Chapter 53: The Empress Unravels

The sun had risen but Karina felt no warmth.

Her trunks were packed. Her gowns folded. Her jewels secured in velvet pouches. Everything was ready for their departure from Shadow’s Edge, this cursed, freezing, nightmare of a castle where someone had tried to murder her son.

"Sophie, is Valen ready?"

Lady Sophie’s pink head popped up from where she was double-checking the trunk latches. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty! Prince Valen is dressed and waiting in the corridor with General Aldric."

"Good." Karina exhaled, her shoulders dropping just a fraction. "Then let’s leave. Before something else goes wrong."

She had barely taken two steps toward the door when it burst open.

Leonidas stood in the doorway, his frame filling the entire entrance. Behind him, Rafael hovered, his usual smug expression completely absent. In fact, he looked pale. Disturbed.

Karina’s stomach dropped.

Oh no. What now?

"Leonidas," she said, her voice sharp. "Whatever it is, I don’t care. We’re leaving. Valen is waiting, and I refuse to spend another—"

"Renira is dead."

Karina froze. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her brain refused to process what she had just heard.

Dead?

Renira?

The woman who tried to poison my son?

Her lips parted, and finally, a strangled sound escaped her throat.

"...What?"

Leonidas stepped into the room, his hands outstretched as if to steady her. "Karina, I know this is a shock, but—"

"What do you mean she’s dead?!" Karina’s voice rose. Her constructed composure shattered like glass. "That’s not possible! I left her in the dungeon! She was alive when I left her! I specifically ordered the guards to keep her alive for the trial!"

"I know, I know—" Leonidas started.

"Then how?!" Karina’s hands were shaking. She clenched them into fists, her nails biting into her palms. "How is she dead?! How?! She was chained! She was guarded! There were beastmen watching her! How did she—"

"Someone killed her," Rafael interrupted quietly.

Karina’s head snapped toward the blonde commander. "Someone killed her?!"

Rafael swallowed hard. He looked genuinely uncomfortable, his usual charm completely absent. "The guards found her this morning. Her throat was... torn out. Like a beast attacked her. It tried to make it seem like she killed herself, but it made mistakes."

"A beast?!" Karina laughed. "A beast?! There were no beasts in that dungeon!"

"Karina, please—" Leonidas reached for her.

She slapped his hand away.

"No!" she screamed, backing up a step. Her chest heaved. Her vision blurred with unshed tears of rage. "No, no, no! This isn’t happening! This isn’t—" She pressed her palms to her temples, shaking her head violently. "You’re lying! You’re lying to me! That’s not true! Tell me it’s not true!"

Leonidas looked like a man being slowly gutted. "I wish I could. I swear to you, Karina, I wish I could. But she’s dead. The guards found her body this morning."

"How?!" Karina shrieked, her voice cracking. "How did someone get to her?! She was supposed to be protected! She was supposed to stand trial! She was supposed to face justice for what she did to my son!" Tears spilled over her cheeks, hot and furious. "And now she’s just... dead?! Just like that?! She gets to escape?! She gets to die without facing what she did?!"

"Someone wanted her silenced," Rafael said quietly. "Whoever gave her the poison... they didn’t want her talking."

Karina’s blood ran cold.

The panther.

The mysterious panther that Renira had confessed to.

"Someone killed her to shut her up," Karina whispered, her voice suddenly hollow. "Someone killed her because she talked. Because she told me everything. Because she—" She stopped, her eyes widening in horror. "Oh no. Oh no, no, no."

"What?" Leonidas stepped forward, his hand hovering near her arm. "Karina, what is it?"

"Valen," she breathed. "If they killed Renira because she talked... then they know I know. They know I know about the panther. They know I have information. They’re going to—" She spun around, her panic spiking. "They’re going to come for Valen again! They’re going to come for me! We need to leave! We need to leave NOW!"

"Karina, the castle is secure—" Leonidas started.

"The castle is NOT secure!" she screamed, whirling back to face him. "Someone walked into my son’s room and left poison on his vanity! Someone walked into a guarded dungeon and killed a prisoner! And you’re telling me the castle is secure?! Are you insane?!"

Leonidas flinched. He had no answer.

Rafael looked down at the floor, his jaw tight.

Karina grabbed her cloak, throwing it over her shoulders with trembling hands. "We’re leaving. Right now. Valen, Aldric, Sophie, we’re all leaving. My son is not safe here, and I am not staying another minute."

She stormed toward the door, her heels clicking furiously against the stone.

"Karina, wait!" Leonidas grabbed her arm.

She wrenched it free, turning on him with a look of pure venom. "Don’t touch me. Don’t you dare touch me. You brought me to this cursed kingdom. You brought my son here. And someone tried to poison him. And now the woman who did it is dead, and I don’t know who killed her, and I don’t know if they’re coming for us next." She took a shuddering breath. "I am done. We are done. I don’t care if I have to walk all the way back to the capital. I am leaving."

Leonidas’s face crumpled. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. No words came out.

Karina pushed past them both, her heart pounding so loudly she could barely hear her own thoughts. She marched down the corridor, past the startled guards, past the whispering servants, until she reached the main entrance.

Valen was waiting for her, his small hand clasped in Sophie’s. Aldric stood beside them.

The moment Valen saw her, his face lit up. "Mama!"

Karina’s heart clenched painfully. She crossed the distance in three quick strides and dropped to her knees in front of him, pulling him into a fierce hug.

"Come on, sweetie," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his dark hair. "We’re going home. Right now."

Valen’s small arms wrapped around her neck. "Okay."

She stood up, taking his hand. "Aldric, Sophie, let’s go."

Aldric nodded once. "The carriage is ready, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Good. Then let’s get out of here before—"

"Your Imperial Majesty!"

Karina froze.

She turned slowly, her heart sinking.

A panther guard was running toward them, his face flushed with urgency. He skidded to a halt just a few feet away, bowing deeply.

"Your Imperial Majesty! I have a message from—"

"Unless someone is actively trying to kill my son right now, I don’t want to hear it," Karina snapped.

The guard swallowed hard. "It’s... it’s Lord Cassian, Your Majesty. He... he left a message. He said to tell you that he’s sorry he couldn’t say goodbye in person, but he had to return to the Glacier’s Crown urgently. He said to tell you that he hopes to see you again soon."

Karina blinked.

Cassian had left?

Without saying goodbye?