MARA POV
The night felt like it was choking us — sirens wailing, B.A.M. officers sprinting down corridors, the palace lights flickering red like the empire itself was bleeding. The order had been given — Blackwood Lockdown.
Every border sealed. Every comm line dead. Every citizen confined. The Blackwood Empire was frozen under its king's wrath.
I was in the B.A.M. tactical chamber when the doors burst open — Queen Amara rushed in, still in her silk nightgown, her hair wild, eyes swollen from tears. Behind her, Soren's boots echoed like thunder.
"Where's he?" she demanded, her voice trembling but fierce. "Where's my husband?"
Soren and I exchanged a quick glance. He looked pale — and for Soren Vask, the man who'd faced execution without flinching, that meant something.
"He's in the control wing," I said quietly. "No one can reach him. He disabled all override codes himself."
Amara slammed her hand on the war table. "He's shutting the whole empire down over anger! I begged him to stop—he didn't even look at me!"
Soren exhaled hard, jaw tightening. "Majesty, the king is… unstable right now. If we push him, he might—"
"I don't care!" she snapped, tears spilling over as her voice cracked. "That's my husband. He listens to no one but me, and now he won't even see me?"
She turned to me suddenly, grabbing my arm. "Mara, I need you to help me reach him. I don't care if it's through the B.A.M. vaults, through the ventilation shafts, anything. I'm going to him."
I hesitated. "Your Majesty, if we breach the lockdown protocols, the system could flag you as a traitor. Even you."
Her eyes locked onto mine — dark, desperate, unshakable.
"Then let it," she whispered. "If my crown means watching him burn this empire down, I don't want it anymore."
Soren slammed his fist against the wall, veins bulging. "Damn it, Mara, she's right. If we don't move, he'll do something irreversible."
I nodded slowly, tightening my gloves. "Then we break the rules."
Soren grinned grimly. "For the Queen."
We moved — three silhouettes cutting through flashing red lights, alarms screaming around us. Behind us, the empire trembled, sealed under the king's fury.
And ahead… the man who could destroy it all — or be saved by the only woman who could still reach him.
— To be continued…