A Vow of Vengeance and Silk

The world narrowed to the gleam of Tristan's sword. Seraphine's breath came in sharp, ragged bursts, her fingers tightening around the dagger still slick with Voris's blood. The air was thick with the scent of iron and smoke, the lodge groaning around them like a dying beast. Shattered beams creaked under the weight of the night, and the wind howled through the broken windows, carrying with it the distant wail of a hunting owl. Tristan took a step forward, his polished boots crunching over broken glass. The sound was obscenely loud in the sudden silence. His gaze raked over her, disheveled, blood-streaked, her wedding gown torn and stained, and his lips curled into a smile that was a blade all its own. "You look terrible, my love." His voice was honeyed poison. "Marriage suits you ill."

Kaelan moved before she could respond, a blur of black leather and barely restrained violence. His sword met Tristan's with a shriek of steel, sparks dancing through the dust-choked air. The force of the impact reverberated through the room, shaking loose a shower of splintered wood from the ceiling. "Run," Kaelan snarled over his shoulder, his muscles straining as he held Tristan at bay. Tristan laughed, shoving him back with surprising strength. "Oh, she won't." His gaze never left Seraphine's, cold amusement glinting in his eyes. "Will you, darling? Not when I have such... interesting news." A snap of his fingers. The guards at the door dragged forward a bound figure, hooded, stumbling. The sack came off with a flourish, and Seraphine's knees nearly buckled. "Mother?" Lady Vaelis looked decades older. Her once lustrous hair was matted with filth, her fine gown reduced to tattered rags. A bruise darkened her left cheekbone, and her wrists were raw from shackles. But her eyes, those sharp, cunning eyes, were the same. They locked onto Seraphine's with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. "Hello, little viper," she croaked, her voice hoarse from disuse. Tristan's blade traced a lazy line down the older woman's cheek. A thin trail of blood welled in its wake, dripping onto the ruined collar of her dress. "Turns out your dear sister wasn't the only one keeping secrets." His tone was conversational, as if discussing the weather. "Imagine my surprise when I learned your mother's been funding the Thorn Court rebellion for years." Kaelan went very still. Seraphine's mind raced. The contract. The blood oath. You'll help me claim what's mine.

Her mother's gaze never wavered. "Don't trust the pretty ones, Sera," she murmured, her voice barely audible. "They always bite." Tristan sighed, rolling his shoulders as if bored. "Enough theatrics." He raised his sword, Seraphine moved without thought.

The dagger left her hand in a deadly arc, embedding itself in the throat of the guard holding her mother. The man choked, hands flying to the hilt as he staggered back. She was already moving, snatching Voris's fallen blade from the floor and driving it into the second guard's gut with a wet thunk.

Her mother collapsed forward. Right into Kaelan's arms. For a heartbeat, no one breathed. Then Tristan's smile returned, wider now, edged with something dark and delighted. "Oh, this is very rich." He clapped slowly, the sound mocking. "The exiled prince and the traitor's daughter. How poetic." His sword point dropped to Seraphine's mother's throat, the tip pressing just enough to draw a bead of blood. "Let's negotiate." The lodge trembled. Somewhere in the ruins, Rook groaned, struggling to rise from the wreckage. Kaelan's voice was ice. "Name your terms." Tristan's eyes glittered. "The Vaelis lands. Their gold. And you, " The sword tip grazed Seraphine's collarbone, leaving a thin red line in its wake. "…get on your knees where you belong." A log collapsed in the hearth. Embers spiraled upward like dying stars, casting flickering shadows across the wreckage of the lodge. Seraphine looked at her mother's hollow cheeks, at Kaelan's bloodied knuckles, at Rook's battered form struggling to rise. Then she smiled.

"Counteroffer." She snapped her fingers.

The world erupted in smoke and screams as every poison vial hidden in her wedding gown shattered at once.