And here, in the dark, they had made their move.
Knights shouted as they scrambled to defend the royal carriage. Some were cut down in the confusion, others formed a shield wall around it. Arrows whistled through the night, but Valeris was already inside the storm, her blade an extension of her will. She moved like a flash of moonlight—precise, lethal, merciless.
Asher, meanwhile, carved a path through the attackers with brutal efficiency. Lucas's training lived in his muscles, but it was Asher's will behind the strikes. He fought not like a knight, but like a sovereign. Calculated. Commanding.
One assassin broke through the perimeter and lunged straight for Valeris, a curved dagger in hand, poison dripping from the blade.
She caught him mid-air.
Twisting. Spinning.
Her sword opened his throat in a clean arc, and he fell at her feet.
"Cowards," she hissed. "They couldn't kill me in court, so they sent blades in the night."