Chapter 2 - The Sister the Crown Had Exiled
Moonbridge did not look like Black Ridge.
That was the first thing the twins noticed.
Black Ridge Palace had black stone walls, iron gates, military towers and wolves carved into every archway.
Moonbridge House sat among pine trees beside a wide silver lake.
No walls.
No armed gate.
Only lanterns burning along a cedar road.
At 1:07 a.m., the vehicle stopped.
The front door opened before Mara could step out.
Sera Voss stood beneath the porch lights.
Mara’s older sister had not been welcome in Black Ridge territory for eight years.
Kale called her reckless.
The council called her dangerous.
Sera called both assessments compliments.
She descended the stairs barefoot, wearing gray sweatpants and an enormous sweater.
Her dark hair was tied carelessly behind her head.
She saw Mara.
Then the twins.
Then Mara’s face.
Sera stopped joking.
“What did he do?”
Mara’s composure shattered.
Sera reached her before she fell.
For several seconds Mara could not speak.
Sera held her tightly.
Behind them, Theo climbed out.
“Aunt Sera?”
Sera released Mara immediately and crouched.
“Look at you.”
Theo attempted to remain serious.
Sera pulled him into a hug anyway.
Lyra stumbled from the car half-asleep.
“Auntie?”
“Oh, moon above.”
Sera scooped her up.
“You’re enormous.”
“I’m seven.”
“Practically ancient.”
Lyra rested her head on Sera’s shoulder.
“Dad didn’t come.”
Mara closed her eyes.
Sera’s expression changed.
But she smiled at Lyra.
“Then tonight you’re stuck with me.”
Inside, staff prepared bedrooms.
Hot cocoa appeared.
Theo protested that he was not tired and fell asleep on a sofa twelve minutes later.
Lyra made it twenty.
Only after both children were carried upstairs did Sera turn to Mara.
“Tell me everything.”
They sat in the kitchen.
Mara placed the treaty on the table.
Sera read Annex 9.
Then read it again.
Her face hardened.
“He signed this?”
“Yes.”
“While bonded to you?”
“Yes.”
“And publicly recognized another consort?”
Mara nodded.
Sera looked toward the ceiling.
“I’m going to kill him.”
“That would create paperwork.”
“Mara.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Sera shoved the document aside.
“Why Celestine?”
“Northern alliance.”
“That woman has wanted your position since she learned what a tiara was.”
Mara looked down.
“Kale says it’s political.”
“Men have been using the word political to justify humiliating their wives since the invention of councils.”
Mara almost laughed.
Almost.
Sera leaned closer.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Mara hesitated.
“Rowan blocked the border.”
Sera went still.
“With guards?”
“Yes.”
“And Kale?”
“Ordered them withdrawn.”
“That doesn’t erase sending them.”
“I know.”
Sera studied her.
“You’re defending him.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Mara looked away.
The mate bond burned faintly beneath her chest.
Even this far away, she felt Kale.
His fury.
His panic.
His wolf searching for hers.
“I don’t know how to stop loving someone immediately,” Mara whispered.
Sera softened.
“You don’t have to.”
Mara looked at her.
“You only have to stop letting love make decisions your brain knows are dangerous.”
That sounded painfully similar to something their mother used to say.
Mara rubbed her forehead.
“The stay lasts seventy-two hours.”
“Then we use every one of them.”
“For what?”
Sera smiled without humor.
“To find out why Rowan Vale is suddenly willing to tear apart the royal family for Celestine Ardent.”
At Black Ridge Palace, Celestine entered through the east doors at 2:11 a.m.
No ballroom gown now.
She had changed into a white suit.
Kale stood alone in the throne chamber.
No crown.
No council.
No audience.
Celestine stopped ten feet away.
“You summoned me.”
Kale held up the petition.
“What is this?”
Her expression remained composed.
“Protection.”
“Against my wife?”
“Against instability.”
His eyes flashed.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Celestine folded her hands.
“Mara took the heirs across the border.”
“Under lawful protection.”
“She embarrassed the crown.”
Kale stared at her.
“No.”
Celestine’s face shifted slightly.
“What?”
“I embarrassed the crown.”
He stepped toward her.
“I signed the treaty.”
“Kale—”
“I ignored my wife’s call.”
Celestine said nothing.
“I allowed you to stand beside me while Mara learned about our arrangement from a wall crystal.”
“That was not my decision.”
“No?”
His voice lowered.
“Who inserted Annex 9?”
Celestine’s gaze flickered.
There.
Kale saw it.
A hesitation.
Tiny.
Fatal.
“I don’t draft treaties.”
“Neither do I.”
“No.”
“You read this one more carefully than I did.”
Celestine’s jaw tightened.
“You are blaming me for your negligence?”
“I am asking you a question.”
“And I am your future consort.”
Kale’s wolf rose.
“Not yet.”
Celestine froze.
The words echoed.
Not yet.
Kale approached until only several feet remained between them.
“Did you know Annex 9 gave you authority over Theo and Lyra?”
Silence.
“Celestine.”
“Yes.”
The answer landed like ice.
Kale stared.
“You knew.”
“It is ceremonial.”
“They are my children.”
“They are royal heirs.”
“They are children first.”
Celestine laughed softly.
“That sounds like Mara.”
“Perhaps I should have listened to her.”
For the first time, genuine anger crossed Celestine’s face.
“You needed Northern recognition.”
“I needed troops and trade corridors.”
“Which my father controls.”
“Then let us discuss your father.”
She became still.
Kale continued.
“Why did Rowan file an order before I had even returned to the palace?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Why did you file a Continuity Petition before Mara reached Moonbridge?”
“Because she took your heirs.”
“My children.”
“Your heirs.”
Kale looked at her carefully.
There it was.
The difference.
Mara always called them Theo and Lyra.
Celestine called them heirs.
“You never wanted a family,” Kale said quietly.
Celestine’s expression hardened.
“I wanted a kingdom strong enough to survive.”
“And you thought my children were part of the price.”
“They were always part of the crown.”
Kale’s eyes burned gold.
“No.”
His voice shook the chamber.
“They are not coins.”
Celestine stepped back.
For the first time, fear appeared.
Kale looked toward the guards.
“Lady Ardent is confined to the royal guest wing pending council review.”
Celestine stared.
“You cannot do that.”
“Watch me.”
“If you humiliate Northern territory, my father will withdraw from the treaty.”
Kale looked at her.
“Then he withdraws.”
Her face went blank.
“You would risk war for Mara?”
Kale’s expression changed.
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I am risking war because I finally realized I signed a treaty that puts strangers between me and my children.”
Celestine’s mouth tightened.
“You’ll regret this.”
“I already regret enough for one night.”
The guards escorted her away.
Elias entered moments later.
“Kale.”
“What?”
“We searched Rowan’s office.”
“And?”
“We found nothing.”
Kale turned.
“Nothing?”
“No papers. No personal records. No financial ledgers.”
Elias placed a silver key on the table.
“Only this.”
Kale recognized it.
An archival vault key.
His father’s private council vault.
Kale stared.
“My father revoked Rowan’s access fifteen years ago.”
“Apparently Rowan kept a copy.”
Kale took the key.
“What’s in the vault?”
Elias hesitated.
“Records from the Night Succession.”
Kale’s face changed.
The Night Succession.
The event nobody discussed.
The night Kale’s older brother died.
The night Sera Voss was exiled from Black Ridge.
May you like
And suddenly, Kale understood why Mara’s sister might be far more important than any of them realized.
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