Chapter 2 The Rogue's Reckoning

Lyra Thorn did not stop running until the palace banners disappeared and the crooked jungle of the Lower Quarters swallowed her whole. Her lungs burned. Her boots slapped the wet cobblestone. Her hair whipped around her face as she darted into an alley choked with shadows, the scent of smoke and spice thick in the air. Only when she reached the rusted metal door behind Old Crea's bakery did she finally stop. She slammed her fist twice on the door, paused, then hit it again - the code.

The metal creaked open.

A boy with sharp, fox-like eyes and a crooked grin leaned against the doorframe.

"You're late," Jax said.

Lyra shoved past him. "I'm alive. That's what matters."

Inside, the hideout hummed with noise - arguments, laughter, metal clanging. The space was carved out beneath the bakery, all stone walls and dim lanterns. It smelled of old bread, stolen goods, and the endless trouble they stirred. But tonight, the room went silent as soon as Lyra stepped in. Every gaze locked on the warm glow in her hand.

Jax's grin dropped. "Lyra... what did you do?"

She opened her palm.

The relic burned bright.

A sun-shaped medallion, small enough to fit in her hand but powerful enough to reshape fate. It pulsed like a heartbeat, gold lines crawling across its surface in threads of ancient magic. The room recoiled as one.

"You idiot," Mira snapped from her corner, brushing dark curls out of her face. "That's royal magic."

"I know," Lyra said defensively.

"No," Mira said, louder, standing, "you don't know. That thing kills people who touch it. It burned through a general's gauntlet once. It nearly killed a priest. You're walking in here with it like it's a pastry from upstairs!"

"It doesn't burn me."

Jax took a step closer, eyes narrowing. "Why?"

Lyra swallowed.

She didn't have an answer.

She wished she did.

The relic hummed again, a gentle warmth traveling up her arm like it recognized her - chose her.

Mira flinched back. "Get that thing away from me."

Lyra shoved it into her pocket and immediately the room relaxed; not much, but enough to breathe again.

She tried to steady her voice. "Look, the guards were chasing me. I climbed rooftops, took a turn I didn't mean to. And I ran into-"

She stopped.

Jax cocked his head. "Into who?"

"Into someone."

"Lyra."

She sighed. "Prince Aerion."

The silence was so loud she almost laughed.

Jax blinked once, twice, then muttered, "You ran into the prince. On a rooftop. At night."

Lyra crossed her arms. "Yes."

"Did you stab him?"

"No."

"Did you rob him?"

"No."

"Did he see your face?"

Lyra hesitated.

"Lyra," Mira groaned.

"He saved me," Lyra blurted.

The room froze again - this time in disbelief.

Jax stared at her like she'd grown wings. "You're telling me the crown prince helped you run from the guards?"

Lyra nodded reluctantly. "He didn't know I stole the relic."

"But he saw you," Mira said quietly. "And he'll remember you."

Lyra looked away.

The truth was worse than that.

She remembered him too - too well.

The softness in his voice.

The way he held her like she mattered.

The way the relic glowed brighter when he got near.

She hated that the thought made her stomach twist.

She forced the feeling down. "He's not going to look for me."

Before Mira could argue, the metal door slammed open behind them.

Everyone spun.

Jax swore. "Dammit-how did they find us?"

Lyra's blood ran cold.

A line of royal guards filled the doorway, armor gleaming, weapons drawn. And at the front stood a boy she had never seen before - but instantly hated. Tall, broad-shouldered, with unruly dark hair falling over storm-grey eyes. Twenty one, maybe twenty. A scar sliced across his left brow, and he wore his uniform with a kind of arrogant ease that said he feared absolutely nothing.

He stepped inside, boots thudding heavy against stone.

"Lyra Thorn," he said, voice low, controlled, dangerous.

"By order of Her Majesty, Queen Selene Solarys, you are under arrest."

Lyra's heart punched against her ribs.

Not the guards.

Not Mira.

Not Jax.

Her.

They came for her.

The boy flicked his eyes across the room. "Anyone standing in my way will be taken too."

Jax stepped forward, fists clenched. "She didn't steal anything-"

"Oh, she stole something," the boy said. His gaze cut to Lyra's pocket - where the relic pulsed faintly. "And you're going to return it."

Lyra growled. "Over my dead body."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "That can be arranged."

She lunged first.

Her fist shot forward, aiming for his jaw - but he caught it midair, twisting her arm behind her back in one impossibly smooth motion. She gasped, stumbling into his chest as he pinned her easily.

He leaned close, breath brushing her ear. "Don't make this harder. I'm already annoyed."

"Good," she snarled. "I specialize in annoying men."

A smirk touched his mouth. "You won't enjoy annoying me."

He tightened his grip. She kicked backward, nearly connecting with his shin, but he dodged it like he'd predicted the move before she made it.

"Cassian!" one guard barked from the door. "Just restrain her-"

Cassian.

So this was Cassian Ale.

The palace's prodigy guard.

The arrogant one.

The one people whispered about - he was good, too good, almost inhuman in a fight.

