The first checkpoint burned out before the sun had even climbed into the sky.
Flames shot up, angry and wild, lighting up the mountains with bursts of orange and gold. Soldiers scrambled away from the collapsing watchtower. Horses panicked, whinnied, and bolted, their reins snapping as they vanished into the night.
Nobody blocked his path. Nobody even tried.
Because the man riding through all that chaos wasn’t a king anymore.
He looked like vengeance.
Kael’s black stallion tore down the ruined border road, smoke trailing behind him like a warning. His royal guard rode alongside him, all of them straining to match the speed and fury of their king.
Everyone knew the story by now.
The Queen was gone. The King’s mate had vanished.
And whatever monster Kael kept hidden had been unleashe
