A shadow shifted behind the stone pillars.
“The coast is clear,” a quiet, tense voice whispered.
Silas stepped out of the darkness, his face hidden beneath a heavy traveler’s cloak.
He didn’t bow, but his posture was alert, checking the corridors for any eavesdropping royal guards.
“Our contacts inside the city are getting restless.
We’ve managed to slip our people into the lower sectors of the castle, but we are running out of time.
Have you located the hidden vault yet?
Is the objective within our reach?”
Kaelen looked up at the high tower of the palace, staring directly at the glowing window of Queen Evangeline’s bedroom.
His jaw tightened, a strange, suffocating conflict gripping his chest as he remembered the warmth of her fingers against his armor.
“No,” Kaelen said quietly, his voice dark and uneasy.
“Tell the men to hold their positions and stay in the shadows.
Something is entirely wrong with the Queen…
and I need to find out what her game is before we make our move.”
Silas frowned beneath his hood, sensing the unusual hesitation in his leader’s voice, but he nodded slowly before melting back into the darkness.
Left alone in the cold night air, Kaelen touched his chest, right where her hand had rested.
Whoever that woman was in the grand hall today, she wasn’t the mindless tyrant he had been sent here to handle.
She was something far more dangerous.
And for the first time since his mission began, Kaelen wasn’t sure if he was the hunter, or the one being hunted.
The cool night breeze rustled the leaves of the palace garden, but it did nothing to cool the sudden heat rushing through Kaelen’s veins.
He remained standing under the stone archway long after Silas had vanished, his hand still hovering over his chest.
What the hell was that?
he thought, his fingers curling into a tight fist against his leather armor.
He had spent months preparing for this infiltration, studying every horrific detail of Queen Evangeline’s reign.
He knew her to be loud, unstable, and easily manipulated by flattery and gold.
The plan was supposed to be simple: step in as her personal guard, locate the hidden vault while she was distracted by her toxic court, and dismantle her kingdom from the inside out.
But the woman on the throne today didn’t look like she could be manipulated by anyone.
The way she had torn those warrants, the cold authority in her voice, and worst of all…
the shameless, predatory way she had looked at him.
Up in the royal chambers, Evangeline wasn’t thinking about hidden vaults or impending doom.
She was currently standing in front of a massive bronze bathtub filled with steaming water, smelling faintly of jasmine.
Lily was hovering nearby, holding a thick, plush towel, still looking at her as if she might suddenly turn into a werewolf.
“You can leave, Lily.
I’ll handle the rest,” Evangeline said, unfastening the high collar of her black gown.
“A-Are you sure, Your Majesty?
I am supposed to wash your hair…”
“I’m sure.
Go get some dinner.
That’s an order,” Evangeline added with a small, reassuring smile.
The maid bowed frantically and practically floated out of the room, thrilled to be dismissed early by a queen who usually threw heavy objects at her during bath time.
Once the heavy doors clicked shut, Evangeline stripped off the gown and slid into the scalding water, letting out a long, appreciative groan.
Her mind instantly went back to the grand hall.
Kaelen, she thought, a slow smirk spreading across her face as she squeezed water from a sponge over her shoulders.
Oh, he is absolutely delicious.
In her past life, she had never been a shy wallflower.
She knew exactly what she liked, and she knew exactly how to get it.
The old Evangeline might have been a terrifying tyrant, but this new version was going to be a completely different kind of dangerous.
Kaelen’s rigid, disciplined knight routine was top-tier eye candy, but the brief flicker of dark, unbridled lust she had caught in his silver eyes right before he fled?
That was the real prize.
He wanted her.
He was just fighting it with everything he had.
“Let’s see how long that military discipline lasts,” she muttered to herself, resting her head against the edge of the tub.
But as the water began to cool, the reality of her situation settled back into her chest.
It wasn’t all fun and games.
Tearing up Cedric’s warrants was a great power move, but it also meant she had just made a powerful, corrupt enemy who knew all the old queen’s secrets.
Cedric wouldn’t just take this lying down.
He was going to strike back, and she needed to be ready.
The next morning, the sun barely cracked the horizon when a sharp knock echoed through her bedroom doors.
Evangeline, now dressed in a structured, deep crimson riding habit that made her white hair pop like fresh snow, opened the door herself.
Standing on the other side, looking immaculate, stoic, and completely recovered from last night’s panic, was Kaelen.
His silver eyes swept over her outfit, pausing for a fraction of a second on the tight fit of her bodice before returning to her face.
“Your Majesty,” he said, his voice back to its formal, gravelly tone.
“Duke Cedric has requested a private audience in the solar.
He claims it is an urgent matter regarding the northern border supplies.”
Evangeline raised an eyebrow, stepping past him into the corridor.
“A private audience?
After yesterday’s performance?
How bold of him.” She turned her head, her ruby eyes locking onto his.
“You’ll be standing right outside the door, won’t you, Sir Kaelen?”
“Always, Your Majesty,” he replied, his face an unreadable mask.
“Good.
Because I have a feeling the Duke is about to try something incredibly stupid.”
As she walked down the sunlit corridor, the heavy thud of Kaelen’s armored boots behind her provided a strangely comforting rhythm.
She could feel his eyes burning into the back of her neck, his silent vigilance a sharp contrast to the absolute chaos brewing in her mind.
They reached the heavy mahogany doors of the solar, where the air felt thick with impending trouble.
Evangeline stopped just short of the threshold, turning around slowly to face her towering guard.
She reached up, deliberately straightening the gold clasp on his shoulder cape, her fingers lingering just long enough to feel the rigid muscle beneath.
“If he pulls a blade, kill him,” she whispered, her ruby eyes flashing with a wicked amusement.
“If he pulls a contract, let me handle it.”
Kaelen’s jaw clenched so hard a small muscle feathered in his cheek.
He didn’t blink, his silver eyes dark and intense as he looked down at her.
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
With a sharp nod, Evangeline turned and pushed the doors open, stepping into the solar where Duke Cedric was already waiting, a viper ready to strike.
Hey loves!
Thanks for reading Chapter 3!
Evangeline is officially putting her past-life confidence to work, and I am absolutely living for the way she completely throws Kaelen off his game.