Then it reached toward its own chest.
Around its neck hung a heavy iron chain.
From the chain it pulled an object.
Half a silver sun.
Half a rose.
Elara looked down at the medallion in her hand.
Same design.
Two halves.
Her fingers trembled.
“No.”
The Beast raised its piece.
Elara moved closer.
The two halves fit perfectly.
Her mother’s final letter returned in fragments.
The Prince did not die at the cliff.
He survived the fall.
But the man who returned was no longer allowed to look human.
Elara stared at the Beast.
“Who are you?”
The creature’s eyes closed.
When it answered, the voice cracked.
“The man you were promised to before they told you I was dead.”
The court became completely silent.
Elara’s blood went cold.
Prince Alaric.
The Lost Prince.
Seraphine’s son.
Her childhood betrothed.
Alive.
Cursed.
Standing before her as the monster hunted across half the kingdom.
Elara stepped backward.
The Beast did not follow.
That restraint frightened her less than anything else could have.
Seraphine spoke quickly.
“This thing is not my son.”
The Beast looked at her.
“You said the same words the night you chained me beneath the eastern tower.”
Several older nobles turned toward the Queen.
One whispered, “Eastern tower?”
Everyone knew the east tower had been sealed after the Prince’s supposed death.
The Queen’s expression hardened.
“Monster.”
The Beast stood.
“Mother.”
That word struck harder than any accusation.
Elara looked between them.
Seraphine’s face changed.
For one second, she was not Queen.
She was a woman looking at the consequence of something buried too long.
Then control returned.
“He is possessed.”
Alaric laughed bitterly.
“By what?”
“You were always weak.”
The Beast’s claws curled.
Elara stepped closer to him.
He noticed.
Relaxed them.
Seraphine saw.
She smiled cruelly.
“Ask him what happened at the cliff.”
Elara turned toward Alaric.
The Beast went still.
“What happened?”
He looked away.
The Queen continued.
“Ask why he was there.”
“Elara.”
His voice was low.
“Ask him.”
Elara looked at him.
“Tell me.”
Alaric closed his eyes.
“I went to meet your mother.”
Elara froze.
“What?”
“She sent word.”
“Why?”
Seraphine answered first.
“Because Mara Vayne was a traitor.”
Elara’s anger rose.
“My mother?”
“She discovered something she did not understand.”
Alaric growled.
“She understood perfectly.”
Elara looked at him.
“What did she discover?”
Alaric turned toward the throne.
“That my mother was using old blood rites beneath the palace.”
The court erupted again.
Seraphine laughed.
“Children’s tales.”
Alaric lifted one huge arm.
“This is your denial?”
Silence.
His body was proof.
The Queen’s face hardened.
“There are powers older than kings.”
Alaric’s eyes narrowed.
“And you wanted them.”
“I wanted stability.”
“You wanted immortality.”
Several nobles stepped backward.
Seraphine looked around the hall.
“You are all alive because of me.”
The Queen’s voice became stronger.