POV: Ravenna
I shouldn't be here.
That's what Cassian said when I told him I was following Princess Ravenna to Aetherwyn. That I needed to confront her. That I needed her to LOOK at me and acknowledge what she'd done.
"It won't bring Lucien back," Cassian said. His voice was tired. Worn. He's aged ten years in the weeks since we buried our brother. "Let it go, Seraphine. The hearing is over. We lost."
But I can't let it go. Can't forget. Can't FORGIVE.
Lucien is dead. Torn apart by a monster while the entire court watched. And the princess—the woman whose dragon he attacked, yes, but only because he was desperate—she cleared her warrior. Stood beside him. Chose him over justice.
So I followed them. Took a ship three days behind theirs. Arrived in Aetherwyn with distant relatives who owed our family favors. Distant enough that no one questions my presence. Close enough that I have a place to stay while I figure out what I'm doing.
I don't know what I'm doing.
I just know I need to SEE her. Need to make her understand that Lucien was a person. That he had a sister who loved him. That he didn't deserve to die screaming.
I find her at the floating markets on the third day.
The markets are beautiful—boats tied together forming temporary streets, vendors selling everything from fresh fish to imported silks. The smell of salt and spices. The sound of haggling and laughter.
And there she is.
Princess Ravenna. White hair catching sunlight. Wearing water kingdom blue that makes her look like she belongs here. Walking between stalls with that WARRIOR beside her—the one who killed Lucien—and her friend Morgana.
They're LAUGHING.
Actually laughing. Like they haven't a care in the world. Like someone's brother wasn't brutally murdered two months ago. Like justice doesn't matter.
Red fills my vision.
I push through the crowd. Don't think. Don't plan. Just move.
"Princess Ravenna," I call out. Loud enough that people stop and stare. Loud enough that she turns, her laughter dying.
Her face goes pale when she sees me. Good. She should be afraid.
"Lady Seraphine," she says carefully. "I didn't know you were in Aetherwyn."
"I followed you," I say. Voice shaking. With rage. With grief. With everything I've been holding inside. "Because you need to ANSWER for what you did. For what your monster did to my brother."
The warrior—Theron—steps between us immediately. Protective. Like SHE'S the one who needs protection. Like SHE'S the victim here.
"I didn't kill your brother," Ravenna says quietly. "I'm sorry for your loss, Seraphine. Truly. But the hearing proved—"
"The hearing proved notHING," I snap. "It proved you have influence. Power. The ability to clear a murderer because he's bonded to you." I step closer. Crowd gathering now. People watching. "Lucien made mistakes. Yes. He attacked your dragon. I'm not denying that. But he didn't deserve to DIE. He didn't deserve to be TORN APART while conscious and aware and begging for mercy."
Ravenna flinches. "I know. I'm sorry. If I could have stopped it—"
"But you DIDN'T." My voice is rising. Don't care. Can't stop. "You stood there and watched him die. Watched your dragon choose this—this WARRIOR over stopping the slaughter. Watched my brother's body destroyed and then you DEFENDED it. Called it instinct. Called it justice."
"It WAS instinct," Morgana says. Stepping forward now. "Bonded mate protection. The hearing confirmed—"
"I don't CARE what the hearing confirmed!" I'm shouting now. Full volume. Everyone watching. "My brother is dead. He was all I had. My only family after our parents died. And he's gone because your princess couldn't control her dragon. Because this—" I point at Theron "—this monster couldn't stop."
Theron doesn't react. Doesn't speak. Just stands there. Stone-faced. Like he feels nothing. Like killing didn't affect him at all.
"He should have been executed," I say. Voice dropping to something colder. Deadlier. "For murder. For brutality. For being exactly what everyone said he was—dangerous, unstable, MERCILESS." I look at Ravenna. "But you saved him. You chose him over justice. Over my brother's memory. Over everything that's right."
"I chose him because the hearing proved he was innocent," Ravenna says. Her voice is gentle. Patient. Like I'm a child having a tantrum. "Because bonded mate protection is legal. Because Lucien attacked first—"
"Stop SAYING that!" I'm crying now. Can't help it. "Stop trying to make my brother the villain. He was good. He was KIND to me. He took care of me after our parents died. He was all I HAD."
And he's gone. Ripped away by a monster in dragon form. Gone forever.
"I loved him," I whisper. "He was my brother. My family. And you—" I look at Ravenna "—you took him from me. You and your warrior and your dragon. You took the only person who loved me and you're HAPPY about it."
"I'm not happy about it," Ravenna says. Eyes wet now too. "I never wanted your brother to die. I never wanted any of this. But I can't—I can't change what happened. I can only tell you the truth. Lucien broke the rules. He attacked Solace. Havoc responded with instinct. It was tragic. Horrible. WRONG. But it wasn't murder."
"It was murder." I spit the word. "And House Ashford will never forget. Never forgive. Never—" my voice breaks "—never stop mourning."
Guards are approaching now. Water kingdom guards. Probably responding to the commotion. The crowd.
"Lady Seraphine," one says formally. "You need to come with us. Public disruptions—"
"I'm going," I say. Can't fight them. Can't fight anyone really. I'm just a grieving sister with no power and no family and no PURPOSE anymore.
But I look at Ravenna one more time. "I hope you're happy with him. I hope your bond was worth my brother's life. I hope—" tears streaming down my face now "—I hope you never have to feel what I feel. What it's like to lose the only person who loved you."
The guards escort me away. Gently but firmly. Away from the princess. Away from the markets. Away from the crowd whispering and staring.
I go to my relative's house. Lock myself in the guest room. Collapse on the bed and SOB.
Lucien is gone. My brother. My family. The only person in the world who genuinely cared about me.
Gone because he made one mistake. One desperate attempt to win a competition he was losing. One attack on a dragon that shouldn't have resulted in DEATH.
I remember the hearing. Remember Cassian's accusations. Remember trying to see Ravenna's warrior as the monster everyone said he was.
But I also remember the testimony. The defense. The bonded mates explaining that ANY dragon would have responded the same way. That berserker rage is INSTINCT.
Part of me knows they were right. Knows that if Lucien hadn't attacked first, he'd still be alive.
But the rest of me—the grieving sister, the lonely orphan, the woman who lost her only family—can't accept that. Can't forgive. Can't move on.
So the rage stays. Hardens. Becomes something I can hold onto instead of just drowning in grief.
House Ashford will never forget. Never forgive.
And neither will I.
Even if—
Even if there's a tiny voice in the back of my mind saying that Lucien was changing. That in the months before the competition, he'd been different. Distant. Cold even to ME. Like something inside him was dying.
I push that thought away. Don't want to examine it. Don't want to question whether my brother was the person I thought he was.
Because if he wasn't—if he was becoming something hollow and cruel—then what was he fighting for? What did he DIE for?
No. Better to believe he was good. Was trying. Was my brother who loved me.
Even if—deep down—I'm not entirely sure that's true anymore.
I cry myself to sleep in a guest room in Aetherwyn. Surrounded by strangers. Alone.
Just like I've been alone since Lucien died.
Just like I'll be alone forever now.
And somewhere in the city, Princess Ravenna probably returns to her palace. To her warrior. To her life.
While I have nothing.
Nothing but rage and grief and the knowledge that justice was never served.
House Ashford doesn't forget.
And neither will I.