Chapter 20 · Who Does the Royal Seal Choose?

The execution officer lifted his black blade, and every light in the arena went out.

For one breath, Asterfall became a city without a sky.

Then the emergency sigils ignited along the walls—cold blue circles, one after another, sealing the arena beneath a lattice of force. The spectators cried out as invisible barriers slammed down between the tiers. Gates crashed shut. Iron shutters dropped over every exit.

The arena was no longer a place for trials.

It was a box.

Nora stood between Kane and the execution officer with one hand pressed against her bleeding side. Warm blood slipped beneath her fingers and soaked into the torn fabric of her shirt. Her knees trembled, but she locked them before anyone could see.

Across the stone floor, the officer’s black blade drank the blue light. It was a narrow weapon, almost delicate, with a serrated edge that seemed to move when she looked at it. Runes crawled down its length like insects beneath glass.

“By order of Duchess Maerith Vale,” the officer announced, “Kane Rhoan, false claimant and royal fugitive, is sentenced to immediate execution.”

A murmur rolled through the stands.

“Rhoan?”

“That’s the heir?”

“He was supposed to be dead.”