Chapter 17 · The Golden Cage of Memory

"Get your hands off me!"

Nora shoved the royal guard, but the man didn't budge. He was a stone wall in polished armor, forehead pressed to the floor in a desperate kowtow.

"Your Majesty, the city is falling," the guard gasped. "We must relocate you to the inner sanctum immediately."

"I'm not your Majesty," Nora snapped. Her voice cracked. Beneath her skin, a humming heat flared—the Crown. It wasn't just an object anymore. It was a parasite, weaving itself into her nerves, stitching into her soul.

"I'm a bounty hunter. Now get up before I kick your teeth in."

Click. Click.

Kane stepped forward, boots echoing on the marble. He didn't kneel. He looked at Nora with horror, mixed with something that looked dangerously like fascination.

"The Crown chose you," he murmured, his voice low, rough. "It doesn't just pick anyone. It picks the one it can break."

"Shut up, Kane," Nora hissed.

She reached for her magic, ready to blast the guards back, but the moment she touched the power, the world tilted.

Not slowly. Not a fade.

One second, she was in a cold, echoing hall. The next, the air turned warm.