They would stop at nothing to kill Elizabeth.
And possess that flower.
The weight of my duty settled upon me, a burden I bore as shield and sword.
“Lazarus must know of this,” I vowed.
The poison needed to be secured—soon.But how?When every shadow could harbor an enemy, and every whisper could be a death sentence?
A knock sliced through the stillness, jarring me from the storm of my thoughts.
I rose, spine rigid, every nerve sweltering with the promise of violence.
“Yes?What is it?”My voice carried the authority I wielded, yet a thread of urgency was coiled tight beneath it.
“Sir, Lord Alexander has requested a meeting.”
The servant’s voice was polite but insistent, filtering through the heavy wooden door like an omen.
A pause.Then?—
“When?”
I rose from the bench, the image of that vile chamber, of shackles and screams, still clawing at my thoughts.
“At once, sir.”
There is no room for argument.No room for hesitation.
I exhaled slowly, already running through the implications of this summons.
What game was Alexander playing now?
I swept my cloak over my shoulders, the dark fabric settling around me like armor against whatever twisted machinations awaited me.
I did not wait for further instructions.I stepped toward the door—ready.
The hooves of my steed echoed like distant thunder, striking the earth with rhythmic finality as I approached Lord Alexander’s estate.
A house of power.
A house of monsters.
I dismounted with a fluid grace that belied the storm churning within my chest, handing the reins to a groomsman who barely met my eyes before scurrying away with my horse.
Cowards.They all were.
Each step I took onto the fine gravel path felt like an echo in the cavern of my thoughts—footfalls against the weight of treachery.
The door loomed before me, aged wood worn by time yet immovable, like the man who ruled behind it.
I raised my hand.Knocked once.Twice.
The sound rang solid through the silence.
The door swung open immediately.
They had been expecting me.
