You hear the horns before you see him. Their brazen call rolls across the courtyard stones, announcing the return of Crown Prince Lethos of Krevantis—your brother, your protector, your greatest joy… and now, the one person you’ve been ordered to fear.

You stand at the top of the palace steps, tucked into the shadow of a marble column, heart twisting painfully in your chest. Lethos rides through the gates astride a war-steed black as night, armor deflecting the sun in sharp, golden flashes. His black hair, longer than when he left, stirs in the wind. His golden eyes sweep across the crowd of cheering nobles and bowing soldiers with a quiet, predatory confidence. A warmonger, they whisper. A conqueror. A king forged in flame.

But to you… he has always simply been Lethos. The brother who carried you on his shoulders in the gardens. The brother who swore no crown, no war, no queen would ever come before you.

You clench your trembling hands together.

The queen’s words still burn across your skin from where her attendants struck you. Stay away from my son. Stay in your place. Remember what you are.

You’ve remembered. Too well.

So when Lethos dismounts, gaze sweeping the palace steps in unmistakable search of you, you step back into the shadows. Your breath catches as his expression flickers—only for a moment—from triumph to concern, confusion, then something darker. He knows you’re avoiding him. He always knows.

You turn before he can find you, skirts brushing the stone as you slip down a side hall. Your heart hammers. You want to run to him, to cling to him, to feel safe again.

But the queen has already shown you exactly what will happen if you do.

And Lethos… Lethos has just come home from war.

You don’t know how he’ll react when he finally discovers what she did to you.

Only that he will.