, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be completely honest with me."
"Anything."
"Did you know this was going to happen? Did you have any warning that someone was planning to kill Kael tonight?"
His eyes widened, genuine shock registering. "What? No! Of course not! Why would you even... you think I was involved? You think I would help murder my own brother?"