Ashes Don't Lie
1181 Words
Chapter 3
The messenger's words hung in the air like a death sentence.
"...every guard who watched Lady Vespera on the night the Crown Prince supposedly died has been found dead."
Silence.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Rhyven's gray eyes narrowed.
"What did you say?"
The messenger swallowed hard.
"The prison archive caught fire less than an hour ago. Every record concerning Lady Vespera's imprisonment has been reduced to ashes."
"And the guards?"
"Six of them, my lord."
"All dead?"
The messenger lowered his head.
"Yes."
"How?"
"They were murdered."
A chill ran down Vespera's spine. Someone wasn't simply covering their tracks.
They were erasing every person who knew what had happened three years ago.
Rhyven turned sharply toward Commander Garrick.
"Seal the capital."
"My lord?"
"No one enters. No one leaves without my approval."
"Yes, Lord Blackthorn."
"And send investigators to the prison immediately."
"They are already there."
Rhyven's expression darkened.
"If anyone touches those ashes before I arrive, I will have their heads."
"Understood."
The square slowly emptied, but whispers followed Vespera wherever she went.
"She's cursed."
"First the mate bond..."
"Now everyone connected to her starts dying."
"The Moon Goddess has abandoned us."
Vespera kept her head down.
She had heard worse. But one whisper made her stop.
"What if she really didn't kill the prince?"
She looked toward the speaker to see a young woman quickly looked away, frightened that someone had heard her.
It was the first time in three years that anyone had questioned her guilt aloud.
A black carriage waited outside the palace gates.
Its doors bore the crest of House Blackthorn—a silver wolf standing beneath a crescent moon. Two massive black stallions pawed impatiently at the ground.
Rhyven gestured toward it.
"Inside."
Vespera didn't move.
"I've spent three years obeying orders."
"Then one more shouldn't trouble you."
She met his eyes.
"You still think I killed him."
"I think the evidence says you did."
"And what do you think?"
His silence was answer enough.
Slowly, she climbed into the carriage. The chain connecting their wrists clinked softly.
Rhyven entered after her and shut the door.
The carriage rolled forward.
For several minutes neither of them spoke making the silence was almost unbearable.
Vespera stared through the window at the city she hadn't seen in years.
Children laughed in the streets.
Shops overflowed with fresh bread and flowers.
Life had gone on.
Without her.
"They demolished my house, didn't they?" she asked quietly.
Rhyven didn't answer immediately.
"Yes."
"My parents?"
"They died before your trial."
She closed her eyes.
She already knew but hearing the words still hurt.
"They never believed I was guilty."
"No."
"They died thinking I'd come home."
"Yes."
A painful lump formed in her throat.
Three years.
She had never been allowed to attend their funeral.
Rhyven watched her carefully.
This wasn't the reaction he expected. Most criminals cried for themselves.
Vespera mourned everyone else which bothered him a lot because guilty people rarely carried grief like this.
His wolf stirred again inside him.
She speaks the truth.
He ignored it remaining himself that wolves could be fooled but evidence couldn't.
Could it?
The carriage came to an abrupt stop.
The driver shouted.
"My lord!"
Rhyven's hand instantly found the hilt of his sword.
"What is it?"
"The bridge!"
"What about it?"
"It's collapsed!"
Rhyven opened the carriage door.
The stone bridge crossing the Raven River had indeed been destroyed.
Massive chunks of rock lay scattered in the rushing water below. Fresh dust still floated through the air.
Someone had blown it apart.
"This happened minutes ago," one of the escort guards said.
Rhyven crouched near the broken edge. His fingers brushed the fractured stone.
It was still warm so it's definitely not an accident.
A trap.
He slowly stood.
"They knew our route."
Before anyone could respond—
TWANG!
Arrows rained down from the cliffs above.
"AMBUSH!"
The first guard fell with an arrow through his throat.
A second screamed before tumbling from his horse.
"Protect Lord Blackthorn!"
Masked figures dressed in dark leather emerged from the trees surrounding the road. There were at least twenty of them.
No insignia.
No banners.
Professional killers.
One of them pointed directly at Vespera.
"Forget the Alpha and kill the woman!"
Rhyven heard those words clearly.
Not capture.
Not threaten.
Kill.
His eyes hardened.
Someone had organized two assassination attempts in a single day.
The attackers charged.
Steel clashed against steel.
Rhyven drew his massive execution sword in one smooth motion.
The first assassin reached him.
One swing.
The man's body hit the ground before his head did.
The second lunged.
Rhyven pivoted.
Blood sprayed across the broken bridge.
Another corpse.
His movements were frighteningly precise.
No wasted motion or hesitation.
This was why the kingdom feared him.
He didn't fight with rage.
He fought with certainty.
Meanwhile, another assassin slipped behind the battle unnoticed.
His dagger gleamed with black poison.
His target...
Vespera.
She saw him too late as he had already rushed toward her with terrifying speed.
"Die!"
Instinct took over.
Vespera grabbed a broken spear lying beside a fallen guard.
She spun—
The assassin's dagger sliced across her shoulder.
Pain exploded through her body. Ignoring it, she drove the spear forward with all her strength.
The wooden shaft pierced the attacker's chest while his eyes widened in disbelief.
"You..."
He collapsed.
Vespera stared at her trembling hands. She hadn't held a weapon in three years.
Yet, her body had moved as though it remembered exactly how.
A sudden memory flashed across her mind.
Moonlight.
A sword.
Someone shouting—
"Run, Princess!"
The vision vanished as quickly as it came.
Princess?
Her breathing quickened.
What... was that?
She had never been called a princess.
Had she?
Before she could think further, another assassin grabbed her from behind, pressing a blade against her throat.
"Move, Alpha, and she dies!"
The battlefield fell silent.
Rhyven slowly turned.
His sword dripped with blood.
Around him lay the bodies of eleven assassins.
Only one remained who was holding Vespera hostage.
The masked man laughed.
"So this is your mate?"
He pressed the blade harder against her neck until a thin line of blood appeared.
"You have got one chance, Executioner."
"Drop your sword."
Rhyven's expression didn't change. But inside, his wolf roared louder than ever before.
Protect her.
The assassin smiled beneath his mask.
"Choose."
"Your sword or your mate."
At that exact moment, Vespera looked past the assassin's shoulder—
And froze.
Standing deep within the forest and half–hidden behind the trees, was a cloaked figure wearing a silver wolf mask.
The stranger wasn't helping the assassins rather he stood there and was simply... watching.
Then, before disappearing into the shadows, he raised one gloved hand toward Vespera.
On the back of his hand was a mark she had seen before.
A crescent moon surrounded by seven stars.
The symbol sent another forgotten memory crashing into her mind.
A voice.
A woman's voice.
Soft but terrified.
"If you ever see this mark again... don't trust the King."
- Writer
