Page 84 of Severed Heir

The crowd surged with murmurs. The starlight above us seemed to dim. And just like that, the world turned on its axis.

Again.

The king swept his gaze across the stunned courtyard. “You cannot fall in love with your heir. Are you saying you chose Severyn to be your heir?”

Archer’s chin lifted. “I did.”

Murmurs flared like fire across kindling. Dozens of Serpents turned, whispering, blinking.

The king slammed his snake cane into the stone. “And how,” he said slowly, “did you succeed in Severyn Blanche becoming your heir?”

“Archer, don’t.”I reached through our bond, but his mind was already barred. He had locked me out.

“I harbored a lindworm in Demetria until it matured,” Archer said. “I found it on Academy grounds. Kept it hidden. My plan was to make Severyn kill it, if she wanted to claim it.”

He took a breath, steady and sharp. “I accept full responsibility for what I did.”

The king slowly lowered his other hand. A thread of translucent light retracted into his grasp. Those words, they weren’t voluntary. They werepulledfrom him.

But still... they were true.

A bead of gold slipped from the king’s braided beard as he turned, voice calm but cutting. “Escort him to the prisons. Interfering with a Serpent titling is treason, punishable by death.” He waved a hand. “And release the journalist. He was telling the truth.”

I collapsed to my knees, reaching for Archer as they dragged him away.“Archer?”I cried out, pounding on our bond. But it snapped shut, sealing me out like a slammed door.

I tried to follow, stumbling forward, but a boot caught on my hem, tearing the fabric and stopping me cold.

“He’s lying!” I screamed. “It chose me!”

Monty Garcia stepped closer, releasing my dress from his heel as he slowly clapped his hands. “Well,” he drawled. “You’ll be finding your heir sooner than expected. And I only have so much patience, Severyn.”

I couldn’t hold my anger back as I slapped him across the cheek. “Did you plan this?” I demanded.

He hissed low. “If only,” he said with a smirk. “But truth quells are nasty, especially when the leader of our glorious Continent harbors one.”

Then, a blur of white silk and pearls rushed toward me. Malachi reached and swarmed me with a hug. “Severyn, I thought… I thought you were dead,” she whispered.

I could count on one hand the moments that broke me. This was one. Her words echoed through my skull as ash rained down. “I need everyone out.Now,” I hissed.

Malachi flung both wrists out wordlessly, light and wind cracking from her fingertips. Serpents screamed, clutching their hats and cloaks as a gust swept them off the property, until only Malachi remained.

“Nothing like a little wind to make everyone scurry,” she said lightly. Then, in a whisper, “How are you alive? How are you Archer’s heir?”

“I don’t have time to explain. I need to get him out. Where are the prisons?”

“Near the Day sector. But I can’t go with you, Severyn. Just being here could get me expelled.”

“Then whyareyou here?”

“When they took all the Night students, I knew someone had been titled. I hoped it was you. I begged Monty to let me come. A healer convinced the headmaster that I was sick and needed two days of rest in the infirmary… I even called to the wind a few weeks back.”

I gripped her tighter, breath ragged. “I don’t know what to do, Malachi. How do I save him?”

“They won’t kill him. Not yet…” she whispered. “They’ll wait until Spring, when the flowers are most potent. Or they’ll drain his powers slowly.”

“Ican’tlose him, Mal.”

“You can’t leave. You can’t save him. Not yet.”

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