Adrian's POV
Vivienne's knife flashed toward my throat.
I twisted sideways—pure instinct from Dante's street-fighting memories. The blade missed by inches, slicing through my shirt instead.
"Fast for a useless prince," Vivienne hissed, circling me like a predator. "Cassian said you were pathetic. But you move like you've done this before."
My back hit the cell wall. Nowhere left to run.
"Vivienne, wait—" I held up my hands, making my voice shake. "Why are you doing this? I thought we were engaged!"
"Oh, darling." Her laugh echoed off stone walls. "That engagement was always temporary. Just long enough to humiliate Seraphina's ghost. The fallen general's stepsister marrying into royalty while she rots as a slave?" She smiled viciously. "Cassian and I thought it was poetic."
"You and Cassian planned this together."
"We plan everything together." She lunged again. This time I barely dodged, feeling the blade whisper past my cheek. "We've been lovers for three years. Did you know that? While I smiled at court events, I was already sharing his bed. Planning how to take the throne."
She backed me into the corner. The knife gleamed in torchlight.
"Seraphina discovered our affair," Vivienne continued, her voice dreamy with memory. "She walked in on us. Saw everything. So we had to destroy her before she could talk." Her eyes hardened. "Framing her for treason was almost too easy. Everyone believed the perfect prince over the ambitious general."
Rage burned through my chest. "You killed her entire family."
"Cassian killed them. I just watched." Vivienne shrugged. "They were in the way. Just like you."
She thrust the knife at my stomach.
I grabbed her wrist with both hands, twisting hard. In the mafia, Dante had learned to disarm opponents twice his size. Vivienne was strong, but Adrian's body was taller, with longer reach.
We struggled. She was better trained than I expected—definitely had practice killing people.
"You're full of surprises," she gasped, trying to yank free. "The Mouse Prince who fights back. How interesting."
"I'm done being anyone's victim," I snarled.
With a sudden move, I slammed her wrist against the stone wall. Once. Twice.
The knife clattered to the floor.
I kicked it away and shoved Vivienne hard. She stumbled backward, shock on her beautiful face.
"You're going to regret that," she said coldly.
"I doubt it."
"GUARDS!" she screamed. "GUARDS! THE PRISONER IS ATTACKING ME!"
My stomach dropped. That scream would bring every soldier in the dungeon.
But before anyone could respond, a shadow moved behind Vivienne.
Marcus Stone stepped out of the darkness, his sword pressed against her throat.
"Scream again," he said quietly, "and it'll be your last sound."
Vivienne went rigid.
Relief flooded through me. "Marcus. How—"
"I followed you. Didn't trust her." His scarred face was grim. "Good thing too."
"You'll both die for this," Vivienne spat. "Cassian will hunt you down like dogs."
"Maybe." Marcus pressed his blade closer, drawing a thin line of blood. "Or maybe we'll tell everyone how you just tried to murder a prince. How you confessed to framing Seraphina Ashford. Funny how dungeons echo—probably half the guards heard everything you said."
Vivienne's face went pale.
I looked around and realized Marcus was right. The dungeon acoustics carried voices far. Guards were stationed throughout these corridors. They'd heard Vivienne admit to conspiracy, murder, and treason.
"No one will believe you," Vivienne said, but her voice shook. "I'm a noble lady. You're criminals."
"We'll see." I picked up her knife—expensive, with a jeweled handle. Definitely not something a lady brings for innocent visits. "This should be interesting evidence."
Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Guards were coming.
"Time to go," Marcus said. "Now."
He grabbed Vivienne and slammed her head against the wall—not hard enough to kill, but enough to knock her unconscious. She crumpled to the floor.
"Did you have to do that?" I asked.
"Would you rather she wake up screaming?" Marcus was already moving toward a side passage. "Come on. We've got maybe two minutes before this place floods with soldiers."
We ran through twisting corridors. Behind us, shouts echoed as guards found Vivienne's body.
"She's alive!" someone yelled. "But barely! Find the prince!"
"They think I attacked her," I gasped as we ran.
"You did. Self-defense, but they won't care." Marcus pulled me into a narrow passage I hadn't noticed before. "We need to get you to Princess Elara. She's the only one who can protect you now."
We emerged into a different part of the palace—the servant corridors. Quiet, empty this time of night.
