1. The Fifth Dose

The taste of blood touched her tongue before she saw it. Not hers. Not yet.

A sour copper sting cut through the back of her throat, sharp and unfamiliar. It hit her like an omen, a warning that came too late. The scent followed next—metallic and sickly sweet—curdling the perfumed air of the chamber.

Then she saw her.

The Empress.

Her mother.

She lay crumpled across the cold marble floor like a shattered sculpture. Fingers still curled mid-command, as if she had meant to rise just a moment ago. Her lips parted in a silent question. Her eyes wide, glassy, fixed on the gold-leaf ceiling that once reflected divinity. Now, it held only faded prayers and a mocking glint of sun.

Seraphina’s knees gave way before thought could catch her. She dropped beside her mother and reached for her hand—warm once, always warm. Even in rage, even in exhaustion. Always.

But now the fingers were limp, already losing heat.

Gone.

“No.” She breathed. The word was soft, empty. Her own voice sounded foreign.

She clutched that hand tighter, like she could wring life back into it. Like grip alone could undo what had just been done.

But the pulse beneath her fingers had vanished.

The bottle lay near the Empress’s throat—its glass side catching the light like a serpent’s eye. The last of its contents had spilled down her mother’s neck, soaking into the silk collar of her robe, blooming like a crimson flower.

A flower Seraphina had planted.

She couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Her body was there, but her mind felt miles away.

She had given her the fifth dose. The final one.

Two weeks ago, Cassian had given her the vial—smooth and delicate, tucked into her palm with practiced elegance. His words had been soft, cloaked in affection.

“She won’t take anything from the physicians anymore.” He’d said. “But this—this is rare. Gentle. A tonic from the South. Helps with pain, clears the mind. A gift for Mother, from us.”

From us. That had made her smile. Foolishly.

She had believed him. Believed them.

The first doses were harmless. The Empress had smiled again after the first. Her headaches had lessened. She’d even eaten supper.

It was working.

Or so Seraphina thought.

She hadn’t questioned it—why would she? They were her brothers. The ones who used to braid her hair and chase away nightmares. The ones who stood beside her at Father’s funeral with red-rimmed eyes and bloodied knuckles from punching walls they swore were fate.

But tonight, the puzzle completed itself. Each shattered piece locking into place with cruel precision.

Darien’s voice came back to her, a whisper now turned weapon:

“Five doses kill. No more, no less. Elegant, isn’t it?”

She remembered laughing. Not out of humor, but discomfort. It had sounded like one of his riddles. One of his games.

A joke.

Now she knew: she was the punchline.

The spider, not the fly.

A low sound escaped her lips—part gasp, part sob, part scream that never made it past her teeth.

She stumbled back. Her hand slipped in the pooling red, staining her palm like ink on parchment.

Her stomach lurched.

The nausea came swiftly, rising like a tide. She turned, retching violently onto the floor. The bile burned up her throat. Her body curled in on itself, bones trembling, skin hot and wrong. The silk of her gown clung too tight, like it was choking her. Her lungs fought for air.

She had been poisoned too.

Of course. Cassian’s soft smile. Luthien’s sudden distance. Darien’s riddles. All of it had been leading here.

Her head spun.

It wasn’t just about the Empress.

She was a loose end.

A witness.

An obstacle.

Her stomach twisted in pain so sharp it made her collapse fully. The pain blossomed now, spreading like fire through her limbs.

She tried to scream again but managed only a whisper. “Gods...”

The door slammed open.

Footsteps echoed—quick, heavy, purposeful.

She didn’t flinch.

Let them come. Let them drag her away in chains. She had done it. She had signed her mother’s death in blind ink, in trust. She deserved—

“Seraphina!”

That voice.

She blinked, dazed, turning her head.

He stood in the doorway, a shadow framed in sunlight. And in the space of a heartbeat, everything in him collapsed.

Caelan.

The storm in his armor.

The husband she had married in name, duty, and law.

The boy she had once pulled from a frozen lake, drenched in ice and loyalty.

He ran to her. Ran.

Not to the Empress. Not to the guard who hovered near the doorway in pale horror.

To her.

His sword clattered to the floor. His helm rolled away, forgotten.

He dropped to his knees beside her, hands trembling as they hovered over her body like he didn’t know where to touch first—afraid to hurt her, afraid to find her already gone.

“No, no, no, no—Seraphina.” His voice cracked.

He pulled her into his arms, careful but desperate.

She sagged against him. His warmth bled into her skin. His cloak smelled of dust and fire. She could feel the sharp edges of his armor, the dried blood on his sleeves. He had come straight from drills, from the field where he trained to protect her.

He had come running.

“You weren’t supposed to be here.” She murmured.

“You weren’t supposed to be dying.”

She tried to smile. Failed.

“Poison.” She whispered. “It was me. I didn’t know…”

“Shhh.” He said, fiercely soft. His hand cradled the back of her head. “Don’t speak. We’ll fix it.”

“Can’t.” Her body shuddered. “It’s too late.”

His arms tightened. “No. I won’t let you go. You hear me? You’re not leaving me. Not like this. Not for them.”

His voice broke again. A raw, guttural sound that clawed its way from his chest. He bent his forehead to hers, and she felt the heat of his tears on her skin.

“I should have been here.” He whispered.

The room darkened at the edges. Her mind began to float, drifting somewhere cold and far.

She barely heard what came next.

But Caelan stood.

He lifted her like she weighed nothing. A queen cradled in a soldier’s arms.

He turned to the stunned guard in the doorway.

“Bring the royal physician.” Caelan said. His voice was ice and thunder. “Now.”

The guard blinked. “Y-Yes, Your Highness.”

Caelan’s gaze snapped to another knight entering behind. “To the Rivenhart Commanders—lock down the palace. No one leaves. Detain every official. If the princes resist, you detain them especially.”

“My lord, we—”

“If any of them harmed her.” Caelan snarled, “I want their names. I want their blood. If they so much as look in her direction again—burn them.”

His command rang across the marble like a judgment.

The chamber exploded into movement. Shouts, rushed footsteps, metal clanging.

And yet Seraphina heard none of it.

Only the steady thrum of Caelan’s heart against her cheek. The pulse of a man who had always seen her—even when she had forgotten to see herself.

He walked toward the balcony where the sunlight streamed in, as if even the light might help.

She stirred.

Her lips moved.

He bent low to hear.

“I’m sorry...” She whispered. “I should’ve trusted you.”

Caelan’s breath caught.