Chapter 3

“And the rest?” Cedric asked.

“Your soldiers will be disarmed. Your walls will be opened. Anyone who resists will be executed.”

His thumb pressed against the pulse in my wrist. The blood oath answered with a hot sting under my skin.

I looked at him. “You wanted to know what you’d lose for keeping me.”

Cedric’s jaw tightened. “Not now.”

“No, now is perfect.” I twisted against his grip. “Your fortress, your command, every soldier under you. That’s the price.”

The messenger’s eyes moved between us. “Commander Vale, she has admitted to stealing an Assembly order. She attacked Lord Veyre in front of the ruling court. You know what she is.”

“A problem,” Cedric said.

I smiled without warmth. “Your problem.”

His gaze dropped to my mouth for half a second. Then it snapped back to my eyes.

“Take the messenger outside,” he ordered.

The man stiffened. “You’re refusing the order?”

“I’m buying time.”

“You have until the first bell.”

Cedric released my wrist only after the messenger turned away. The skin beneath his fingers burned. Not from the oath this time.

Two guards escorted the messenger through the iron doors. Cedric waited until the bolts slammed shut before facing me.

“You’re going to tell me where you found the command,” he said.

“I already told you.”

“You told me you took it from Lucian Veyre’s private archive.”

“That’s where I found it.”

“Not why you wanted it.”

I leaned against the edge of the table. “You’re very interested in my reasons for a man who plans to hand me over before dawn.”

“I haven’t handed you over.”

“You’re thinking about it.”

“I’m thinking about how many soldiers die if I don’t.”

“There it is.” I tapped the black seal with one finger. “That’s the part you wanted to hide. You’re not protecting me. You’re protecting your command.”

Cedric stepped closer.

His coat brushed my knee. He smelled like steel, smoke, and the bitter coffee sitting untouched near the maps. His hand came down beside mine, trapping the order between us.

“Don’t confuse those things,” he said.

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll make the wrong choice.”

“I’ve made worse choices with less information.”

His eyes sharpened. “You’re proud of that?”

“I’m alive.”

For one beat, neither of us moved. His body blocked the firelight. Mine blocked the order.

Then boots sounded outside.

Cedric turned toward the door. “How many?”

“Six,” I whispered.

He looked back at me. “You counted?”

“I always count.”

“Guards are coming to search the room.”

“Then stop standing there.”

His brow lowered. “What are you planning?”

“To keep your precious document out of Lucian’s hands.”

“You don’t have the document.”

I slid the original order from beneath the map weights with two fingers. The paper was thin, stiff, and stained with both our blood. The official copy on the table was a decoy I had made while he questioned me.

Cedric caught my wrist before I could fold the real command into my sleeve.

The oath flared.

Pain shot from my palm to my elbow. Cedric’s breath snapped through his teeth at the same time.

“Damn you,” he said.

“Let go.”

“You’re trying to hide it.”

“I’m trying to move it.”

“Same thing.”

“No. Hiding means I want it for myself. Moving means I’m stopping Lucian from using it.”

His fingers tightened. The burn climbed higher, hot enough to make my knees soften.

“You don’t get to twist the oath,” he said.

“You wrote the rules.”

“I didn’t write them.”

“You cut your palm and agreed to them.”

His face came close. Too close. The heat of him touched my cheek while the oath burned between our locked hands.

“Tell me what you’re doing,” he said.

“Get off me.”

“Tell me.”

I stared at the hard line of his mouth. “The Assembly sent this order to Blackgrit because it wants you to destroy your own outpost. The original has the route marks and the names of the officers who signed it. If Lucian gets it back, he burns the evidence and kills everyone here.”

Cedric’s grip loosened by a fraction.

I used it.

My free hand slipped beneath my coat and found the bone blade strapped along my ribs. I drew it fast, angling for the gap beneath his arm.

The oath exploded.

White pain ripped through both wrists. My blade clattered against the table. Cedric swore and shoved me back before the sound of boots stopped outside the door.

“Evelyn.”

I grabbed the table to stay upright. “Don’t use that tone.”

“You tried to cut me.”

“You caught my hand.”

“I was stopping you from breaking the vow.”

“I was stopping you from taking my only leverage.”

The door shook under a fist.

“Commander!” one of the guards called. “Open up.”

Cedric’s eyes dropped to the blade.

“Hide it,” he said.

I laughed once. “You’re giving me orders now?”

“I’m giving you five seconds.”

“Why?”

“Because if they find that blade, you go into chains.”

“And if they find me?”

His stare held mine. “You already know.”

The fist struck the door again.

“Commander Vale!”

Cedric grabbed the blade and shoved it into the back of his belt. Then he seized my coat.

“Hey—”

“Stand still.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“You’re about to be searched.”

“Then let them search me.”

His mouth went flat. “That is exactly what I’m trying to prevent.”

He pulled me behind the tall war table. My hip hit the carved edge. His chest pressed against mine, close enough that every breath moved the fabric between us.

