Beneath the Sapphire Crown

Previously

…And he would also find a way to reach Lyra, to break through the illusions that had ensnared her, before it was too late. The advisor’s dilemma was no longer a matter of loyalty to the crown, but a battle for the soul of Elavania, a battle he was now compelled to join. The Sapphire Crown awaited its wearer, but the path to its rightful placement was fraught with peril, and Valerius feared that the greatest threat to Elavania came not from without, but from within the very heart of its royal family. He dipped his quill in ink, the scratching sound a lonely counterpoint to the castle’s quiet unease. The game, he knew, had truly begun.