Merrin’s POV
The throne room still smelled of iron and smoke.
I hadn’t even sat before the heavy doors burst open.
Nolan stormed in like a storm I didn’t summon. His eyes were fierce, his chest rising and falling fast, and for a heartbeat, I remembered the boy he used to be. The boy who once stood beside me when the world hated me.
Not anymore.
He didn’t bow.
“Merrin, you need to stop this madness,” he said, voice tight. “It’s been ten years. Ten years, Merrin. You’ve punished Violet enough.”
The air went still.
He dared to say her name in front of me.
“Punished Violet enough?” I repeated quietly, standing from my throne. “You think time heals everything, Nolan? You think ten years can wash away what she did to me?”
Nolan’s jaw flexed. “She was a child. You were both…”
“Children
