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I tightened my grip on the sword. “And if the collar stops you?”

“It won’t stop me here. Keep Lenora alive and watch the gate. I’ll handle anyone who crosses.”

“You know I trust you to handle them,” I said. “What I need is enough warning if that changes.”

Stellan met my eyes. “If the collar tightens, I’ll tell you. Until then, protect her and let me fight.”

He’d chosen his ground and left enough slack behind him. I trusted that he knew what his body could do.

Lenora’s boot caught against the edge of the path. I freed it, pulled her the remaining distance and lowered her behind the dark stone wall. The spring would keep us out of a direct charge, while the open garden gave Stellan room to move.

Her hand closed around my wrist. “The Claiming barrier is still active. Adrian can’t cross while Harrowmere recognises that you reject him as regent.”

“Then why can his guards enter?”

“They’re sworn to the court. The barrier sees their blood and lets them pass, even when he controls what they do once they’re inside.” Lenora dragged a narrow knife from her boot and pressed it into my free hand. “Keep this if the sword gets knocked away.”

I tucked the knife into the waistband of my leggings. “Can you stand?”

“I can kill anything that reaches the wall.”

“Tell me whether you can stand.”

“My left leg won’t hold me.” Lenora shifted until her back rested against the stone. “I’ll stay conscious.”

I believed her and stopped asking.

The first guard tore free of the gate and stumbled into the garden. He carried a curved sword in one hand, and blood ran down the other arm where the iron had cut him. A woman pushed through behind him. More armour moved in the passage beyond her.

Stellan walked backwards until he stood within easy reach of the spring. His collar chain lay loose across the path. He pulled the clean shirt out of his trousers and rolled his shoulders as if Adrian had sent him a mild inconvenience.

The guard raised his sword. “My king, get on your knees.”

Pain crossed his face as soon as the words left him. He hadn’t chosen them.

Stellan’s fangs dropped. “You know I won’t.”

“I have orders to take the heir and hold you for the Crown.” The guard’s hand shook on the hilt. “Please move away from her.”

“I can’t do that either.”

Stellan bent his knees and kept his hands open. “I know you can hear me. Fight the order wherever you can. If you give me an opening, I’ll use it. If you reach Bryony, I’ll kill you before Adrian makes you touch her.”

The guard swallowed against the red lines on his neck. “I understand.”

The woman entered the garden. Red marks covered one side of her neck, and her bare hands had changed into long black claws. She fixed her attention on me while her body angled towards Stellan.

Adrian appeared beyond the broken gate.

He stayed outside the white line, dressed in another dark suit as if he hadn’t spent the evening poisoning the court and cutting open his own guard. Lenora’s blood marked his cuffs. His gaze moved from Stellan to me.

“You’ve made this harder than it needed to be,” he said. “Send Stellan back to the throne and come outside. I’ll release the guards as soon as you accept my protection.”

“You murdered Edith, attacked Lenora and tried to make Stellan strangle me. Your protection sounds fucking exhausting.”

Adrian’s expression remained calm. “Lenora told you the version she needed you to hear. She has always been loyal to the man with the greatest chance of winning.”

Lenora laughed once behind me. The sound held no humour. “Is that why you had to control my body? You’ve spent years calling obedience loyalty because the truth makes you look weak.”