Page 356 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

“Move!” a familiar voice snapped, cutting through the chaos. Jo. She pushed past immobilized soldiers with practiced fury and reached me just as Carr and Cali arrived at my side. Without a word, Jo replaced Noctis’s hands with her own and gave me a look that made her intentions clear.

Brace.

Merikh stepped back just in time for her to snap my shoulder back into place. I bit down a scream, the world blackening as pain tore through me.

Carr and Cali caught me, positioning themselves on either side to drag me toward safety—but Freya's next words brought us up short.

“Thirty-six years ago, the Oracle declared me the most powerful female in Paladin,” she said, her voice slicing through the courtyard. Mother growled. Actually growled.

Freya’s lips curled into a saccharine smile. “I was silenced, of course—for the good of the realm. Because the Queen couldn’t risk anyone knowing I would become Heiress when the magic rotated again. To preserve her bloodline, we came to an agreement. I was to marry her firstborn son. The contract secured the magicline—and placed me as the future Princess of our people.”

Cali stiffened beside me, her gaze flicking between Freya and my mother. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “She’s talking about you.”

Me. Valora—Freya—was the woman I’d been promised to.

“What is she doing?” Cali asked, and I couldn’t tell whether it was fear or fury.

“No clue,” I rasped, while Jo's magic eased down my arm.

“Orion,” Freya said sweetly, turning to the Guardian beside my mother, “what happened the year after that?”

His voice was steady. “You had your first Calling.”

“I had my first Calling.” Freya nodded, satisfaction lacing her tone. “Many knew I searched. Few knew for whom. Reagan did,” she said lightly.

“Her Majesty,” Nix barked. “You will address her as such.”

Freya didn’t even look at him. “You will enjoy your head while you have it.” She said it like a fact. Then, “I will call a spade a spade—and a traitor a traitor.”

“You bitch,” Mother hissed, her hands twitching toward her blades.

Freya didn’t flinch. “As your second, Ciaran and Reagan offered me every tool to find this wandering soul. They assisted me—again and again—never understanding he could not be found because of the power in his blood.” The shield. The lightning wielder. “Only one person knew when I finally located my Soul Bound target.” Her canines descended, that feral grin carving through her lips. “Only, when I arrived, his throat was slit ear to ear. His home was painted red.”

“That proves nothing,” Mother snapped.

Freya shrugged. “I would agree—except I recognized the wounds. Your blood was in the samples. And beneath the coffee table, I found a very distinctive emerald-encrusted raven blade. You weren’t the only one to get in a few good hits.”

A stunned silence followed. The weight of her claim—of a Calling slain—was incomprehensible. Even more damning than betrayal. Almost as grievous as destroying a mate bond.

“Did she say they were Soul Bound?” Carr muttered.

Worse. So much worse.

“I didn’t want to believe it,” Freya said softly. “You were my best fucking friend.” Her voice cracked, eyes glassy with grief that lanced the Queen like a blade. “I wanted to believe it was a fluke. A setup. But your secrets are always your damnation. Just like hiding your illegal imprisonment of the prince opened the door for me to take your Bonds, so too did your past destroy you.”

She turned to the crowd, sweeping over familiar faces—Orion, Gio, Carr, Nix, Cali.

“I am here to challenge Reagan Stuart for her place on the Paladin throne,” she declared. “Because treasonous filth is unfit to rule.”

“What?” The word ripped out of me.

Chaos erupted. Voices collided. Nix surged forward. Juno and Orion stepped between him and my mother. The Wings reacted—but I couldn’t tell who they were protecting anymore.

This was madness.

This was suicide.

According to the Accords, any Winged soul could challenge a superior. But a challenge to the Queen herself? It had happened only twice before. Both times it ended in the petitioner’s blood.