Chapter 763: Chapter 764: Try burning the right people
The noise outside came suddenly.
At first it was only a faint sound beyond the stone walls, something too far away to understand properly. Then it grew louder. Feet ran across the corridor. Beastmen shouted. Something heavy was dragged across stone, and the sharp cry of a guard cut through the winter air so loudly that even the women helping Isabella lifted their heads.
Outside the birth room, everyone who had been waiting immediately became alert.
Kian was still standing closest to the door. His white hair had become messy from the number of times he had run his hand through it, and his blue eyes had not left the door for long since Isabella’s screams started. The moment he heard the movement outside, his body changed. The worried male and the cold king both appeared in him at the same time, and for a second, he looked like a man being pulled in two directions by two equally cruel hands.
Zyran also straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall. His red eyes moved toward the far end of the corridor, and the shadows near his feet stirred as if they had heard the danger before the rest of them did. He did not speak at once. For once, his mouth stayed quiet because this did not sound like ordinary movement.
Osiris stopped pacing.
That alone made Shelia look over at him because Osiris had been walking from one side of the corridor to the other for so long that his sudden stillness felt unnatural. His fiery blond hair fell over his face, and heat started rising around his shoulders as his body reacted to danger before his brain could catch up.
Ophelia gripped Valen’s hand tightly.
Valen immediately stepped closer to her and used his body to shield her from the direction of the noise. He did not look frightened, but the way his hand settled protectively around Ophelia’s waist made it clear that if anything came down that corridor, it would have to go through him first.
Luca moved to the side of the passage at once, one hand going toward the weapon at his waist. His face, which had been worried and restless because of Isabella, became sharper now. He looked toward the corridor, then toward Kian, waiting for an order even though fear was already sitting in his eyes.
Asael also moved. He stepped closer to Kian and lowered his voice. "My king."
Before Kian could answer, a guard ran into the corridor.
The guard was a wolf beastman with snow caught in his hair and blood on one shoulder. His breathing was rough, and one of his ears had a cut near the tip, but he did not slow down until he reached Kian. He dropped to one knee so quickly that his claws scraped against the stone floor.
"My king," he said, his voice heavy with urgency. "We are under attack."
The corridor went still.
Even Ophelia stopped breathing for a second.
Kian’s face turned colder than ice. "Where?"
"The outer wall and the western watch path. They came under the heavy snow. The patrols saw them early because you changed the routes, so we were ready, but their number is larger than we thought."
Isabella’s warning had been right.
That truth passed through everyone in the corridor.
Kian’s hand tightened at his side. "How many?"
"Enough to push both sides at once," the guard said. "They have beastmen from more than one group. Some are climbing the frozen ridge, and some are trying to draw our fighters toward the front gate."
Asael’s expression hardened. "A split attack."
Luca cursed under his breath.
Shelia’s face turned pale, but her eyes sharpened like Kian’s. She knew what this meant. If the enemy attacked now, it was not a coincidence. They had chosen this moment while Isabella was inside giving birth and while the whole palace was already shaking with fear for her.
Osiris’s flames rose higher around his shoulders. "Good. I’ll burn them."
Zyran glanced at him. "Try burning the right people."
Osiris glared at him. "This is not the time."
"Exactly why I’m reminding you."
Kian did not listen to their exchange. His eyes moved to the birth room door.
Inside that room, Isabella was screaming.
Outside, his village was being attacked.
For the first time in a long while, Kian looked like he truly might lose control.
He took one step toward the door, then stopped.
Then he turned toward the guard, but his eyes still dragged back to the door again.
He wanted to stay.
Every instinct in him wanted to stay. Isabella was inside that room in pain. His future children, even if they were Cyrus’s by blood, were still part of his family now. This was his home. His female. His world. The thought of leaving while she was crying out like that made something in his chest twist so badly that he almost could not breathe.
But he was also king.
And the village outside those walls was his responsibility.
The people calling Isabella goddess, the women and children, the guards, the weak, the refugees she had saved, the workers who had trusted them, all of them would be looking to him now. If he stayed by a door while the village burned, Isabella would never forgive him.
Zyran saw the fight on his face.
Then he pushed away from the wall and spoke before anyone else dared to.
"If she was out here, she would whip you herself and tell you to go protect the village."
Kian’s eyes snapped to him.
Zyran did not look away. "You know I’m right."
That was the worst part.
He was right.
Isabella would never tell him to stand outside her door while people died for her. She would probably be sweating, crying, and still pointing toward the outer wall with that bossy face of hers, telling him to move before she got angry. The image was so clear that Kian’s jaw tightened painfully.
Zyran continued, and this time his voice held less teasing. "I’ll stay behind. If anything gets close to this room, it won’t leave whole. Go."
Kian looked toward the door one more time.
Another scream came from inside.
His face changed.
