Erich's mansion was a fortress of silent, contained panic. Inside the sterile white war room, lit by the cold glow of screens, Erich and Arnold faced each other across a large holographic table. The air was thick with tension, thick enough to choke on. Arnold had arrived in record time, his usual charming composure shattered by his brother's raw, dangerous presence.
"I warned you, Erich," Arnold said, his voice low and ragged. "I told you they would move. But I never thought Mother would use the King's Crest. This isn't just a political warning. This is a declaration of war."
Erich stood perfectly still, looking like a statue of contained fury. His eyes held that unnatural silver shine. "What is the Price, Arnold? What is the Trial of Lineage? Speak clearly and quickly, before I lose the last shred of my control."
Arnold swallowed hard. "The Price is the complete subjugation of your Triple Hybrid line. The Trial is a challenge to your succession, designed to eliminate you permanently, not just Bettina. The High Council fears what you are—Vampire, Werewolf, and Witch. They see chaos in that blood. They see a threat to their purity. They will use this to force you into a series of ancient tests."
Erich's lips peeled back in a silent snarl, revealing a flash of unnatural sharpness.
"They want me to sacrifice my nature for their approval? They want me to prove I can be a King of Purity when I am nothing of the sort?"
"They want you to fail," Arnold corrected, his voice a desperate whisper. "The Trial will be designed to make you choose between Bettina and your life. She is the bait, Erich. She is the single greatest weakness you have ever allowed yourself to possess."
Erich slammed his hand down on the holographic table, the metal protesting with a loud crack. "Then I will break their Trial. I will take their Price, and I will force them to pay me back in blood." He turned to Arnold, his eyes demanding loyalty. "I need the Citadel's location, and I need the ancient schematics of the high wards. Every door,every guard rotation. I need to know where they will hold her. Is there a safe house? A cage? A cell?"
"They will take her to the Citadel of Lineage—the ancestral mountain stronghold," Arnold confirmed, quickly activating a screen to show a remote, jagged peak in the north. "It's sealed by a high-level blood-shield put up by the Queen herself. You can't get past it using raw force. You can only enter if you accept the Trial, and that means entering alone, through the main gate."
Erich's jaw clenched so hard the muscles jumped. "I will not go alone. I will not follow their rules. Find me a way in. A rogue Witch, a former guard, a smuggler. Anyone who knows how to bypass a royal blood-shield. Use my money. Use my authority. Tell them they can have anything they want, as long as they can get me through that wall."
Arnold nodded, his face etched with worry. "It will take time, Erich. You need to sleep, you need to prepare."
"Time is the one thing I don't have," Erich growled. He stripped off his business suit jacket, revealing the powerful, coiled muscles beneath. He was done being a chairman. He was now a hunter, a warrior, and a father protecting his own.
"Get your contacts ready, Arnold. Tell them that for the girl who is the King's Price, I will burn their world down to the ashes."