Marcus finally stopped, breathing hard. "What did Vivienne tell you?"
"Everything." My hands shook from adrenaline. "She and Cassian have been planning this for years. They framed Seraphina together. Killed her family. And now they're trying to eliminate everyone who threatens them."
"Including you."
"Including me." I looked at Marcus—this man who'd risked everything to save me twice now. "Why are you doing this? Helping me? You barely know me."
Marcus's jaw clenched. "I told you. I made a promise to your mother."
"That's not the whole truth."
He was quiet for a long moment. Then: "My sister was a palace servant. Ten years ago, she witnessed Cassian kill a young maid who rejected his advances. She tried to report it. Cassian had her arrested for theft—planted evidence in her room. She was executed before I could stop it."
My chest tightened. "I'm sorry."
"I've been waiting for a chance to destroy him ever since. Watching. Gathering information. But I'm just a guard captain. No one listens to me." Marcus met my eyes. "Then you showed up. Changed. Different. Actually willing to fight back. You're my chance, Your Highness. My only chance to avenge my sister."
The raw pain in his voice made something crack open in my chest. This wasn't just about saving me. This was about justice for everyone Cassian had destroyed.
"We'll get him," I promised. "For your sister. For Seraphina's family. For everyone."
Marcus nodded once, sharp and firm. "Then we need more people. One prince, one broken general, one guard captain, and a scheming princess aren't enough to take down a king. We need an army."
"Where do we find soldiers willing to commit treason?"
"Not treason. Justice." Marcus's scarred face hardened. "And I know exactly where to look. There are at least fifty guards in this palace who hate Cassian. Who've been punished for refusing his corrupt orders. Men like me who've been waiting for someone to stand up."
Hope sparked in my chest. "Can you recruit them?"
"If you can convince them you're worth following. That you're not the Mouse Prince anymore." He studied my face. "Can you do that?"
I thought of Dante Russo. Of building an empire from nothing. Of earning loyalty through respect and fear.
"I can do that," I said. "When?"
"Tomorrow night. After Cassian's coronation rehearsal. He'll be distracted, confident. We'll meet in the old barracks—the abandoned ones near the north wall." Marcus's eyes gleamed. "Bring the proof of his crimes. Show these men why they should risk their lives for you."
"I'll be there."
We shook hands—a pact sealed in darkness.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Coming closer.
"Go," Marcus hissed. "Princess Elara's chambers. Third floor, west wing. I'll lead them away."
"Marcus—"
"GO!"
I ran, leaving Marcus to face whatever was coming.
I burst into Elara's chambers minutes later, gasping for breath. Seraphina jumped up from where she'd been sitting, her hand going for a weapon she didn't have.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"Vivienne tried to kill me."
Seraphina's face went white. "Is she—"
"Unconscious. Marcus knocked her out." I explained everything—the confession, the attack, the guards hearing everything.
Elara listened with calculating eyes. When I finished, she smiled coldly.
"This is perfect. Better than perfect." She paced, thinking fast. "Vivienne confessed in front of witnesses. We can use that. Turn the guards against Cassian before the coronation even happens."
"Marcus is recruiting soldiers tomorrow night," I told her. "Fifty guards who hate Cassian. If we can get them on our side—"
"—we'll have our own army inside the palace." Elara's smile widened. "Brilliant."
A knock at the door froze everyone.
"Princess Elara?" a servant's voice called. "King Cassian requests your presence immediately. He says it's urgent regarding Prince Adrian's attack on Lady Vivienne."
My blood ran cold.
Elara met my eyes, her face calm but her voice tight. "Hide. Both of you. Now."
Seraphina grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a hidden panel in the wall. We squeezed inside just as Elara opened the door.
Through a crack, I watched Cassian enter, his crown gleaming, his face twisted with rage.
"My dear sister," he said with false sweetness. "I need your help finding our little brother. He just tried to murder his fiancée. And I'm done playing games."
He pulled out a wanted poster with my face on it.
"Twenty thousand gold pieces. Dead or alive." Cassian's eyes were ice. "By tomorrow morning, every soldier, every noble, every commoner in this kingdom will be hunting Adrian Valerian."
He looked directly at the wall where we were hiding.
Almost like he knew we were there.
"And when I find him," Cassian whispered, "I'm going to make his death last for days."