Arianna
“Traitors are now punishable by death.”
Mara’s words hung in the archive long after she stopped speaking.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Braxton still held the old sanctuary agreement. Easton stood beside me with his fingers wrapped around mine, while Mara stared at her phone like she wanted to somehow erase the message by glaring hard enough.
My father had finally stopped pretending.
No more talk about bringing me home.
No more family obligation.
No more carefully disguised threats.
If someone chose freedom over him, they died.
I laughed.
Easton looked at me immediately.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the sound coming out of me probably bordered on unhinged.
“What?”
“He just made my argument for me.”
Mara blinked.
“Arianna—”
“Think about it.”
I pulled my h