Of all the guards to arrest her, it had to be him.

Cassian yanked her closer, eyes like steel. "Stop fighting."

"Let me go!"

She drove her knee up, forcing him to release her hold for a split second. Lyra spun, reaching for the dagger hidden in her boot.

Cassian's eyes flicked down.

Too late.

He swept her legs out from under her.

Lyra crashed to the ground, breath ripped from her lungs. Cassian was on her in an instant, pinning her wrists above her head, weight heavy enough to stop her, light enough she could tell he was holding back.

His hair fell around his face.

Their noses nearly touched.

His breath ghosted her cheek.

For a moment-just a small, dangerous moment-she felt heat crawl up her neck.

His voice dipped low. "You're fast."

"So I've been told," she whispered.

He blinked - surprised by her tone.

That one heartbeat of distraction was enough.

Lyra twisted her body, flipped them, and suddenly she was the one on top, knees planted on either side of his hips, dagger to his throat.

The room gasped.

Cassian didn't.

Instead, he smiled - slow, dark, intrigued.

"So the thief has claws."

"I'm not a thief."

"Then what," he murmured, "are you?"

Lyra pressed the blade tighter. "Angry."

Cassian's eyes flashed with something that terrified her - a spark of interest. "Good."

The guards began closing in.

"Let. Me. Up," Cassian warned softly.

"Or?"

"Or I'll throw you over my shoulder and drag you out."

She leaned closer. "Try it."

He did.

In one sudden, fluid movement, Cassian grabbed her waist, rolled, and she landed on her back with a shocked yelp. He pinned her again, breathing harder now, hair falling into his eyes.

"That's enough," he said, voice hoarse.

Lyra hissed through clenched teeth. "Get off me."

"You're under arrest."

"No."

Cassian exhaled in frustration. Then - not gently - he hoisted her to her feet, swung her over his shoulder, and began walking out.

She beat her fists against his back. "PUT ME DOWN!"

Cassian didn't slow. "Your fighting style is impressive," he said casually. "Sloppy, but impressive."

"Cassian, she's going to kill you," one guard muttered.

"She can try," Cassian replied, tapping her leg to stop her kicking. "But she won't."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because," he said, "I won't let her."

Lyra screamed in utter rage.

Mira rushed forward. "Cassian! She didn't mean to take the relic-"

Cassian didn't even look back. "Tell that to the Queen."

"Cassian, wait!" Jax tried grabbing her arm but got shoved aside.

Lyra's heart cracked at the sight. Her family - the only people who ever gave a damn - fading behind her as she was dragged toward the exit.

Cassian stepped into the night air, torches flickering along the alley. The other guards flanked him.

Lyra raised her fist, smacked his back again. "I swear I'll-"

"Yes, yes," Cassian said dryly, "you'll stab me, curse me, ruin my life. Noted."

"PUT ME DOWN!"

Cassian stopped.

Lyra froze.

He lowered her slowly to her feet - not gently, not harshly, just enough to steady her.

His eyes met hers.

Grey. Sharp. Dangerous.

"You're going to walk," he said quietly. "If you run, I'll catch you. If you fight, I'll carry you again. Your choice."

Lyra swallowed.

Cassian Ale was many things - arrogant, irritating, infuriating -

but he wasn't lying.

She tilted her chin up. "I'm not scared of you."

He stepped closer, breath brushing her cheek. "You're scared of what I'll do when you push me too far."

Lyra's pulse stuttered.

She hated that he was right.

She hated the way his presence filled the space around her.

She hated the way he saw her - clearly, deeply, almost intimately.

She stepped back. "Fine. I'll walk."

"Good girl."

Her fist clenched. "Call me that again and I'll break your jaw."

Cassian smirked. "Noted."

They marched in silence toward the palace, guards surrounding them. The city lights flickered, night thickening.

Lyra whispered, "I'm not giving them the relic."

Cassian's gaze slid sideways. "You don't have to."

Lyra blinked. "What?"

Cassian's jaw tightened. "You just have to survive whatever comes next."

Her throat went dry. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not allowed to say."

"Cassian-"

He stopped walking and faced her fully.

His voice dropped, almost gentle. "Lyra... the Queen doesn't arrest people like you. She uses them."

A cold, icy fear crawled up her spine.

"This isn't about the relic," Cassian said. "This is about what you are."

Lyra stepped back, heart pounding. "I'm nothing."

"That's the problem," he said. "You're not."

Before she could ask what he meant, the massive palace gates loomed ahead - tall, black iron rising like fangs against the moon.

Cassian walked beside her now, not behind, not ahead.

Their arms brushed.

He didn't pull away.

And neither did she.

Not because she wanted him close.

But because the night air carried a warning, and her instincts whispered the truth:

She wasn't entering the palace as a prisoner.

She was entering as a weapon.

The gates opened with a thunderous boom.

Cassian's hand hovered near her back, not touching, but close enough to steady if she fell.

Lyra Thorn lifted her chin, stepped inside, and let the darkness swallow her whole.