Chapter 290

• Leah's POV
• The moon hung low, a sullen bruise in the sky, casting its pale judgment over the stone walls of Lucian's study. Its light slithered through the high windows, pooling on the floor where I stood, my swollen belly heavy under my dress, a reminder of the life I carried and the debts I owed. The air was thick with the scent of old parchment and wax, and I felt the weight of every step I'd taken to get here, each one a defiance of the exhaustion that clawed at my bones. My father, Lucian, sat behind his desk, his broad shoulders hunched over a sprawl of documents, his face carved with lines of weariness and resolve. The room hummed with the quiet authority of his presence, a king who wore his crown like a shackle.
• I didn't speak at first, just let my gaze drift over the shelves, the maps pinned to the walls, the faint glint of a dagger resting on a side table. My heart thudded, a traitor in my chest, as I remembered the last time I'd stood in a room like this with him.