"Isolde? If all goes well, this might be the last time you will see me. After my revenge, there is no use sticking around. Take care of the child."
Isolde nodded. "I will," she said. She believed she didn't need him anymore. The queen was disgraced.
She left the room and as the door shut behind her, Williams watched her. Alone, he allowed the briefest, strangest fondness to cross his face—less for the woman than for the role she had played in his design.
Outside, Isolde's mind swirled. The queen's fall opened a corridor of possibility. Her first acts were already composed: erase the queen and prince Magnus, make sure no rival heir could rise on the ashes of tonight. If the crown must be hers, then every obstacle must be made to disappear.
*****
Damien stood. His army was arrayed behind him in perfect formation, their eyes cold and ready. Beyond the walls, the boundary stretched where the werewolf forces were waiting, tension thick in the air.
