The alarms shattered the quiet of the palace like breaking glass.
Shouts echoed through the stone halls. Warriors rushed to their posts. Maisie woke with her heart already pounding, the wolf inside her snarling to life. She threw on the reinforced training leathers Kylen had given her and grabbed the short dagger she now kept hidden beneath her pillow. Her hands no longer shook the way they once had.
This was the night she had both feared and prepared for.
Gaius’s forces had come under cover of darkness — a desperate raid led by his most loyal warriors and mercenaries. They struck the outer walls first, trying to breach the eastern gate while smaller teams scaled the cliffs. The Mad King’s palace was formidable, but betrayal from within had opened a small window. Someone had let them in
