The air smelled of smoke and betrayal.
One moment the Grand Opening glittered with candlelight and champagne—
the next, screams ripped through the hall as flames licked the velvet drapes.
Seraphina didn't flinch.
She simply stood, with amusement dancing in her gaze, lifting her wine glass calmly as the world tilted into chaos.
An assassin lunged from the second balcony—blade drawn, eyes crazed, flame in his free hand.
Rhys moved first—fast, lethal.
Caspian slipped behind a pillar, knife already flashing from under his sleeve.
But before either could reach her—
before the assassin could even scream—
he was dead.
Thorne hit him midair like a hammer falling from heaven.
One movement.
One brutal twist.
The assassin's head left his shoulders, tumbling across the marble floor with a wet, heavy sound.
The nobles recoiled.
The music crashed into silence.
And from the smoke and blood, he stepped forward.
---
Not the half-wild gladiator Seraphina bought in the dusty pit months ago.
No.
This was something else.
Broader. Sharper.
Scars mapped cleanly across dark, hardened skin.
Braided hair slicked back with brutal precision.
He moved with the calm grace of a man who no longer questioned his purpose.
His coat—half battle leathers, half ceremonial black—hung from his broad shoulders like a crown made of violence.
And his face—
handsome in the cruelest sense.
More dangerous now.
More beautiful because of it.
Like a statue built for worship and war.
---
Thorne dropped the assassin's head at Seraphina's feet.
He knelt—one knee to the marble.
Sword planted point-first before him.
Blood dripped steadily onto the stone.
The whole room held its breath.
He looked up, voice rough but clear:
"Your enemies lie broken, as you commanded.
I return not for reward—
only to ask the right
to stand beside you."
---
Seraphina smiled.
Slow. Cold. Sovereign.
She set down her wine glass.
"Permission granted."
---
And in that moment—
while the nobles cowered, while her enemies bled, while the velvet banners smoldered into ash—
Seraphina von Ashgrave stopped being a rumor.
She became legend.