Page 67 of Severed Heir

Then something shimmered at the edge of my vision. I looked down. His ankles were glowing.

“What is that?” I asked. “Your socks.”

He followed my gaze and groaned. “I don’t know what’s gotten into Amria. She replaced every button on my suits with emeralds. Now this.”

I stirred the soup like it wasn’t the funniest thing I’d seen all week. “I kind of like them,” I muttered, hiding my smile behind a slice of bread as I dipped it into the soup.

His brow arched. “I can’t walk around withglowing feet.That’s not a power. That’s a cry for help.”

“Nothing says Shadow Lord like starlight-woven socks,” I said dryly.

“Cashmere,” he corrected. “Only the softest fabric in Verdonia. Finish your soup before it gets cold.”

I groaned. “Should I be worried about my titling?”

He leaned back in his chair. “After dinner, we’ll work on your shadow-wielding. I won’t go easy on you, Severyn.”

Great. Glowing ex-lovers and blackout powers. What could possibly go wrong?

I laughed under my breath. “I suppose the Serpents want proof I’m worthy of being your heir. That I can wield shadows.”

“You are worthy,” he said.

After dinner, he led me onto the silver balcony. Gold and sapphire veins laced the railings, catching the last glint of dying light. Above us, stars bled through a sky inked in clouds.

Archer pointed to an unlit lantern near the edge. “This is how I trained the students at Serpent. If you can take the light, you can wield shadows.”

I focused on the melted tip of the candle, reaching for it. The wind tugged at my gown.

I understood my flame. I understood it even when it burned out of control. But shadows were different. They were damp and heavy, pressing against my lungs, clinging like a second skin. When I summoned them, they didn’t obey. They suffocated.

And Rok still had some of my powers.

“Maybe I’m not the light in this darkness,” I whispered. “Ciaran gave me shadows, but they aren’t natural to me.”

Archer didn’t move. His voice, when it came, felt distant. “A shadow shield is easier to maintain. Unless you’re facing light.”

I leaned against the railing, staring at the crescent mark folded into my palm. “I have no Night blood in me. Why… why did Naraic choose Klaus?”

“Do you know who Veravine’s dragon was?”

My head snapped up. “Naraic.”

“And my grandfather, Theodore, rode Ciaran. You don’t need to be a Seeker to see our families have been tied for decades.”

“Do you regret keeping that lindworm?”

“Things would’ve ended very differently if I hadn’t.”

“How?”

He leaned back slightly. “If I hadn’t found you with the snake, it would’ve been the Summer students in a death match. And Damien... would be against you. Damien would be alive.”

“I would never ask you to choose between us. My life or his.”

“If you’d won,” Archer said quietly, “my father would’ve kept you from me. You’d have been forbidden from ever seeing me again.”

“Is that why you kept the lindworm?”

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