And now—The Maden ship.
Found. Sunk. Empty.
My jaw tightened as my eyes skimmed the report again, though I already knew every word by heart. Sir Alex's account had been thorough—too thorough. There was something wrong with how the Kingdom of Maden had handled the incident. They had known the ship was empty before the wreckage was discovered. Before the sea patrols. Before the official announcement.
That alone made my blood run cold. A staged loss. A vanished crew. A deliberate silence. If my assumption was correct, then this wasn't an accident or a tragedy. It was a tactic. A feint meant to confuse, distract, or buy time.
Time for what, I didn't yet know. Which was why I had sent another message to my royal spies—coded, layered, urgent. If Maden was moving pieces on the board, I intended to see every single one before they struck.
Across from me sat my wife. Queen Luna. Calm, as always.
