Sage pressed her back to the stone wall and vanished. Shadows swallowed her braid, her dagger, her whole body. Across the training hall, Prince Noah spun in a slow circle, searching for her. She would not let him find her. The hall smelled of sweat and old iron. Wooden weapons lined the racks. Banners hung above the doors. Noah had asked her to test the crew today, to prove they were ready for the next mission across the border. "She's gone again," Noah said. He grinned, hazel eyes bright. "Kael, cover my back." Kael stepped beside him, fists raised. A scar cut through his brow. He trusted no shadow he could not punch. "She's near the racks," he growled. "Cold spot. I feel it." Sage smiled from the dark. Kael was right, but too slow. She slid three steps left before he turned. "Auryn," Noah called. "Light the room.” Auryn raised one hand. Blue fire bloomed from his palm and threw hard light across the floor. The gold thread on his coat caught the glow. Every corner burned bright. Sage's shadow shrank to nothing. She cursed under her breath and ran. Her shadow spell needed dark, and Auryn had stolen it. She had one move left. Sage sprinted straight at Noah. His eyes went wide. Kael lunged to block her, but she dropped and slid under his arm. She pressed her wooden dagger flat against Noah's ribs before he could raise his blade. "Dead," she said. "You're dead, my prince." The hall went quiet. Then Noah laughed and lowered his sword. "You beat me again,” he said. "Auryn cut your cover, Kael found your cold spot, and still you got through." "Because you three fight loud," Sage said. She stepped back and let him breathe. "An enemy would hear you coming." Kael crossed his arms. "An enemy wouldn't be you." "That's why I go first," Sage said. "To make sure no enemy gets this close to him." She did not look at Noah when she said it. She could not. Noah wiped his brow and grew serious. "Good. Because we leave at dawn." The crew stilled. Auryn's fire dimmed to a small flame. "A scout crossed the border last night," Noah went on. "He carried a map of our castle. The tyrant king knows where we sleep. And he has the grimoire. He plans to strike first." Sage felt her chest tighten. She knew every hall of that castle. She knew every door an assassin might use. "Then we don't wait," she said. "We take the fight to him." Noah met her eyes. "That's the plan. But their walls are thick, and their mages are strong. We need someone inside first. Someone no one can see. And we need that spell book.” Everyone turned to Sage. She gripped her dagger. She had trained her whole life for a moment like this. To protect him, she would walk alone into the enemy's home. "I'll go," she said.

The horses left the kingdom road at dusk. Sage rode with the crew through a stand of dead pines, close enough now to see the enemy castle. It sat black against the sky, one hill away. She had traded her braid's loose strands for a tight knot and dressed in gray. The cold of the wind cut through the trees and pulled at the old scar under her ribs. Noah reined in beside her. He did not soften his voice. "One hour," he said. "You go in, you find the grimoire, you come out. If you're not back, I come for you." "You won't need to," Sage said. "I mean it." He held her eyes. "I don't lose people I can't replace." She looked away before he could see her face. He meant her skill. He always meant her skill. Kael slid off his horse and crouched low. He pressed one palm to the dirt. The scar over his eye tightened as he read the ground. "Guards on the wall," he said. "Two patrols. There's a gap on the east side. Short." "How short?" Sage asked. "Count of forty. Then it closes." He stood and wiped his hand on his knee. He did not wish her luck. He never did. Auryn stepped forward last. Blue fire flickered low in his cupped hand, then died to a spark. "I can't light your way in there," he said. "My fire draws their mages. You'd be blind and loud." "Fine.” Sage said. "I work better dark." Auryn studied her. "Their walls are warded. I felt it from here. The wards taste for magic. Yours too." He said it flat, like a weather report. "Move fast and they may not catch the shape of you." That was new. Sage's throat went tight. Her shadow spell was the one thing she trusted. Now it might be the thing that got her killed. "Then I use it once," she said. "To cross the gap. Not inside." Auryn nodded and stepped back. He had told her the risk and moved on. Noah pressed something cold into her hand. A thin gold ring. "Turn it if you're taken," he said. "Auryn will feel it. We'll know." Sage closed her fist around the ring. She said nothing. She left the horses and crossed the last hill on foot. At the base of the east wall she pressed flat to the stone and waited. A patrol passed above. Kael's count began in her head. Forty. She pulled the shadows around herself and felt the wards prickle her skin like heat. She ran through the gap and reached the wall's dark seam. Behind her, a bell began to ring on the tower. Not a full alarm. A single note. A question. The wards had tasted her. They knew a shadow had passed. Now Sage stood inside the enemy's stone, alone, with a castle waking above her.