Ashen stood before the great obsidian throne of Drakonis Keep, the seat still warm from his father’s presence only days ago.

The massive chamber was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with nobles, their silk robes and jeweled coronets glittering in the torchlight, yet every face was turned toward him in uneasy supplication.

He had been called to a meeting ever since the incident, but he had refused to attend until now. He could no longer dodge it, so he decided to go for it.

Their voices rose in a chorus of indignation, each one more strident than the last, and they were all not saying what pleased Ashen.

"The Celestial princess must be punished!"

"She is an enchantress and her blood is poison! She must have been the cause of this catastrophe."

"The attack on the king, the death of the queen, her hand is behind it all!"

"Summon her back! Let her face justice!"

The clamor swelled until it beat against the vaulted ceiling like storm waves.

Ashen’s hands clenched at his sides, knuckles white. He had listened to their venom for nearly an hour, each accusation a fresh blade twisting in the wound Lumina’s absence had left.

Then something snapped inside him.

"Shut the hell up... all of you!"

The command cracked through the hall like dragon-fire. Every voice died instantly. Silence fell so abruptly it felt like a physical weight.

The nobles froze, some mid-sentence, mouths still open. Ashen’s eyes burning gold with barely restrained fury swept the room. He had never ruled them or had the chance to be in charge of their meeting but seeing him speak today even though they so badly don’t want to accept it, it was clear that he is really the son of the dragon.

"Fine," he said, voice dangerously low. "She is an enchantress. But she has been in this realm for many months, and since her arrival, several good things have occurred. Tell me .. did the border wards not strengthen under her influence? Did the harvest not double last season while she walked these halls? Did the dragon not finally show their faces after years? Or have you conveniently forgotten all of that while you sharpen your knives?"

A ripple of unease moved through the crowd. Several nobles dropped their gazes in humiliation.

Until one voice dared to rise, his thin face flushed with self-righteous color.

"Your Highness, you sit only in your father’s position. You have not yet been crowned king, how could you think you have so..."

Ashen’s head snapped toward him.

The noble’s words choked off as though an invisible hand had closed around his throat.

His eyes bulged and at once sprayed from his mouth in a violent arc as his head jerked sideways with a sickening crack.

The sound of vertebrae snapping echoed in the sudden hush. Slowly he crumpled to the ground like a marionette with cut strings, body twitching once before going still. Blood pooled beneath his cheek.

Aria, standing behind the throne, swallowed hard and took one instinctive step backward.

Every noble in the hall dropped to their knees at once, foreheads pressing to the stone.

Ashen’s voice rolled over them like distant thunder. "I am the son of the Drakonis king. How dare you say I merely sit in his position? How dare you low-life forget the respect you owe the crown and speak to me with such rudeness?"

No one breathed, as he slowly descended the dais steps, boots ringing on marble.

When he reached where Lord Carlo stood he stared at the body he had just made lifeless, of course he knew he was Lord Carlo’s closest buddy he crouched, studying the lifeless face.

"Ero."

Ero appeared at his side in an instant, a scroll already in his hands. Ashen took it, rose, and unrolled the parchment with deliberate care.

"Lord Carlo," he read, voice carrying to every corner of the hall. "You have, for the past years, diverted crown revenue intended for the border garrisons into your personal coffers. You have falsified trade ledgers to skim tariffs from eastern caravans. You have accepted bribes from shadow traders to allow forbidden goods nightshade, void-crystal, and blood-runes across our borders."

Murmurs of shock rippled through the kneeling nobles.

"You have also maintained private correspondence with Prince Adam," Ashen continued. "Despite my explicit warning that any contact with the traitor would be considered treason, you sent him maps of the palace’s lesser-known passages. You provided him with the guard rotations on the night of the attack. You opened the postern gate that allowed his assassins inside."

He lowered the scroll slightly, eyes sweeping the room.

"Shall I proceed to read more? The names of the men you paid to thin the royal guard that night? The ledgers showing the gold you funneled to Adam’s hidden camp? The letters in which you called my father ’a dying relic’ and my wife ’a celestial whore who should be culled’?"

Lord Carlos couldn’t answer, as he turned mute all at once.

Ashen rolled the parchment closed.

"The king my father has long known of your treachery. Before the attack he granted me full authority to punish as I see fit should proof be found. That proof is now in my hand."

He looked up.

"Your title is stripped. Your estates are forfeit to the crown. Your chambers will be searched, every coin, every hidden vault, every letter recovered. All funds uncovered will be returned to the royal treasury to repair the damage you helped cause. Your family will retain only the smallest holding in the far north enough to live, nothing more. Your name will be struck from the noble rolls. You will be remembered only as a traitor." He paused.

"Do you or anyone here have a problem with this judgment?" Not a single voice rose.

Ashen nodded once. "Meeting adjourned."

The nobles scrambled to their feet, bowing repeatedly as they backed toward the doors. Before the last of them could escape, Ashen’s voice cut through again.

"There is now a bounty on Prince Adam. Ten thousand gold crowns to the man or woman who brings him to me alive. Spread the word. Anyone who aids him will share his fate."

The doors closed behind the last fleeing noble.

Ashen exhaled, shoulders dropping for the first time in hours. He turned and left the throne room without a backward glance.

Ero and Aria had this proud look on their faces, "My Lord you did well up there." He nodded his head as he proceeded with his steps, he couldn’t help but wonder how his wife would feel seeing him that way.

He walked the corridors of the keep like a man carrying an open wound. Servants bowed low as he passed as the guards snapped to attention. He ignored them all. When he reached his chambers he pushed the door open and froze.

There Breilla stood in the center of the hall, whip in hand, face flushed with anger. Three young maids knelt before her, backs striped with red welts, heads bowed in terror. Breilla raised the whip again.

Ashen’s hand shot out, catching her wrist mid-swing. She spun, eyes widening. "My lord..."

"Enough."

He released her wrist. She lowered the whip slowly, confusion flickering across her features.

Ashen looked at the maids. "Leave."

They scrambled to their feet and fled, tears streaming, not daring to look back.

Then he turned to Breilla. "You will not raise a hand to anyone in this keep again without my express permission. Do you understand?" He commanded no room for opposition.

Her lips thinned. "They were insolent. They..."

"I said do you understand?"

She swallowed. "Yes, my lord."

He studied her for a long moment as he missed Lumina, he didn’t know how long he missed her until this very moment he stared into her.

Slowly she dropped on her knees, "Your highness.."

"My Lord.." he stopped before she could proceed, she looked up at him confused.

"I am yet to be named the king, my brother is well and alive, and the same with my father." He slowly moved close to her.

"If you are not familiar with the way the palace works then you could as well get to know more if you want to continue to be my concubine," Ashen stated and walked out on her.

"My lord." She called but he ignored, she called him over and over again until she called him by his name.

"Ashen!" He paused and turned to her rage boiling inside of his eyes at once, he stared at Aria... Aria nodded and at once kicked her forward making her kiss the floor.

"Ashen.." The same happened to her again and right where Ashen stood he let out.

"Only my wife... the only one I see as my partner has the right to call me no other woman... has it..." he slowly crouched over her as he pulled her up with her hair. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Call my name one more time and trust me you will be out of this realm without thinking twice..."

"I am a princess I.."

Aria pulled her up at once and smacked her across her face, shutting her up, "A princess more like a stupid maid sent here by the Prince... be careful with your words, or you die early."

Ashen stared at Aria at once and she swallowed hard, "I am sorry my lord I didn’t.." Ashen didn’t say a word as he walked off at once.