The platform still stank of blood.
The executioner’s blade had been cleaned, but the air clung to the metallic tang, and the crimson stains in the wood would not vanish so quickly. The crowd had begun to thin, but the shock that had gripped the kingdom would take far longer to fade.
For the nobles, the morning’s events had been nothing short of an earthquake.
A crown prince — executed.
A royal brother — shackled and dragged to the dungeons like a criminal.
And before them all, a young woman — an omega, River — unleashing a power none of them had imagined could exist in their realm.
Whispers hissed through the noble ranks like wildfire:
“If the crown prince could fall, what of us?”
“Did you see the way the king looked at Peter? That wasn’t just anger… that was betrayal.”
“This king
