Page 111 of Blood Ties

I moved closer to the wall. “That was recorded before Edith died. He already knew who I was.”

“Edith kept you away, but she couldn’t remove your name from the bloodline.” Stellan examined the bottles. “Adrian knew the succession would reach you. He needed Harrowmere to recognise you before he began the rite.”

“And the blood he stole from you wasn’t enough.”

“Ordinary blood can power a command or ward. Heartblood carries the authority Harrowmere gave me as king. He intends to take it while your command stops me resisting.”

I looked at the red bands. “He reached your body without the Crown.”

“For seconds, using a command the restraints mistook for your protection. He needs your crowned voice to hold me still through the extraction.”

Adrian wanted the Crown on my head, Stellan unable to move and a knife in his heart. Everything else had pushed us towards those positions.

“Then the dagger stays in this vault,” I said.

Stellan turned towards the glass cases.

One case stood open at the end of the row. Dark velvet inside it held the outline of a long blade. A raven had been stitched into the fabric where the hilt belonged.

The case was empty.

Stellan read the inscription cut into the silver frame. His face hardened.

“That’s the heartblood dagger.”

I looked back at the wall where Adrian’s memory had held it.

“And he already has it.”

29

STELLAN

The empty dagger case told me Adrian had planned further ahead than I wanted to admit.

Bryony stood beside me with her gaze fixed on the dark velvet. Her hand found mine and closed around it.

“Tell me exactly what that blade can do.”

I looked at the outline left by the weapon. “It was made for a Blood King. The point can enter my heart without killing me at once. If I’m held still, it draws the blood carrying Harrowmere’s authority.”

Her grip tightened until her nails pressed into my hand. “Held still by me.”

“By the crowned heir’s command.”

She faced me with anger in her eyes. Fear tightened my chest, and I kept my voice steady.

“Adrian can’t complete the rite without your willing coronation,” I said. “Harrowmere rejected force when he tried to use your blood at the throne. He needs you to lift the Crown yourself.”

“He thinks threatening you will make me do it.”

“It might have worked if you still believed the Crown was the only means of freeing me.”

Bryony glanced at the red band around my wrist. “I know better now. Wearing it would hand him the one command he needs.”

The direct answer eased the pressure in my chest. She understood the danger without treating herself as helpless or promising anything impossible.

I closed the glass lid over the empty case. “The witness seal has blocked him from using the restraints. We keep you away from the Crown and keep him outside the lower court. That’s the entire plan.”