"You're arresting me?"
"I'm protecting you. If you're innocent, the real killer might target you next to eliminate the primary witness. If you're guilty, the guards will prevent you from fleeing or doing further harm." He returned to his desk. "Either way, you're confined to your chambers until this matter is resolved."
"But I need to... there are arrangements to make. Kael's body needs to be prepared, and I'm his widow, I should—"
"The court will handle the arrangements. You are not to be left alone with my son's body. Is that clear?"
Crystal clear. He still suspected me, still thought I might destroy evidence or tamper with Kael's corpse. Which meant our plan was working—the deception was holding—but it also meant I was now a prisoner, unable to move freely through the castle to investigate.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," I said, keeping my voice level despite the frustration burning in my chest.
"Good. Captain Thorne will escort you back to your chambers. Someone will bring you dinner. Try to rest. Tomorrow we'll speak again."
Dismissed like a suspect rather than a grieving widow. But I'd gotten what I needed—confirmation that King Aldric genuinely believed Kael was dead. Which meant if he was the traitor, he was an excellent actor. Or he truly didn't know about Daemon's plan to poison his son.
Captain Thorne escorted me back to my chambers in silence. When we arrived, he checked the room thoroughly before speaking quietly. "The King suspects you."
"I know. But suspicion without evidence is useless. And I have guards who know the truth to testify to my innocence if necessary." I looked at Kael's still form on the bed. "How much longer until he should wake?"
"Four more hours. Elena said the six-hour mark is when the poison should fully clear his system." Captain Thorne checked Kael's pulse—or pretended to, since there wasn't one to check. "Princess, there's been a development. One of the servants who was interrogated about tonight broke down and confessed to poisoning the wine. He's been arrested."
My blood went cold. "What? Who?"
"A man named Marcus. He's been working in the castle for five years, good reputation, no reason to suspect him. But under questioning, he admitted to adding poison to Prince Kael's wine on orders from someone he won't name. Says if he reveals who hired him, they'll kill his family."
"That doesn't make sense. If Marcus confessed, why would Daemon's agents need to—" I stopped, understanding flooding through me. "It's another layer of the conspiracy. Marcus is a patsy, someone set up to take the fall so the real assassins can remain hidden. They probably threatened his family to force his confession."
"That's what I thought too. Which means the real killer is still out there. And they're clever enough to create a scapegoat."
This was getting more complicated by the moment. But it also meant we were getting closer. Daemon's network was having to adapt, having to cover their tracks, which meant they were worried about exposure.
"Keep interrogating Marcus. See if you can get him to reveal who really hired him without putting his family at risk. Maybe offer them protection, relocation, something that makes cooperation worth the danger." I moved to the window, looking out at the darkening courtyard. "And Captain? Increase the guards around Elena. If the conspirators realize she's helping us, they'll try to eliminate her too."
"Already done. She's in the library tower with six of my best men. No one gets to her without going through them."
After he left, I was alone with Mira and Kael's body again. I sat on the edge of the bed, taking his cold hand in mine.
"Four more hours," I whispered to him. "Hold on for four more hours, and then you can wake up and help me figure out this impossible mess. Because I'm drowning here, Kael. I don't know who to trust, who to suspect, or how to stop any of this. I need you."
His hand remained cold and still in mine. No response, no sign he could hear me. Just the faint magical signature Elena had detected, the only proof that somewhere beneath the poison's effects, he still existed.
"My Lady," Mira said gently. "You should eat something. Keep your strength up."
She was right, but the thought of food made me sick. Still, I forced down some bread and cheese when she brought it, knowing I couldn't afford to collapse from exhaustion or hunger. Not when so much depended on me staying sharp and functional.
Time crawled by. I tried to rest, to conserve energy, but sleep was impossible. Every noise in the corridor outside made me jump, certain it was assassins coming to finish what they'd started. Every shadow in the room seemed to move with malicious intent.
Finally, impossibly, six hours had passed since Kael had drunk the poisoned wine. According to Isla's calculations, he should wake any moment now.
I moved to the bed, pressing my fingers to his throat where his pulse should be. Still nothing. His skin remained cold, his chest motionless.
"Come on, Kael," I urged. "Wake up. The poison should be wearing off by now. Wake up."
Nothing. No change. No flutter of eyelids, no intake of breath, no movement at all.
"Mira, get Elena. Now. Something's wrong."
She ran from the room while I stayed beside Kael, willing him to breathe, to move, to show any sign of life. But he remained absolutely still, locked in the false death that might be becoming real death.
Elena burst into the room minutes later, moving immediately to the bed. Her hands glowed with silver magic as she examined Kael thoroughly.
"His magical signature is fading," she said, and I heard panic in her voice for the first time since meeting her. "The poison should have cleared by now, but it's still in his system. Something's wrong. Something's very wrong."
"What do we do?" I demanded. "How do we fix this?"
"I don't know. This shouldn't be happening. The dose was calculated precisely, the timeline was—" She stopped mid-sentence, her face going pale. "Unless it wasn't the dose we used."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean someone might have tampered with the poison. Added more, or changed the formula, turning what was supposed to be a temporary death into a permanent one."
The room spun. Someone had sabotaged our plan. Someone knew what we were trying to do and had turned our own strategy against us.
"Then we need Isla. She's the healer who made the poison. She'll know how to counteract it."
"I'll send for her immediately." Captain Thorne, who'd followed Elena into the room, was already moving toward the door.
But Elena grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Wait. If someone tampered with the poison, they might have gotten to Isla too. She could be dead, or compromised, or part of the conspiracy herself."
"Then what do we do?" I felt tears building, desperate and terrified. "We can't just let him die!"
"We don't. We fight." Elena's voice hardened with determination. "There are other ways to purge poison. Older ways, using the magic that runs in his blood. His shade is still present, which means his curse is still active. We can use that. Force the shade to burn the poison out of his system."
"How?"
"By giving it a target. By channeling his curse into something it can destroy." She looked at me intently. "Princess, this is going to sound insane, but I need you to make him angry. Make his shade respond. Even unconscious, his curse reacts to threats against people he cares about. If you're in danger, his shade will manifest to protect you, and that manifestation will burn through the poison blocking his system."
"You want me to pretend to be in danger."
"I want you to actually be in danger. The shade will know the difference between real threat and fake. It won't respond unless the danger is genuine."
I stared at her, not quite believing what she was suggesting. "You want someone to actually attack me. While Kael is unconscious and can't control his shade. Which could kill whoever attacks me and possibly me too if it goes out of control."
"Yes. It's insane and dangerous and might kill all of us. But it's the only chance he has." Elena met my eyes. "I'll do it if you're not willing. I'll threaten you, and his shade will respond to protect you. But there's a better chance of this working if the threat comes from someone he actually sees as an enemy. Someone whose death wouldn't burden his conscience."
She meant Darian. Or possibly Theron, if he turned out to be the traitor.
"Get Theron," I said, making the decision. "Tell him his brother is dying and we need his help with a desperate magical ritual. Don't tell him the real plan. Just get him here."
"And if he's the traitor? If he's been working with Daemon all along?"
"Then he'll die when Kael's shade manifests. And we'll have our answer about who the traitor is." I looked down at Kael's still face. "Either way, we're saving him. That's all that matters."
Elena nodded and left. I positioned myself beside Kael, one hand on his chest, the other holding the knife I always carried now.
If this worked, Kael would wake and the traitor would be exposed.
If it didn't work, we'd all die and Daemon would have already won.
But we were out of options and out of time.
So I waited for Theron to arrive, and I prayed to gods I'd never believed in that we were making the right choice.