"You know, if you wanted an invite to my dinner party, you could've just asked," Nox hummed mockingly as I looked over at Cicero. His face told me that he was as surprised as I was. This was supposed to be an empty gym, a shortcut to the secret entrance that would put us on the southern and darkest side of the palace. 

My heart hammered in my chest as it took everything I had not to raise my hand to my jacket to ensure myself that the ancestral crown was still there. I knew the chances of us escaping were now slim to none, but I refused to express that fear and hopelessness on my face as Nox examined our group. The black veins that starkly marked his face the last time I saw him were paler now, less noticeable but still there.

The rest of the guests seated at his table looked towards us with mild interest. I could tell by their suits and gowns that they were nobles, likely the ones Nox kept closest, ensuring their loyalty to him with money and power.

"Oh, and you brought our dear old friend with you, General-turned-traitor" he spoke nodding towards Cicero before his eyes swiftly moved towards June in pleasant surprise. "Ah, and traitor-turned-General too!"

I felt Kess slowly reach out and grab my hand, taking a step towards the door as if we could simply walk back out of them and pretend none of this had happened.

"Oh don't be shy, Kesserian, we're both kings here. Come sit at my table, won't you," Nox spoke, gesturing towards the open seat at the end of the table, directly opposite him.

"I think I'll remain standing, thanks" Kess replied, matching Nox's tone of casualty in the way that only two men well versed in constantly putting up a false front could.

"Don't be ridiculous, this is a dinner party after all" Nox insisted, his eyes narrowing with warning, the threat of what would happen if he refused again clear in his gaze. "Sit."

There was a brief pause before Kess stepped forward, gripping the wooden seat and pulling it as far from the table as possible before sitting down. Nox grinned at him.

"Isn't this lovely, half of the Naturian kings, seated together once more," he hummed, leaning to the right side where Lux was sitting. It startled me to see him sitting there so expressionless after our conversation in my dream, I was almost convinced it had all just been my imagination.

But as his gaze lifted and his bright green eyes met mine, I knew I hadn't imagined the conversation.

"I do admit being quite impressed at your execution for breaking into my palace," Nox continued on, pouring wine into his cup as if we were all having a casual conversation about the weather. "Here I was assuming you'd be using the Veiling. Alas, it appears my soldiers are brainless enough to be distracted by two drunken men. They will be justly punished for their ignorance, and as for the two men, I'm afraid they have nobody else to blame for their deaths but themselves. And you five, of course,"

I swallowed the guilt and grief I felt for playing a role in the deaths of Donovan and his friend. This was the price innocent people paid for helping us. And I had no one to blame but myself.

Kess remained silent, hands folded in his lap, ready to spring forward at any moment. The woman seated beside him, decked in more jewelry than her tiny frame likely weighed, leaned forward towards Kesserian. "Is it true what they say about your family's tragic death?" she asked him as if it were a perfectly reasonable table conversation.

I gritted my teeth as Kess replied to her coldly, "I'm afraid it doesn't matter what I say. I'm sure you've come to your own conclusions long before I walked through those doors."

"Now Kesserian," Nox tutted as if Kess was a misbehaving child. "The lady is only curious about you, which she has every right to be, you are a truly fascinating person." He leaned forward, excitement in his voice as he spoke, "all of Naturian is waiting with bated breath to hear about the life of its most eligible bachelor. One of its most eligible bachelors, that is, if you include Marlowe. Though something tells me that he is still hung up on the proposal rejection of your sloppy seconds."

His eyes shot towards me as he let out a hearty laugh, causing the nobles around him to follow his lead, competing with each other to see who could laugh the loudest until the table was roaring with noise, the only two silent members being Lux and Kess.

I studied Lux, wondering if there was even the slightest chance he might help us get out of this situation. But it appeared that, while he was bold when the two of us had spoken privately, he would never make a move against Nox, especially not publicly.

"Enough of these games, Nox" I snapped, cutting through the laughter. "What do you want?"

