Ivy
I held Ayra tighter as the tunnel narrowed. The air grew damp and thick, every footstep echoing like a warning. Ren moved ahead, silent and tense, the flickering torchlight dancing off the stone walls.
"We're almost at the gate," he whispered.
But something felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Too still.
I slowed. My mother's instincts flared. "Ren…" I said. "How do you know the guards haven't sealed it since you last checked?"
He glanced back. "Because I checked just yesterday. The passage was clear."
I wanted to believe him.
But I had lived with Lucien.
And Lucien missed nothing.
Ayra stirred in my arms. "Mama," she mumbled, "he's coming."
I stopped cold. "What did you say?"
She looked up at me with sleepy eyes. "Daddy's coming. He's angry."
Ren's head jerked back. "What did she just—?"
A sudden blast of air roared through the tunnel.
Then darkness.
The torch went out.
I screamed.
Ayra clung to me as a voice echoed through the pitch-black air, smooth and sharp like a knife.
"Did you really think you could run from me?"
Lucien.
He stepped from the shadows, glowing faintly with dark magic. Behind him, two of his guards blocked the exit.
"No," I breathed. "No, you weren't supposed to find us."
"Ivy." His voice was ice. "You were going to steal my heir."
I stepped back. "She's mine. I had to protect her from you."
His eyes burned. "You lied to me. You were going to vanish with my blood."
I shook my head, trying to shield Ayra. "You don't love anyone, Lucien. You only want power."
He stepped closer. "You gave me something I never knew I needed. And now you want to take her away?"
"I had no choice."
"You had every choice!" he shouted, voice thundering through the stone.
Ayra whimpered. "Daddy… don't hurt Mama."
Lucien froze.
That one word.
Daddy.
He stared at the little girl in my arms. "Say it again."
Ayra looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "Daddy."
His face changed. For a moment, just a second, the monster cracked.
He dropped to his knees.
"Ivy…" His voice broke. "She's mine."
I nodded. "Yes."
He looked at Ayra like she was the sun he never knew he needed.
And then, the moment shattered.
Behind us, steel clashed.
Ren attacked the guards — buying us time.
"Run!" he shouted. "Take her! Run!"
Lucien rose in fury, dark wings unfurling behind him.
"Do not test me, cousin."
But Ren held the line.
I ran — clutching Ayra, heart pounding.
We escaped the tunnel into the forest beyond the castle walls.
I didn't look back.
I couldn't.
Lucien
Ren's blade pressed against my throat.
I should've killed him.
But I couldn't.
Not yet.
"She's gone," he said, panting. "And you won't find her this time."
I could hear Ivy's footsteps fading into the trees above.
My daughter's heartbeat — still echoing faintly in my chest.
Mine.
She called me Daddy.
And Ivy ran from me — again.
"You helped her escape," I whispered. "You betrayed your King."
Ren smiled, even as blood trickled from his lip. "You betrayed yourself the moment you broke her."
I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the stone wall.
"You think I don't know what I've done? You think I sleep at night?" I hissed. "She was mine. And I lost her the day I tried to own her."
His smirk faded.
I dropped him.
The truth scorched through me.
Ayra wasn't just a secret.
She was a symbol. Of what Ivy and I could have been. What I destroyed with my obsession, my control.
I let them go once.
Never again.
I turned to the guards.
"Find them. Search the rivers. The woods. Burn the north villages if you must."
One hesitated. "But, Your Grace—"
My power surged. "Now!"
They scattered.
I looked down at Ren, still gasping for air.
"You're coming with me. You know where she'll run. And I'll rip it from you if I must."
He spat blood. "She's not your prisoner anymore."
"No," I said quietly. "She's not."
I walked away, cape billowing behind me, rage cooling into something far more dangerous — focus.
I would find her.
Not as her captor.
But as the father of her child.
As the man who would burn the entire kingdom to earn her forgiveness.
Ivy
We reached the riverbank by nightfall.
Ayra was shivering, and I had nothing but a thin shawl. My body ached, my feet blistered, my heart shattered.
Ren bought us time.
But for how long?
I crouched beside Ayra, brushing her damp curls back. "We're safe now."
She stared at the water. "Will Daddy find us?"
My breath hitched. "I don't know, baby."
"I miss him," she whispered. "But I love you more."
My tears slipped silently.
What would happen if he found us again?
Would he take her?
Would I let him?
I didn't know anymore.
My love for Lucien never died. It was buried under betrayal, under scars… but it still pulsed when I heard his name.
That terrified me more than anything.
And as I held my daughter close under the stars, a silent truth formed in my chest like a dagger:
Lucien wasn't done with us.
And I wasn't done with him either.
Cliffhanger.
Lucien is no longer chasing Ivy as a king hunting a fugitive. He's chasing her as a broken man seeking redemption — and revenge on anyone who stands in his way. But Ivy has changed too. And this time… she's ready to fight back.