The King stared.
Aren almost smiled.
“That.”
Master Oren stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, the birth record survives.”
Aldric’s face hardened.
“So does treason.”
“You killed Theron.”
Murmurs spread along the wall.
Aldric shouted, “Lie!”
Queen Maris looked toward him.
Not at Oren.
At Aldric.
That was worse.
Corvin saw.
“Father.”
Aldric’s composure slipped.
“Enough!”
The ground shook.
Not from Gaelor.
From inside the city.
Black light erupted behind the palace.
The royal towers trembled.
Queen Maris turned.
Master Oren whispered, “The Heart Vault.”
The Shadow had begun opening.
A scream rolled across the city.
Not human.
The palace roof split.
Darkness poured upward like smoke moving against the wind.
Aldric forgot Aren.
Everyone did.
The first corrupted giant emerged from beneath the western mountain.
Its eyes burned red.
Then another.
Gaelor roared.
“BROTHERS.”
The black giants advanced.
Royal soldiers panicked.
Aren shouted toward Aldric.
“Open the gate!”
The King hesitated.
Corvin screamed.
“OPEN IT!”
Queen Maris grabbed the gate captain’s arm.
“Do it.”
The captain looked at Aldric.
Then at the darkness consuming the palace.
He made his choice.
Chains moved.
The great gates opened.
Aren entered the city he had fled.
People filled streets.
Terrified.
The first thing he did surprised everyone.
He did not go to the palace.
He went to the eastern market.
Children had hidden beneath carts.
Families tried fleeing through alleys.
Aren climbed onto a fountain.
“Go to the southern gate!”
Nobody listened.
He shouted again.
“THE GIANTS AREN’T ATTACKING YOU!”
Someone threw a rotten fruit.
Fair.
Gaelor approached the wall.
People screamed.
Aren turned to the giant.
“Can you protect the southern road?”
Gaelor answered.
“Yes.”
Not I obey.
Yes.
That difference mattered.
Gaelor and the two golden giants formed a wall between the evacuating civilians and the corrupted creatures moving from the mountains.
Corvin gathered Royal Guards.
Queen Maris ordered the palace kitchens opened for refugees.
For two hours, the city behaved like a place trying to survive rather than a kingdom trying to preserve appearances.
Then Aldric found Aren.
The King entered the eastern square with twenty loyal guards.
His crown was gone.
His sword remained.
“You.”
Aren turned.
The people nearby backed away.
Aldric looked worse than Aren remembered.