Chapter 6: The Shattered Crown

The throne room had been cleared of banners and tables. Only the great carved seat remained on its dais. Now flanked by iron braziers that cast long flickering shadows. King Draven had summoned them here at midnight. Prince Cassian. Alden. Sir Rowan. No guards. No witnesses beyond the four of them. The heavy doors were barred from the inside.

Cassian stood at the foot of the dais. Naked except for the silver collar that gleamed like a brand against his throat. His skin was still flushed from Alden’s earlier tending. Soft kisses. Gentle touches. But the air in the room carried a different weight now. Heavy. Inevitable.

Draven descended the steps slowly. A rolled parchment in his hand. He wore only a black silk robe. Open at the chest to reveal the coarse dark hair silvered at the edges. The scars of old battles. Alden stood to Cassian’s left. Shirtless. Breeches low on his hips. Silver-threaded chest rising and falling with controlled breaths. Rowan had been bound to one of the thick pillars near the wall. Wrists tied behind him with silk cord. Armor stripped away. Leaving him in tunic and breeches. His cock strained visibly against the fabric. Denied release for days.

Draven stopped before Cassian. Unfurled the parchment with deliberate care.

“A letter,” he said. Voice low and resonant. “From your mother. Hidden in the royal crypt for twenty-three years. She wrote it the night before you were born.”

He began to read aloud. The words cut through the silence like a blade.

“My child may carry the invader’s fire or the guardian’s steady hearth. I cannot know. I have loved them both. Fiercely. Secretly. If it is Draven’s seed that quickens me. Then the throne will be his by blood. If it is Alden’s ... then my son will always have a father who never left. Forgive me. Little one. I could not choose.”

Draven lowered the parchment. His eyes. Piercing blue. Locked on Cassian’s.

“She could not choose,” he repeated softly. “But tonight. We end the question.”

Cassian’s breath shuddered out. “It changes nothing.”

“It changes everything,” Draven said. He stepped closer. Cupped Cassian’s chin. Tilted his face up. “If you are mine by blood. Then this is rightful. If you are his.” He nodded toward Alden. “Then we will overwrite it. Either way. You will take us both. Tonight.”