Adam's POV
Over the years I had learned something nobody warned me about: wanting the throne and sitting on it were two entirely different things. The weight of a kingdom was something you could not understand until it was on your back. And yes — there were things I was still working through. There were things I had done that I turned over in the dark more often than I would ever admit. But I loved this kingdom. I wouldn't give it back.
I had built my narrative carefully. Uncle Ellis had always seemed suspicious, but he had no proof of anything, and I had made sure he never would.
Flame shifted restlessly beneath my thoughts at dinner.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"Something is coming," he said.
I stood from my chair — and the kitchen doors burst open at both ends simultaneously, and t
