Isabella's POV
The second the bolt hit stone, the woman I used to be grieving, uncertain, chained by fear was gone. Who remained? A mother. A queen. A fury wrapped in silk and steel. I rode through the southern woodlands before sunrise, my blade strapped across my back, my wounded shoulder wrapped in bandages still slick with blood. The air was thick with fog, but I didn't need sight.
I could feel the assassin's trail. Dominic followed close behind. Neither of us spoke. There was nothing to say. A child had been marked for death my child and someone had orchestrated it. Carefully. Quietly. Cowardly but they'd made one mistake.
They missed.
We found him just before the river's edge. Black cloak. Golden clasp. Poisoned bolts strapped to his belt. He didn't even try to run. He stood, hands lifted, like he wanted me to see his face. "You're early," he said, smirking. "They said you'd chase, but not this fast." "Who sent you?" I asked coldly.
He looked past me to Dominic. "Ask your shadow. Not your queen." Dominic was beside him in an instant, blade at his throat. "Wrong answer." I stepped forward. "Let him speak." "He's just a message," Dominic said. "We shouldn't waste…" "Let. Him. Speak."
The assassin's eyes flicked to me, and then… he laughed.
"You're just like her," he said. My blood turned to ice. "Like who?" I asked. "The last queen they burned." And that was when I knew. This wasn't just a plot. This was personal. They were tying me to her my past self. The Queen of Ashes. The one who tore a kingdom apart. Someone wanted the world to believe I was slipping back into her curse. That I wasn't fit to rule and I was dangerous but what they failed to understand was this; I am dangerous and now I had a reason to be. I didn't ask more questions. I didn't need to.
Dominic silenced him with a single, clean strike and as the body fell into the dust, I said only two words: "Burn it." Let them know. Let the ashes carry my answer.
Later that night, I sat beside Callum as he slept. His small chest rose and fell like waves in a storm. I brushed a curl from his forehead. "I'm sorry I wasn't there," I whispered. "But I am now." Dominic watched from the doorway. He didn't speak. He didn't need to. He saw the fire in me now. The one I'd been trying to tame for too long.
No more.