The corridor outside the chapel still smelled of smoke and stone. Lucian carried Talia as if the floor might steal her. His heartbeat was a drum under her ear.
We passed, Kaela sang, smug. Marked queen. Now pancakes. Possibly the king. Yum.
Priorities, Talia thought, dizzy.
Pancakes first. I’m not a monster.
Neris moved beside them, sharp as a blade. “The child needs heat, food, and sleep. That brand will howl.”
“It will howl less if you stop terrorizing the walls,” Amalia murmured, wrapping Talia in a blanket.
Child, she said gently.
The word hit different now. The three small rhythms answered beneath Talia’s pulse.
Lucian’s arms tightened. He’d felt it too.
His chambers swallowed their warmth, shadows, guards at the door. Hale stood in the frame, still like a drawn arrow.
He d
