Chapter 6 - The Night the Throne Turned Against Him
Dominic hit the ground.
Genevieve ran.
She dropped beside him, hands searching frantically.
“Dominic.”
He groaned.
Alive.
The bullet had struck high in his shoulder.
Elias pulled Genevieve down as another shot hit the stone.
“Sniper.”
Guards shouted.
Chaos erupted.
Dominic tried to stand.
Genevieve pushed him down.
“Stop moving.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding through your shirt.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“Not helping.”
Despite everything, he gave the faintest smile.
Then the castle gates opened fully.
Royal guards rushed out.
Genevieve braced.
But they formed a protective wall around Dominic.
Captain Reyes knelt.
“Your Majesty.”
Dominic stared at him.
“Marcus?”
“Council chamber.”
“How many support him?”
“Maybe forty percent.”
“Too many.”
“Not anymore.”
Reyes looked toward the walls.
“Someone shooting the king clarified things.”
Dominic almost laughed.
They carried him inside.
Clara refused to leave his side.
Genevieve noticed.
Dominic noticed too.
Neither commented.
In the infirmary, the physician removed the bullet.
Dominic refused sedatives until Genevieve threatened to personally hold him down.
“You couldn’t,” he murmured.
She leaned closer.
“Try me.”
Clara covered a smile.
An hour later, Dominic stood.
The physician protested.
Genevieve protested louder.
Dominic ignored everyone.
“The council meets at sunrise.”
“You were shot.”
“Yes.”
“You need rest.”
“I can rest after I remove the people who arranged it.”
Genevieve stared.
“You are the most impossible man alive.”
He leaned down.
“You love me.”
Her own words.
She glared.
Clara laughed.
The sound startled everyone.
Dominic looked at his daughter.
For the first time, she looked sixteen instead of hunted.
Something warm passed through his expression.
Then Elias entered carrying the registry.
“We have a problem.”
Dominic sighed.
“Only one?”
“The ledger names eight Circle members.”
“And?”
“The ninth entry was removed.”
Margaret stepped in behind him.
“Marcus.”
“No,” Elias said.
“Then who?”
He opened the ledger.
“The Ashford seat lists only one phrase.”
Dominic read.
THE CROWN ITSELF.
Genevieve frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Varrick entered last.
“It means Marcus isn’t the ninth.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Then who is?”
Varrick’s face went grim.
“The sitting monarch.”
Silence.
Dominic stared.
“I’ve never joined.”
“You didn’t need to.”
“What?”
“The Circle considers the Ashford crown a hereditary seat.”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“Edmund’s withdrawal was never accepted.”
Genevieve understood.
“So Dominic is technically one of the Nine.”
“Yes.”
Dominic laughed.
“No.”
Varrick looked at him.
“You can deny it morally. Legally, under the Circle charter, your blood places you there.”
“And why does that matter?”
“Because only a sitting member can formally dissolve a seat.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“One seat?”
“Yes.”
“Could I dissolve mine?”
“Yes.”
“And what happens?”
Margaret answered.
“The Circle loses the Ashford territories permanently.”
Dominic looked thoughtful.
Elias smiled.
“That look usually means something reckless.”
Dominic stood.
“I’m going to council.”
Genevieve followed.
The council chamber was packed.
Marcus Thorne stood beside the throne.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Commanding.
He looked at Dominic’s bandaged shoulder.
“You should be resting.”
Dominic walked toward him.
“You should be kneeling.”
The room went silent.
Marcus did neither.
Dominic stopped before the throne.
“Did you order Clara Vale kidnapped?”
Marcus looked toward Clara.
“She is not Clara Vale.”
“Answer me.”
“I ordered the protection of your heir.”
“You imprisoned her.”
“I secured her.”
“You forged my seal.”
“To prevent instability.”
“You issued Genevieve’s arrest warrant.”
Marcus looked at her.
“She compromised royal security.”
Dominic’s expression became cold.
“She exposed your crimes.”
“She destabilized the crown.”
“No.”
Dominic stepped onto the dais.
“You confused yourself with the crown.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
Dominic addressed the council.
“For seventeen years, this kingdom has been governed beneath a lie.”
Murmurs.
He held up Edmund’s letter.
“My father was not killed by rogues.”
More murmurs.
“My brother Elias Ashford survived.”
Elias stepped forward.
Gasps.
“And I have a daughter.”
Clara entered.
The chamber erupted.
Dominic raised one hand.
Silence returned.
Marcus smiled.
“This is absurd.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Good.”
Marcus frowned.
“Then you won’t object to an investigation.”
Silence.
Dominic smiled.
“Thought so.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“You do not understand what you are destroying.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“The Circle prevents wars.”
“By deciding which rulers survive?”
“It preserves balance.”
“By kidnapping children?”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“History requires unpleasant choices.”
Dominic looked at Genevieve.
Then Elias.
Then Clara.
“My family has been paying for your unpleasant choices for seventeen years.”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Your mother understood.”
Dominic flinched.
“Do not use her.”
“She protected you because she knew what leadership costs.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
He stepped toward the throne.
“She protected me because she thought there was no other choice.”
Marcus watched him.
“And you think there is?”
Dominic looked at the crown resting on the velvet cushion.
“Yes.”
He picked it up.
Every person in the chamber froze.
Dominic turned toward the gathered nobles.
“I, Dominic Edmund Ashford, holder of the Ashford crown and hereditary seat of the Circle of Nine, formally withdraw my bloodline from the Circle.”
Marcus went pale.
“You cannot.”
“I just did.”
“You’ll collapse the old agreements.”
“Good.”
“You’ll create enemies.”
“I already have them.”
“Your reign will be challenged.”
“Then let them challenge it.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“You would risk your throne for an archivist, an impostor and a girl you met yesterday?”
Dominic’s expression changed.
Genevieve knew that look.
Marcus had made his final mistake.
Dominic placed the crown on the table.
“For Genevieve Hayes, who risked her life to tell me the truth.”
He looked at Elias.
“For my brother, who survived what all of you did to him.”
Then Clara.
“For my daughter, who will never be used as a political object again.”
Dominic faced Marcus.
“Yes.”
He paused.
“I would burn every lie holding this throne upright before sacrificing one of them to preserve it.”
No one spoke.
Captain Reyes stepped forward.
He removed Marcus’s sword.
Marcus looked around.
No guards moved to defend him.
“It’s over,” Dominic said.
Marcus smiled strangely.
“No.”
Dominic frowned.
Marcus reached inside his coat.
Reyes grabbed him.
Too late.
Marcus dropped a small metal object.
It rolled across the floor.
Genevieve recognized it.
A detonator.
Marcus whispered, “Edmund built a second archive beneath this castle.”
Dominic’s face changed.
Marcus smiled.
“I rigged it before you returned.”
Elias went pale.
“The original evidence.”
Marcus nodded.
“And one other thing.”
Dominic grabbed him.
“What?”
Marcus leaned closer.
“Your father is down there.”
Dominic froze.
Then Marcus pressed the trigger.
A deep explosion shook the castle.
Stone cracked.
Smoke poured through the floor vents.
Dominic ran toward the underground stairwell.
Genevieve followed.
At the bottom, beneath falling dust, they reached an iron door.
A man coughed on the other side.
Dominic stopped.
The voice came again.
Older.
Weak.
May you like
But unmistakable.
“Dom?”
