Chapter 210: Chapter 210

I watched them go, Damon, Kael, Rowan, their shoulders tight, their faces carved by argument. Damon’s voice had the last word: release Belinda, yes, but only after they finished the morning meeting. He was still angry. That did not matter.

I bowed as they left, low and proper. They accepted the bow like men who take what’s handed to them and count it nothing. I let the bow be a lie they could believe. When the doors closed behind them, I let out a soft laugh, more sound than breath.

"They dare accept my bows," I said to the empty room, the words tasting of iron and honey. I scoffed, loud enough for the walls to catch it. "They think they have the last move. They do not."

Their agreement had been the thing I needed. I had moved the pieces while they argued, and that was always how it had to be. Plans do not wait for speeches.

I walked quickly to Belinda’s door. My hand on the knob felt steady. I pushed it open without knocking.

Inside, the sight struck me like a small, stupid joy. Belinda and Adrik were close. Not even pretending. Her cheek brushed his sleeve. He had his hand on her back like he was helping her stand. She looked safe and foolish and so blissfully unaware of how the world turned outside her little room. It was what I wanted to happen, and she was playing right into my hands. I didn’t expect that to be quick, and I once thought that she was not the person I thought she was.

My voice broke across them. "What on earth are you doing?" I snapped, sharper than I intended.

They both jerked. Adrik stepped back, his face going blank. Belinda turned, eyes wide and wet, startled into sudden composure.

Her smile did not hide everything. She was quick to recover. "You barged in," she said, half laughing. "I...Adrik was only..."

"You invited him in," I said. "You should know better." My voice had a sting; I let it.

She looked at me, changing the subject of the matter. "Uncle, am I getting out of this confinement?"

Relief softened the lines of her face and made her small. "Yes," I said aloud, tasting the word. "They will release you soon."

She reached for the letter, winding her fingers around it as if she could press its power into her palm. "You mean it? You really mean it?"

"I told you," I said. "And I have a more amusing way to make our plans perfect."

"What’s that?" she asked, eyes bright with hope.

I let my grin spread slowly and coldly. "I ordered something last week. A little surprise. It will arrive soon." I leaned back, enjoying the small tremor in her face. "It will give us the opening we need."

Her brow knit. "What sort of surprise?" she whispered, voice small.

I shrugged as if the answer were too silly to say straight. "Wolfbane." My voice was light, but there was iron under it.

"Are you saying we should..." She stopped herself, then moved on. "Were you not planning to take the throne without spilling blood?" Her laugh was shaky. "What good is treachery without a stain?"

I watched her, amused. "A clean hand looks better when the dust settles." I picked up a cup and turned it in my fingers. "If they fight their own wars, if they point fingers at each other first, we do not get our hands dirty. We watch. We pick up what’s left."

"You’re losing it, Uncle?" Her voice was sudden and sharp. For a heartbeat, I saw the old Belinda, angry, afraid, hungry. It pleased me to see her stir.

"No," I said slowly. "I am sharpening patience. Listen." I lowered my voice until the walls felt closer. "We will place doubt where it will burn longest. We will feed the whisper that makes best friends turn cold. We will hand them a scene they cannot ignore. Let them clutch at proof and each other."

Her eyes widened. "You mean make them suspect Lisa?"

"If they believe she betrayed them," I said, "they will act first and ask questions later. Rowan and Kael will not stand by her if she kills Damon. Damon will be dead. That is where the pack breaks." I said the words plainly, without relish, because the truth was the cruelest thing of all.

Belinda’s hand found mine and squeezed hard. "Oh my goodness! That’s insane," Her voice trembled with hope and fear mixed.

She sat back, breathing quicker now. "And when they hunt her, when they punish who they think is guilty, will you be able to get the throne?"

"I will make sure the other two are dead too, and I will get my crown! Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝓷𝓮𝓽

She laughed then, a thin sound, part hysteria and part relief. "This is horrible, Uncle."

"Horrible will wear a cloak of righteousness by morning," I said, smiling. "That is the point."

She folded her hands in her lap like a woman praying. "Do it, Uncle. Do not fail me."

"I will not fail you," I promised, and the promise felt heavy and inevitable as a tide.

She laughed then, low and sharp, the sound full of something hungry and pleased. "And Lisa," she asked, eyes bright, "will she do what you ask willingly? Or will she break?"

I watched her face light up at the thought. It pleased me to see her want it so badly. I let the corner of my mouth lift just enough. "If she agreed, that would be the sweetest, simplest thing, but she won’t agree to that. " I said. "Because people like her seldom give gifts for free."

Her grin turned harder. "So you’ll... bend her? Make her do it?"

"I will make sure she does what we need," I told her, the words dry as a bone. I did not say how. I did not give her the map. There was no need. Some things are better kept as threats; they sharpen the mind and blunt the will. "If she resists, I have ways to make her dance to my tunes."

Belinda’s eyes shone with a strange light. "Force her?"

"Force is a blunt word." I leaned back and folded my hands. "Call it pressure, or leverage, or necessary insistence. You will not see it. She will only see the consequences of saying no. People bend when the cost of standing straight becomes higher than the cost of bowing."

She laughed again, small and wicked. "Good. Make her bow. Make her the face. Give me the room to breathe."