Page 1 of Severed Heir

Chapter One

Everything in the capital shimmered gold, even the lies.

Golden, wing-tipped birds sang on every fourth tick of the clock tower, like time itself moved to their rhythm. Smoke curled from the Serpent Press in gilded billows, each one carrying headlines sharp enough to cut. It was only a matter of time before my name bled across the front page. A fire-wielder born in an iced kingdom, now heir to the last-standing shadow realm. That wasn’t scandal. That was a spark poised to start a war.

I was with Charles, my eldest brother, in one of the king’s endless rooms. I’d spent two days trying to convince him I was innocent. Two days of careful words and swallowed pride. None of it mattered.

Charles sat straighter in the wooden chair, facing the extravagant wine bar stocked with blends imported from every region. He dragged a hand beneath his jaw like he was barely holding himself together. Strands of golden hair slipped into his eyes, but all I saw was the monster he’d become.

“Can you explain something, Severyn?” he asked, voice flat. “How multiple witnesses recognized Naraic’s white scales. That dragon’s been dead for two years.”

“You stormed in before I could explain,” I muttered, my gaze dropping to the silver badge pinned to his chest. It was the one they gave him the day Klaus died.

They called it honorable.

“Then explain,” he snapped. “Because my little sister is now at the center of a treason investigation, and I’m the one expected to clean up the mess.”

“You don’t have the right to call yourself our brother.”

“If this is about Klaus,” Charles began.

“There’s nothing you can say to justify killing Klaus.”

He met my stare and gave a slow nod. “Fair enough.”

Ash coiled around my middle finger, sensing the fury rising under my skin. “This is how I feel about you.”

Charles let out a dry, bitter laugh. “Very mature. I saved him, Sev. If anyone had found out what he was, they would’ve chained him to a desk and drained him until there was nothing left. Seekers don’t survive in this world. You really think you could’ve protected him better than I did?”

“He was mid-flight,” I snapped, slamming my fist into the bar. “You didn’t have to kill him.”

“And now you’re a titled Serpent. Convenient, isn’t it?” He leaned back, cold and deliberate. “His death bought your crown. We all take something from this world.”

Flame surged through the relic on my palm, heat burning across my chest. “I’d burn the title if it brought him back,” I said. “You traded our brother for a silver badge.”

Charles tilted his head, that insufferable smirk tugging at his mouth once again. “You’ve got one brother left. And you don’t even trust him.”

I didn’t answer. Knox hadn’t heard from me since the Serpent Bid. Maybe he thought I was dead. And Charles had conveniently forgotten about Cully. Then again, everyone had.Cully left for Valscribe three years ago, chasing a future with the Serpent Press. He was another brother turned stranger.

Charles leaned forward in his chair. “This shadow throne isn’t yours,” he said quietly. “And I won’t let you keep it.”

“I didn’t ask for the throne,” I said. “But it is mine.”

“No,” Charles said, smooth as frost. “You’re not ready for this.”

“You want the throne so badly, Charles?” I shot to my feet, the chair screeching against the marble. “Maybe you shouldn’t have dropped out of the Serpent Academy.”

His smile faltered. Then he stood, jaw tight. “I made a choice for our family. I’m the one who always cleans up our messes. And this mess you’re in? It won’t end kindly.”

I turned and walked out before I burned his hairline so far back, he’d need a crown just to hide it.

The castle doors slammed shut behind me. The cold bit down hard, sharp and unforgiving. A year ago, I would’ve been curled up with a book, dreading the nightmare of receiving a letter from the Academy. Now, the fire I used to read by lived in my veins.

The capital stretched wide before me. It was too golden for grief, the sky, the steps, the railings. Every surface gilded and polished to a shine. And behind me, I could still feel Charles’s damn golden stare searing into the back of my skull.

The sharp tang of iron laced the air beyond the estate’s towering fences. Below this marble monstrosity, the market buzzed with metalworkers, jewelers, and alchemists. The capital had everything, and in just three days, I’d learned it was the most advanced city on the entire Continent.

A shuffle behind me broke the stillness. Then came a voice I’d grown to know too well.

---