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  Chapter Two: The Cold Prince

  The palace was in chaos.

  Ashley ducked into the shadows, pressing herself against the stone wall as guards rushed past her. Their armor clanked loudly, their voices sharp with urgency.

  An attack? She strained to listen, but the words were a jumble of orders and curses.

  Marion had forgotten about her, too busy with the disturbance. Taking the chance, Ashley slipped away, moving through the servant’s corridors toward the courtyard. She had lived in the palace long enough to know that whatever was happening, the nobles would be safe behind their golden walls. But for the servants? No one cared if they lived or died.

  The moment she stepped outside, a cold gust of wind hit her. The sky was heavy with dark clouds, swirling unnaturally over the kingdom. A storm was coming, but the air felt wrong. Heavy. Unsettling.

  At the center of the courtyard stood him.

  Coleen. The soon-to-be king.

  He stood with his back to her, tall and unmoving, dressed in black armor. His silver hair caught the faint moonlight, making him look more like a ghost than a man.

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  The guards surrounded him, tense, waiting for his command. A prisoner knelt before him—a man with torn clothes and blood dripping from his temple.

  "You were seen near the border," Coleen said, his voice smooth but ice-cold. "Who sent you?"

  The prisoner spat blood onto the ground. "Go to hell."

  Coleen didn’t react. He simply lifted his hand—and the ground beneath the man trembled.

  Ashley’s breath hitched. It was subtle, but she saw it. Coleen wasn’t just a shifter. He had power over the earth.

  The ground cracked beneath the prisoner’s knees, and a vine shot out, wrapping around his neck. The man gasped, struggling, but Coleen remained still, his face unreadable.

  Ashley had seen plenty of nobles act cruelly, but this was different. Coleen wasn’t cruel. He was empty.

  "Last chance," he said quietly. "Who sent you?"

  The prisoner choked, but before he could answer, his body convulsed. His veins darkened. His lips turned blue.

  Poison.

  Ashley’s stomach twisted. He had been poisoned before he could talk.

  Coleen’s eyes narrowed. "Take the body to the dungeons," he ordered. "I want to know what killed him."

  The guards obeyed, dragging the lifeless man away. Coleen turned as if sensing someone watching.

  Ashley barely had time to look away before his gaze locked onto hers.

  Her breath caught. His eyes—icy silver, cold as the night—pinned her in place.

  For a moment, neither of them moved.

  Then, with a sharp tilt of his head, he dismissed her. As if she were nothing.

  Ashley clenched her fists, heat rising in her chest. She didn’t know what angered her more—the way he killed without hesitation or the fact that he looked right through her.

  She turned away, not knowing that this was only the beginning.

  Because soon, Coleen would have no choice but to see her.

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