Chapter 229: Excuse Me, The Fuck?
"Shit," Maddox breathed.
Kael looked like death was measuring him for a box. Dark veins spider-webbed under his eyes, his skin was drenched, and his breathing was the kind that sounds like a countdown.
Immediately, the healer pushed white light into Kael’s chest. Black smoke tendrils drifted out of his bandages.
"What is happening to him?" Maddox asked.
The Luminari healer didn’t look up from Kael when he answered. "What happened is no one told me about him and the blade he was stabbed with has the same dark magic that affected the Beta."
Everyone with a blade suddenly looked up, as if this was what made them realize the room was packed and they had an entire audience watching the show.
The presence of foreign kings and armed dragons did exactly nothing to slow down the trainwreck.
DOMINO 25: The Show Must Go On
LUNARIS KEEP - PRINCESS’S TOWER - 7:42 PM
A normal family would have stopped. This was not a normal fucking family. This one had a proven habit of escalating shit.
Maria laughed darkly.
"You never loved me, Renwick. The only woman you loved or who will ever love you back is six-feet under because you couldn’t take care of your sick wife. I’m sure she’s just thrilled about you selling your daughter."
Renwick didn’t flinch.
"Tried? Yes. Wanted to? Desperately. Succeeded? No. And I won’t apologize for honesty. You are the worst Luna this Keep has ever had and that includes Cassian’s mother, who was an absolute disaster. So you fucked my son and assumed I didn’t know about it."
"I was never sexual with your son," she snapped. "How many times do I need to say it? I love your son because he’s family."
Maria’s jaw was shaking but her eyes were locked. "But while we’re confessing, let’s tell the room who you hired. Do you want to say it or should I?"
"I’m sorry, what?" Renwick looked genuinely bewildered for a moment before the mask came back.
"Let’s ask the room," Maria said. "The Alpha, Beta, both their sons, AND the Keep’s usual defense rotations were all gone. The only warriors left were the ones who should have retired years ago. Has that ever happened in Lunaris before? Does that sound like Renwick Lunaris to you?"
Silence.
"The answer to both of those questions is no," Maria continued. "Renwick made a deal with STONEHOWL. For him to kill me or take me. He didn’t care which. In return, he would stage a false claim of war, and demand Stonehowl’s daughter as reparation. A new bride for you. The one variable you didn’t account for was your daughter trading herself to save her people. And the Dragon King burning Stonehowl to ash."
Maddox tore his eyes away from Kael long enough to catch Draven’s eyes flicking to Renwick for a half second.
The Beta’s face gave the room absolutely nothing outside of that.
"Maria," Cassian said, voice calm. "You need to lie down. This is your hormones and you don’t mean any of this."
The prince’s hand was fully covered in blood, pressed against his ribs, but he stood straight.
"I’ve heard enough from the both of you. That child is not mine," Renwick said coolly. "Three blades against your throat, Cassian. Drop your weapon and I don’t kill her. Up to you whether one of you dies or both of you."
Ryker took a seat on the ottoman by the door, chin resting on his hands.
Sterling: Seriously? We should leave.
Ryker: I am physically incapable of looking away.
DOMINO 26: INVOICE ACCEPTED
LUNARIS KEEP - PRINCESS’S TOWER - 7:48 PM
"Kill me. But she walks out of here alive. That’s my price."
Cassian’s voice was unreasonably calm. The math was done and he accepted the invoice.
Maria’s blade pressed harder into Renwick’s neck. "Cassian, NO. I won’t let you—"
"Shut up, Maria," Cassian said, his eyes still locked on his father.
"Accepted," Renwick said immediately with zero emotion.
Cassian’s blade hit the stone.
Three blades on his throat. Renwick’s. Draven’s. The healer’s shears.
Ryker: How the hell is Guinevere related to these fucks?
Sterling: I was asking myself the same thing.
"RENWICK, DON’T. PLEASE. It’s yours. The baby is YOURS. I have never been sexual with Cassian—"
"Interesting," Renwick cut her off, his blade still kissing Cassian’s throat. "I don’t believe you either way. You are dead to me, Maria. You are next."
"You are going back on your word," Cassian laughed.
"Correct," Renwick said.
The room went cold enough to crack glass.
Cassian closed his eyes. "I’m sorry, Maria. I tried. I really did."
Renwick raised his blade, prepared to swing.
"Under Lunaris law, adultery against the Alpha is the death penalty for both the Luna and traitor. The cleanest law on the books. No paperwork required, Cassian. You’d appreciate that part."
DOMINO 27: WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT
LUNARIS KEEP - PRINCESS’S TOWER - 7:50 PM
"No. The baby is mine, Renwick."
The sentence landed on the room like a body from a rooftop.
Every head turned to Beta Draven.
Maria’s free hand flew to her mouth. The healer pulled his sheers away from Cassian’s neck, genuinely confused now.
"It isn’t his." Draven’s chin jerked toward Cassian. "It was never his. Your son is covering for me because I am the closest thing to a father that boy has ever had and he would rather bleed on your floor tonight than say my name."
Renwick’s blade was still on Cassian’s throat.
His face hadn’t moved.
"He could have used this at any point," Draven continued. "He didn’t. He has a lot of flaws and a violent streak, but he is loyal when he chooses to be."
Draven’s voice cracked on the last word. Twenty years of composure, shattered.
Maria was sobbing.
Cassian opened his eyes and let out a breath.
He looked back at his father.
"He’s lying. It was me."
"No it wasn’t, Cassian," Draven snapped. "Renwick already knows it is me and set this whole thing up."
Renwick’s blade was still frozen mid-swing.
His face hadn’t moved. Every person in the room was waiting for the crack, the flinch, the moment a father learned his Beta had been fucking his wife and his son had been covering for it.
The mask didn’t crack.
It smiled.
"Maria gave you away earlier. You have her to thank. But it took you longer than expected to figure that out, Draven. I had you at three minutes. You lasted seven."