“It’s called the First Mark.”
She blinked. “That doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“It should. It belonged to the direct descendants of theoriginalPanther queens. The ones born before the Accorded Bloodlines even existed. It’s a mark of royal inheritance. Not political—divine.”
Evryn stared at him, something flickering in her deep violet-looking eyes—fear, maybe. But also something deeper. A desperate kind of hope she didn’t want to believe.
“No one’s had that in generations,” Lucien said quietly. “Not since the bloodline culling after the First War. My mother made sure of that.”
Evryn’s voice dropped to a whisper. “So what does that make me?”
Lucien stood slowly.
“It makes you the one person who could challenge her.”
The silence was deafening.
Evryn set the tonic down, arms wrapping around herself.
“But I don’tknowanything. I didn’t grow up in this world. I didn’t even know who you were until I saw your face in a book Eamon made me read like it was homework. I don’t know the laws. I don’t know the lines. I don’t know what the markdoes, if it even means anything anymore.”
Lucien moved toward the broken hearth. He needed to be doing something. The truth tasted too raw in the air.
“She doesn’t care what you know,” he said over his shoulder. “Thalia wants your blood for power. My mother wants your head for silence.”
Evryn stood now too. She stepped closer. Not angry. Not afraid.
Just… exposed.
“You said I’m not ready for war.”
“You’re not.”
“But it’s coming anyway, isn’t it?”
He turned.
The way she looked in that moment, dusty, scuffed, eyes burning with a dozen emotions she didn’t have names for—it made something break loose in him. Somethingdangerous.
She reached for the hem of her shirt and lifted it slightly, revealing her shoulder.
There it was.
The First Mark. Faint, but there. Like ink pressed into her soul, not her skin.
Lucien stepped closer.
She didn’t flinch.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be,” she said softly.
He stared at the mark. At her.
“You’re not supposed to be anything,” he replied. “Youare.”
Evryn’s voice dropped.
“And what if that’s not enough?”