Chapter 9 

The first cannon exploded before sunrise.

By noon, the northern border was burning.

Villages emptied.

Soldiers marched.

The enemy army crossed the frontier.

Julian was ordered back to command.

He refused.

“I have to protect Clara.”

Gideon grabbed his arm.

“Your duty is bigger than one woman.”

Julian looked at him.

“She is not one woman.”

Gideon understood.

“Then protect her by ending this.”

Julian returned to the army.

Clara stayed with her mother.

Before leaving, he gave her his military insignia.

“Keep this.”

“Why?”

“If you see it on a soldier, trust them.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Run.”

She looked at him.

“Will you come back?”

Julian hesitated.

Then he touched her face.

“I will.”

He didn’t say goodbye.

Because goodbye sounded too much like surrender.

Weeks passed.

Letters became rare.

Then stopped.

The army lost ground.

General Vale disappeared.

Rumors spread that Julian had been killed.

Clara refused to believe them.

Then one night, a soldier arrived.

He carried Julian’s insignia.

And blood covered his uniform.

“Commander Cross is missing.”

Clara’s heart stopped.

“Where?”

“The battlefield.”

“Dead?”

The soldier looked away.

“We don’t know.”

He handed her a sealed envelope.

Julian’s handwriting.

Clara opened it.

Only one sentence.

If I don’t return, find the man with my father’s ring.

She stared at the words.

Then she noticed something.

The envelope had been sealed with black wax.

The same symbol carved into the military records.

A black crown.