Aldrich calls the room to order. He furrows his brow, turning to me. “Briana, we are not monsters. We will let you have a say in your own fate. I can’t imagine you ever wanted to be king of all this, did you? I can see in your eyes that you yourself are frightened of these abilities. Surely you agree that being held secure, here, is the best outcome for you?”

The footage runs over and over in my mind on a loop. That girl, standing there so confident that all she needed to do was complete a ritual to claim her title. She’d studied all of the right words, all of the right protocol, but in the end, it wasn’t her title to claim—I suck in a breath.

It wasn’t my title to claim….

Understanding, true understanding, finds me slowly, then lands heavy in my gut. I laugh, dry and bitter.

“Briana?” Aldrich prods.

I raise my head, leveling a gaze at the Lord Regent. “You’re still lying.”

The room goes still and Aldrich blinks. “This accusation, Briana—”

“You’ve been lying, from the beginning.” I let a sharp edge creep into my voice. “You were never going to let me complete the Rite. It was a perfect opportunity to isolate me and take me out, because the Scion of Arthur must undergo it alone, without any Legendborn nearby. You didn’t just happen to bring a syringe full of an experimental drug designed to suppress ancestral abilities to the ogof y ddraig. I didn’t attack you… but you hoped something flashy would happen… something that looked dangerous. That’s why you brought the cameras.”

Their faces are answer enough. Gabriel frowns. “You must understand, tradition—”

“I pulled Excalibur from its stone! That is the tradition!” I shout, incredulous. “You saw it for yourselves. I pulled the blade, I am Arthur’s heir, but that was never going to be enough for you.” I tip my head back with a hollow laugh, delirious with the feeling of being right, with exposing the Regents, even here in private. “Bury the war. Bury the betrayal. Now… you’ll bury the Scion.”

Serren, who has remained quiet, shakes his head and spreads his glowing hands wide on the table. “You cannot blame us prioritizing the stability of the kingdom in the face of imminent war.”

I jab a finger at him. “You should be prioritizing winning the war that is already here! Not scheming to stay in power!”

“What would you know about our war?” Aldrich scolds. “You were raised Unanedig.”