Kaelen's POV
Word reached me through my network before the official announcements were made. The way word always reached me, faster and more complete than the crown intended.
A chambermaid found dead in the queen's rooms. The Rendered blamed. Arrests already beginning in the lower districts.
I sat with it for a moment.
The room was quiet. Marcus was there, his face pale, his hands tight at his sides. Dmitri was by the window, watching the street, his jaw set. They were waiting for me to speak. Waiting for me to tell them what to do. Waiting for me to fix this the way I had fixed everything else.
I did not speak. I sat with the news and let it settle, and something in me went very cold.
"A girl," Marcus said. "Sixteen years old. They're saying we killed her. A chambermaid. Found dead in her dressing room this morning."
"We didn't," Dmitri said. His voice was flat, hard. "We don't kill children. We've never killed anyone."