“Your heart is racing,” he murmured.

“Yours isn’t?”

“It’s not fear.”

“Congratulations.”

His hand slid to my waist to keep me from stepping out. The touch was firm, controlled, and far too warm through my shirt.

“Don’t make a sound,” he said.

“Don’t give me a reason.”

The door opened.

Three guards entered first, followed by the messenger. He had a knife at his belt and a smug look that made my fingers itch.

“Search the table,” he ordered. “Search her.”

Cedric stepped out from behind the maps. “You don’t give orders in my war room.”

“The Assembly does.”

“Then the Assembly can come say it to my face.”

The messenger glanced at me. “She’s hiding something.”

“I’m sure she is,” Cedric said. “She’s a thief, an assassin, and apparently too stupid to fear the consequences.”

I stepped around the table. “You forgot traitor.”

His eyes cut toward me. “I didn’t forget.”

The messenger pointed at my coat. “Search her.”

One guard reached for me.

Cedric moved first.

He caught the man’s wrist and slammed it against the table. Wood cracked. The guard grunted.

“Touch her without my order,” Cedric said, “and you’ll lose that hand.”

The room went still.

I stared at his back. He had just threatened his own soldier for putting a hand on me.

The messenger recovered first. “You’re making this worse.”

Cedric shoved the guard away. “Leave.”

“I have authority—”

“You have a sealed order and no army behind you. Leave.”

The messenger’s face darkened. “If you keep her, Lucian Veyre will tear this fortress down stone by stone.”

“Then he can try.”

The messenger pointed at me again. “She isn’t who she claims.”

Cedric’s gaze shifted to my collar.

My stomach dropped.

The execution brand sat high beneath my left shoulder, hidden under linen and leather. The oath had burned through my sleeve when I drew the blade. The fabric had split.

A thin strip of blackened skin showed above the torn edge.

Cedric saw it.

His face changed—not surprise. Recognition trying to break through anger.

I moved to cover the mark.

He caught the front of my coat and yanked me toward him.

“Don’t,” I warned.

“What is that?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m better than you think.”

His fingers hooked under my collar.

I slapped his hand away. “Touch that and I’ll put your own knife through your throat.”

The guards shifted. Cedric didn’t.

His eyes stayed on mine. “You said your family was killed.”

“They were.”

“You said you watched it happen.”

“I did.”

“Then why do you have an execution brand?”

“Because your friends in the Assembly wanted me dead too.”

The messenger stepped forward. “Commander, she bears a condemned-family mark. Take her now.”

I reached for my blade.

The oath burned before my fingers found the hilt.

Cedric felt the movement. He grabbed both my wrists and pinned them against his chest. His body locked me in place, hard and hot, while pain flashed beneath our joined skin.

“Don’t,” he said against my ear.

“Let me go.”

“If you draw that blade, the vow will tear through both of us.”

“Maybe I’m willing to risk it.”

“No, you’re not.”

His breath touched the side of my neck. My pulse jumped, stupid and traitorous.

I hated that he felt it.

His eyes dropped to my mouth. “You’re hiding more than a weapon.”

“You’re enjoying this too much.”

“Believe me, I’m not enjoying anything.”

“Then stop holding me like that.”

“Give me one reason.”

“Because I said so.”

“That’s not a reason.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting.”

For a second, his grip eased. I could have pulled free.

I didn’t.

The messenger broke the silence. “The name, Commander. Read the mark.”

Cedric turned me sharply. His hand caught the torn collar and ripped it wider.

Cold air struck my skin.

The black brand showed in full: a broken crown above one word burned into flesh.

MORROW.

The guards inhaled.

I drove my elbow toward Cedric’s ribs. He caught it and forced me back against the table. The edge dug into my spine. His forearm pressed beside my throat, not crushing, just close enough to make the threat clear.

“Evelyn Morrow,” he said.

The name landed harder than the oath.

The messenger smiled. “There. Now you know what she is.”

Cedric didn’t look at him.

His attention stayed on the brand, then my face.

“You’re the last Morrow heir,” he said.

I swallowed. “You already knew.”

“No.”

“Your soldiers burned my house.”

His expression went cold. “Did you see Blackgrit uniforms?”

“I saw men wearing your colors.”

“Names.”

“Dead men don’t introduce themselves.”

“Then why steal the command?”

“Because it names the ones who ordered the massacre.”

Cedric’s fingers tightened at my collar. “Who?”

I stared at him. “You want the truth?”

“I want the part that makes you worth more alive than dead.”

The messenger drew his knife. “Enough. Take her.”

Every guard reached for a weapon.

Cedric released my collar and stepped between us. His command badge came free from his coat, silver catching the firelight.

The guards stopped.

The messenger’s smile vanished. “Commander, don’t do this.”

Cedric raised the badge.

“No one takes her until I decide what the Morrow name is worth.”

His eyes locked on mine. The brand burned under my torn collar, and his voice dropped low enough for only me to hear.

“And if you think I’m giving you to Lucian before I know why your family—”