Lila’s face shifted at once, twisting ugly. "That fucking betrayal!" she cursed. "We shouldn’t have let her into this palace in the first place. But Queen Seraphira felt for the little princess, and this is how she pays us back?" Her voice shook, furious.

"There’s something weird about her though," Hannah interjected, drawing everyone’s attention.

Under their scrutiny, she explained, "I was in the kitchen, talking with the staff when they broke in. They rounded everyone up, but they were careful not to hurt us. I know Annequin recognized me because she pulled me aside and let me go. She told me to find the others."

Hannah paused before adding, "’Don’t you dare die. I wouldn’t want to be hunted by your sister if anything did happen to you.’ That’s exactly what she said."

"I don’t understand," Lila said, her scowl deepening. "What game is she playing here? Playing both sides?"

"Or pretending to be on Baron’s side," Alaric muttered, his eyes narrowing as the thought settled in. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"You think so?" Taryn asked, unconvinced.

"I don’t believe it. This is exactly her plan," Lila said sharply. "The bitch is smart. This is her backup. If the Queen wins, she redeems herself by claiming she was helping all along. If Baron wins..." she shrugged, "then she’s already on the safe side."

"Annequin swore an oath to us that she’d never hurt us or put this kingdom in jeopardy," Alaric said.

Lila stepped into his space, sneering. "She has demon blood. Guess who the oath breaker is in the end? Her." Her lips curled. "Let her hope I don’t get my hands on her. I’ll send her back to hell where she belongs." Her eyes gleamed with grim determination.

"We cannot stay here arguing when every minute increases the chances of the Queen dying. So what’s the plan?" Taryn said, rising to his full height.

Though the iron-inflicted wounds on his body hadn’t fully healed, he was stronger than before.

"The first step is figuring out where they’ve taken the Queen," Lila said, her brows drawing together in thought.

"The sacred ground," Hannah announced. "I overheard them talking about it. That’s where they’re taking everyone."

"Of course, a public execution," Lila scoffed. "That’s what I thought from the beginning. I wasn’t wrong."

"The sacred ground," Alaric rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "Isn’t that where Violet’s Ascension Trial was supposed to be held?"

"You’re right," Taryn said. "Except instead of Violet’s ascension through death and back, it will be the Queen’s ascension to death forever if we don’t hurry."

"We’ll be greatly outnumbered," Hannah pointed out.

Taryn did a double take, lifting a brow. "We?"

Hannah met his gaze without hesitation. "You didn’t think I was going to let you walk into that battle alone, did you?"

A low growl rumbled from Taryn as he stepped closer, towering over her in an attempt to intimidate. "You are going nowhere. You’ll stay here where it’s safe."

Hannah didn’t falter. She held her ground, challenge blazing in her eyes, even as she stood like a mouse facing a lion. Literally.

"Says who?"

"Says your mate," he growled in warning.

"Is that so?" Hannah grinned impishly.

Taryn didn’t even see it coming.

One moment, he was standing. The next, he was flat on his back, the breath knocked out of him as Hannah pinned him down, straddling him.

He groaned in pain just as his mate pressed a dagger to his throat.

Hannah leaned in, her voice low but firm. "I’ve been fighting my battles long before I came into this realm, so don’t you dare try to stop me now. Take a look at the both of us, you’re covered in wounds, I’m not, and I still found you unharmed. So tell me..." she looked him over, "who do you think should stay behind?"

She left the question hanging.

Taryn groaned, throwing his head back in reluctant surrender. "Fine," he muttered. "You’re coming along. But promise me, if it comes down to it, you run."

Hannah only nodded.

Taryn narrowed his eyes. "Promise me."

"Fine, I promise," she said quickly.

Satisfied, he finally relaxed.

"If you two lovebirds are done," Lila cut in dryly, "can we get a move on?"

The both of them rose to their feet, Hannah flushing slightly for obvious reasons.

Taryn cleared his throat, subtly adjusting the tent in his trousers. Goddess only knew how he was supposed to wait a year without touching his mate.

Lila turned to Alaric. "Can you command the palace to show us the closest path to the sacred ground? That way we avoid running into Baron’s people still roaming the halls."

Alaric smirked, patting the wall. "Don’t worry. Sesame and I are very good buddies now."

The palace groaned in response, as if agreeing.

Hannah burst into laughter while Taryn frowned. "You named the Queen’s sentient palace Sesame?"

Alaric and Hannah shared a look, both of them barely holding back their amusement. Of course he didn’t get the joke. That made it even better.

"Once we’re out, it’ll be an intense fight," Lila said, her tone turning serious. "We’ll be outnumbered."

Alaric’s eyes crackled with lightning. "Then we better make it quick, I still need to find Violet."

Hannah glanced back at them, saying, "Can Sesame also take me to a weapon room? I need to stock up."

Lila groaned, dragging a hand down her face in frustration. For a moment, it looked like she might argue, but then she exhaled and waved a hand. "Fine. Make it quick."

Alaric placed his palm flat against the wall. "You heard the lady, Sesame. Weapon room."

The wall shifted with a low groan, stones folding into itself as another narrow set of stairs revealed itself. A golden glow pulsed from below, beckoning them forward. They descended quickly as the passage opened.

The room before them was massive, lined wall to wall with weapons of all kinds, blades, spears, bows, daggers. All of it made of iron.

Hannah walked straight in.

"Finally," she muttered under her breath, already reaching for a pair of daggers, testing their weight. She picks, discards, choosing wisely.

She glanced over her shoulder at them. "Don’t just stand there. Pick something. Your magic can give out, or get blocked. You don’t want to be helpless when that happens."

With visible reluctance, Lila walked over, her fingers brushing over a sleek blade before finally picking it up.

Taryn followed next, grabbing a heavy weapon more suited to brute force.

Alaric lingered for a second, then grabbed a short blade, flipping it once in his hand before tucking it away.

Hannah slid the last dagger into place and straightened. "I’m done."

She looked at all of them.

"Let’s go to war."