Chapter 21 · When Both Kings Break

"The bone under the Morton chapel came from our mother."

Aileen's voice spilled from the severed seal in Kaiser's palm, sweet and clear across the fortress wall.

The prisoner beside her dropped to his knees. Blood ran from the leather collar around his throat. Aileen kept one hand twisted in his hair and smiled up at us through the open gate.

"And Sula stole it," she continued. "She carved it out before the family could burn the evidence."

Varan's sword came up. "Say her name again."

"Sula. The little thief hiding behind your walls. The girl who has been feeding your failing cores with stolen marrow."

Kaiser's fingers snapped shut around the seal. His palm split wider. Blood slid between his knuckles.

"You don't get to use my hand as a speaking box," he said.

"I don't need your permission, Kaiser. I only need your blood."

The seal jerked in his grip.

I caught his wrist before the bone could bite deeper. Heat jumped from his skin into mine, sharp enough to make my teeth ache. His breath stopped. So did mine.

"Let go," he said.

"No."

His eyes dropped to my hand around him. "You're touching the contract line."