Nox cocked his head back in mock disbelief. "What do I want, dear? Well, I must've been mistaken. You see, I was under the impression that you were the intruder in this situation and that I am in fact the victim, attempting to enjoy a dinner-party with my dear friends in my own palace."

I moved forward, placing a hand on Kess's shoulder. "I was looking for something," I admitted, acutely aware of the weight of the metal crown in my jacket's inner pocket. "But it seems I can't find it, so I must be leaving your home empty-handed."

"Is that so?" Nox spoke, squinting towards me. "You sure do enjoy proving your uselessness don't you, Wren Heatherfield?"

We locked eyes, and I realized in that moment why Nox had allowed me to live all this time. Why he hadn't made a move against us yet. He needed me to find the ancestral crown for him. He had no idea where Celesta had hidden it, but he had a hunch that I would. I was her daughter, her blood. The crown would speak to me, because the last person who touched it wanted me to be the one to find it.

And now I had practically delivered it to him, the only things keeping it from within his grasp were my lies and a jacket.

"It appears your palace is much larger than I'd anticipated," I answered, knowing there was no way in hell Nox was going to let us walk right out, but hoping to buy us enough time to think of a plan to get out of here.

"You know I can sense if you're lying to me," he answered, threat clear in his voice but I didn't care. His actions were far deadlier than his threats, and the fact that he hadn't made a move against me yet told me that he wasn't entirely sure whether or not I was bluffing. If I was telling the truth and hadn't actually found the crown yet, he would make his life ten times harder by killing me.

I pulled the last card I had at my disposal. "Well, they do say that the man who keeps the most secrets tells the best lies," I looked over at the Shadow Gifted nobles seated around him. "Why don't you tell them my real last name?"

The nobles looked up at me in confusion before turning towards Nox. I expected his face to grow angry, or even a little pale. What I didn't expect was for his smile to grow deeper as he stood up from his seat, commanding the attention of the room. I immediately knew I'd played into his game.

"Gladly," he replied, looking around his table. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to officially introduce my niece, the bastard-born daughter of my dead half-sister, Celesta Bronous."

I was shocked, but not as much so as the nobles seated around the table, who all now stared at me as if seeing me for the first time. Some sized me up as if I were now a true threat.

"While she holds no rightful claim to the throne" he lied, gesturing towards me, "she is a threat to my legitimacy as king, which means she is also a threat to your positions in the Shadow Court."

This was a table of the highest nobles, the ones who made their riches and power through befriending Nox and earning his favor. They would snuff out any threat to his ruling without a second of hesitation. Shadows began to grow at their hands, curling around the table as Kess leaned further away in his seat, not wanting to provoke them with any sudden movements.

The only thing that kept them in their seats was Nox's hand in the air, holding them off from the bloodshed they were now all giddy for. "Oh dear," Nox sighed in mock disappointment. "Unfortunately, it appears they don't give a damn about your claim to the throne."

I turned towards Lux, desperation in my voice as I shouted, "you once told me that you can't stop from seeing the boy Nox once was." I gestured wildly at the man beside him, one finger snap away from ordering a slaughter. "Is this enough to snap you out of your naive hope that there is still some good left in him?"

Something cracked behind Nox's neutral exterior as he threw an arm out. Daggers of shadows spiraled straight towards me. Kess was on his feet, toppling the chair behind him, as he lunged towards me, raising his own wall of fire in defense.

The shadows and flames collided together and a loud hissing noise followed as the shadows and fire both evaporated into thin air, leaving each side's attackers unscathed.

But Nox wasn't looking at Kess. He was watching me and the way I'd protectively moved a hand to my left side, turning myself so that the left half of my body was protected by Kess's back. I'd moved to protect the side of my body where the ancestral crown was hidden in the inside pocket of the jacket. And Nox had noticed and understood the instinctual reaction for what it was.

"I knew it," he muttered, eyes glinting in victory, his eyes trained so hard on me that I was convinced he could see straight through my jacket to where the crown rested beneath my chest.

Snapping his fingers, he gave his minions the killing order. "Kill them all."