Claimed By The Forbidden Crown

you didn'

en minutes since the mark had burned itself onto my throat, he had managed royal guards, silenced three advisers, and positioned himself between me and the king with the practiced efficiency of a man who had handled

keeping my voice low because the nearest guard was

truth will ge

doesn't execute students for handling old artifacts," I said. "Half the professors at this acade

lse awake

t know I

to ask for your side of the story

ct and was simply waiting for the room to catch up. The royal hall felt smaller than it had an hour ago, the walls closer, the candlelight thicke

that hadn't finished burning. I had tried rubbing it away twice. Both times the pain was sharp enough to make my eyes water. Whatever it was, it had followed me up fro

d the audacity to want things. I had endured professors who graded me harder because proving me wrong felt like restoring the natural order. I had smiled through dinners where I wa

didn't understand simply because powerfu

I told

tightene

ssing to, and I'll cons

rgue, the king ro

he girl

urprised me enough that I almost forgot to be angry. The king

er. Step

hasn't been examined. We

ready told us wha

s moment. "The appearance of the mark is consistent with historical precedent. The bearer mu

d somewhere between my r

long?"

y ans

. I asked

t the pain drove me to my knees and a sound came out of me I would have been ashamed of if I hadn't been too busy trying to stay upright. The guard stumbled bac

t tou

teeth. "Can someone please explain what is happeni

Rowan was a man built for standing between royalty and consequences. He looked,

voice cut throug

s Prince

ademy knew it - Prince Lucien Draven, the crown prince who had disappeared three years ago. Officially dead. Unofficially everything from murdered to exiled to s

he was de

at objects that have spoken out of turn.

ad changed. People were moving toward the edges of the hall without being

e doors

would have been striking if it hadn't looked so thoroughly exhausted. He didn't announce himself, didn't slow down, didn't

lfway from his t

rk for. Not surprise. Not the cool assessment I would have expected from a royal confronted with an unexpected problem. It was

e mark

hand pressing flat against his own chest as though something had struck him there. The pain in my skin eased. Not gr

red a

I kept staring. I couldn't help it. I had never, in my entire life, felt another person's pain. Whatever had just passed between us was not m

tern tower. I objected to being transported anywhere without my consent. Rowan attempted to mediate and failed. None of it mattered

se the mark was heating again and the alternative was staying in a room full

" Lucien said, when I

e. It's m

rstand why we

ust, because an ancient artifact has decided my skin is a good place to leave a messa

ot

try to lock

kno

I haven't finish

ath everything was so visible that it rearranged my anger into somethin

etter answer to a man who had apparently

ered h

hrough my teeth, and I placed my hand in his because the pain eased the instant our skin touched

nction of whatever connected us. Not comfort. Not relief. A physical response to a magical bond, and understanding that made it conside

rridor when every candle in

. Instantly, like a breath

me closer in the same motion, and the mark went cold against my skin -

. Ancient in a way that had nothing to do with age and everything

home, m

ped br

, the fear there was different from every other expression I had s

ing that had alrea

t go," he