Page 82 of Severed Heir

Hadrian smiled. “The prisons.”

The king stood balanced on a golden, snake-headed cane, his heels clicking against the black stone. His eyes locked on mine, unblinking.

My skin prickled.

Archer’s shadows laced around me, trying to calm the rising storm. But they couldn’t smother the rage in my chest. My mother had wielded death, but this…thiswas a fury that could kill.

Cully had told the truth.

And they buried him for it.

“You knew,” I whispered to Archer, the words slicing like broken glass. “And you didn’t tell me.”

He winced. “I’ll find a way to release him. I swear to it.” His hand found my wrists, steadying me. “I swear, Severyn.”

But I couldn’t look at him. Not now.

“Severyn Blanche,” the king said. Then he extended a white-gloved hand. “Would you join me?”

I glanced at Archer. “How could you?”

Then I stepped forward. A dozen eyes followed as the king led me to the center of the floor. I had no choice but to take his hand.

We began to dance.

Starlight flurried around us, but his gaze didn’t stray from mine. Those amber eyes were cruel, intrusive, a glare that thinned my composure with every turn. Curses burned at the edge of my tongue. I swallowed them back, because silence was safer.

His beard was braided with eerie precision, dusted in gold and threaded with pearl beads that shimmered like secrets. His voice slipped between words like oil, smooth and sharp.

“You make a beautiful Serpent, Severyn Blanche,” he said. “But my crown would look even lovelier resting on your skull.”

“I don’t want to be queen,” I hissed, pulling just out of reach. “No one even knows you’re my blood.”

He leaned closer. His breath carried the scent of oak and poison. “Your mother stole my heart,” he murmured. “So I stole the color of her eyes. When power is stripped, the eyes turn black.”

My breath caught.

“I thought you’d be like her,” he said. “That you’d end me.”

He tilted his head, almost offering himself. “Kill the snake. Consume the power, Severyn.”

I stepped back, heat building in my chest. “I already did. And I’m still being punished.”

His smile curved slowly. “Then do it again. There’s one snake left.”

“Your title?” I asked, pulse pounding.

He nodded. “I am the final Serpent, Severyn Blanche. That’s how you become queen. End me.”

Around us, the music faded. The hush of gawking stares pressed in, a tight pressure beneath my ribs. “Why trust me with this?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

His gaze held mine. “Because someone else will kill me if you don’t. And I’d rather it be you.”

A pause.

“My soul lives in an empty cage,” he said. “You see betrayal in everyone, but I see vengeance in you. And kindness. My quell doesn’t just reveal truth, it sees souls. Yours…” He leaned closer. “Yours is pure.”

“You want me to kill you?” I asked.

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