Chapter 97
Damon
I hadn’t moved from the beside the bed for a long while, Hours, maybe. Time blurred in the heavy silence of the room, broken only by the soft mythm of Lila’s breathing.
She hadn’t stirred since the healer left, though her color had started to return. I watched the rise an grounded.
My fingers hovered near her shoulder where she wore my mark, but I didn’t touch her.
I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to let go.
fall of her chest like it was the only thing keeping me
The bond was still there–distant, heavy. Just out of reach. I could feel Zane curled tightly inside me, low and growling, pressed against the boundary
between instinct and reason.
The knock came soft. I didn’t answer at first.
Another knock, firmer. Then Ronan’s voice, muffled through the door. “Sire. We need to talk.”
I rose slowly, my body aching from staying in one position so long. I moved toward the door without looking away from her until the very last second.
Ronan stepped inside, closing the door behind him carefully, quietly.
“She’s sleeping,” I said. It came out rougher than I meant it to.
He gave a short nod. “Good. She needs rest.”
He didn’t say the rest–and so do you–because he knew better.
“What is it?” I asked, already tired of the answer.
“The Elders have convened,” he said. “They’re demanding an inquiry.”
I turned away, jaw clenched. “They’ve had their show.”
“They want it formal now. Structured. A hearing.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” I snapped.
“I didn’t say she should.”
I paused, just a breath. “They want to question her again?”
“No,” Ronan said. “Not anymore. They’ve seen the damage. They won’t dare ask for her in person. But they’ll use her absence against her unless we agree to the terms.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “They want to save face.”
“They want to survive,” he corrected. “They know what this looks like. They also know what it’ll become if you silence them entirely. D already hinted at claiming her without saying a word. If you crush the process completely-”
“Let them squirm.”
you’ve
“I agree,” he said quietly. “But if she’s going to wear the crown beside you, she needs more than your protection. She needs legitimacy. Unshakable. Public acceptance.”
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Chapter 97
I stared at him.
“If you want to rule by fear, you can end this today,” he said. “But if you want her standing beside you not beneath you this negde to look like pus
Even if it’s theater.”
I hated that he was right.
Every instinct in me screamed to break something. To drag Nora in chains before the court. To take Liam apart word by word.
But if I made this about vengeance, I’d turn Lila into a symbol. A shield. I couldn’t bear the idea of her name becoming just another mark of blood.
Not after everything they’d done to her.
I turned back toward the bed. She hadn’t moved. Her fingers still curled lightly around the edge of the blanket.
Zane’s growl throbbed under my ribs. I pushed him down again.
“Fine,” I said. “They can have their hearing.”
Ronan inclined his head. “Thank you.”
“But it happens on my terms,” I added. “Lila doesn’t leave this room. She isn’t summoned. She isn’t mentioned. They speak: i listen. That’s all.”
Ronan gave a faint, grim smile. “Then let’s give them an audience they won’t forget.” He turned and left with military precision, already planning every word he’d say.
I stood in place for a long time. Then I walked to the far corner of the room, placed a hand on the hilt of the sword mounted on the wall–not to draw it, but to remind myself not to.
They would speak. And then I would.
The chamber had been warded for discretion, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep me out.
I stood in the far alcove above the hearing floor, behind a privacy veil enchanted for sound. I could see everything. Hear everything. And no one could see me-only Ronan had been told I’d be present.
Below, the Council had assembled in their full ceremonial robes, seated in an arc of judgment. Elders flanked the center, trying to look impassive. But even from here their stiffness reeked of guilt.
The nobles in the observation rows shifted uncomfortably. Too much tension in the air. No pageantry. No crowd control. Just a raw wound exposed to
the Court.
Good. Let them feel what it means to be watched by a King they failed.
Ronan stepped forward, the only man in the room without robes or pretense. He wore his armor. Simple. Functional. Clean–cut lines and the Stormfang crest stamped over his heart.
“Let the record show this hearing was convened at the request of the Elders‘ Council to address accusations brought forth against Lady Ashford regarding her conduct during the Selection process.”
Murmurs. Let them talk.
“She is not present,” Ronan continued, “as she is recovering from Council–sanctioned sequestering. Under medical care. And Royal protection.
Silence fell like a dropped blade. Then Ronan nodded toward the side entrance.
Two guards brought Liam into the room.
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His hands were bound. He limped slightly. His face was pale and drawn. Not from wounds I hadn’t laid a hand on him–But because he knew exactly who was watching
“State your name for the record,” Ronan said.
“Liam… of the outer borderlands.” He swallowed. “Formerly of the Hightfall Pack.”
“And do you acknowledge that you previously submitted testimony to the Elders claiming an intimate encounter with Lady Ashford?”
Liam nodded. “Yes.”
“Was it true?”
A pause. He looked down.
“No.”
A ripple moved through the room.
Ronan didn’t flinch. “Explain.”
“She… I mean, Lady Nora told me if I said I’d slept with the candidate, it would help her prove misconduct. She said… she said it was the only way to keep someone like that out of the throne.”
Someone like that. My hands curled into fists.
“And what did she offer you in return?”
“Protection. A pardon. And coin.”
Jackson cleared his throat. “This is hearsay-”
“It is sworn testimony,” Ronan snapped. “From a witness you yourselves deemed credible two days ago.”
He turned back to Liam. “Did you know what the mark on Lady Ashford’s neck meant?”
Liam shook his head quickly. “I thought it was from a fight. A Rogue bite maybe from when she was dumped there.”
Ronan let the silence settle.
“You used a lie,” he said, addressing the Council now, “fabricated by a threatened rival, to imprison a bridal candidate of your King.”
Gasps. No denials.
One Elder–the youngest–cleared his throat. “Even if the testimony was false… it must be considered whether her mark was a legitimate mating-”
“She was evaluated the moment she survived what none of you would have,” I said, stepping forward through the veil.
Gasps turned to pin–drop silence. I descended the steps one at a time. No one moved.
“She was chosen by the Council,” I said, “judged by your trials. She bore the burden of your scrutiny and still rose. And when you could not break her, you caged her like a rabid animal.”
I stopped just short of the center of the floor.
“You think this hearing clears you?” I asked quietly. “It doesn’t.”
The young Elder’s face went ashen. “Your Majesty-”
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“Enough.” The word rang like a bell. I turned without waiting for permission and walked out.
Let them squirm in silence.
I had other matters to attend to.
