Chapter 178: Enough

"Your Highness—"

The words broke into a strangled breath.

Arik’s grip tightened.

The cracked wall behind Stanford groaned again.

Mezos crossed the room and set one hand on Arik’s shoulder, heavy and firm. He did not try to pull him away. That would have been useless, and Mezos was not stupid enough to waste strength on theatrics.

He anchored him.

"Enough," Mezos said.

Arik’s golden eyes snapped to him.

For a fraction of a second, the ether in the room bent inward. The sitting room lights flickered. The windows trembled in their frames. The wards along the walls flared warning blue, then white, then nearly went out.

Mezos did not flinch.

He looked directly into the face of his prince and said, colder, "Drop him, Arik. He did everything right."

"Enough," Mezos said. His voice was low, sharp, and completely devoid of fear.

Arik’s glowing eyes snapped to Mezos. For a fraction of a second, the ether around them warped violently, threatening to tear the entire room to pieces.

Mezos did not flinch. He looked directly into the face of his ominous prince.

"Drop him, Arik. He did everything right."

"He let Felix take him," Arik snarled, the frost creeping up the wall behind Stanford’s head.

"He maintained the perimeter so Felix wouldn’t trigger the trap and flood the street with poison," Mezos countered, his voice steady, cutting cleanly through the red haze of Arik’s rage. "If Stanford had ordered an attack, Enia and Mirelle would have died on the pavement, and Liam would be dead right next to them."

Arik’s grip trembled, the muscles in his jaw ticking.

"And Stanford did not let Liam do anything," Mezos continued ruthlessly. "Liam made the choice. He walked into that car to save his mother. You know Liam. You know his stubbornness. There is not a single Agaron guard in this empire who could have stopped him from getting in that car once he realized it would keep her breathing."

Arik loosened his grip, and Stanford fell to the floor with a low, heavy thud, one hand braced against the carpet as he dragged air back into his lungs.

For a moment, the room contained only the sound of him breathing.

Arik stared at him.

The frost on the wall behind Stanford’s head began to melt in thin, silent lines.

Then Arik lifted one hand and covered his eyes.

"I’m sorry, Stanford."

Stanford went still.

The apology landed worse than the violence.

His throat was already bruising where Arik’s hand had been, frost still clinging to the collar of his uniform, but he lowered his head at once.

"There is nothing to apologize for, Your Highness."

Arik’s hand dropped.

The gold in his eyes sharpened.

"There is."

Stanford did not argue.

That was probably the only reason Arik did not fracture further.

Mezos looked between them, his hand still resting heavily on Arik’s shoulder. His deep red brows were drawn tight, his blue eyes cold with the kind of anger that did not waste itself on shouting.

"Stanford can receive treatment after the report," Mezos said.

Stanford pushed himself to his feet immediately.

His voice came out rough, but steady. "Canmore Manor is under control."

Arik pulled his hair back, elegant long fingers trembling with frustration, and violence was kept under control only because Liam was behind the double doors.

Stanford stood straighter, ignoring the damage to his throat with the same stubborn discipline Liam would have insulted him for if he had been awake.

"Agaron Shadow teams entered through the eastern maintenance access and the underground service garage three minutes after Your Highness removed Lord Liam from the suite," he continued. "Wrohan royal security arrived under King Rex’s emergency authorization four minutes later. We sealed the main gates, private lift access, lower server level, underground vehicle bays, and all ether-car docking exits."

Mezos added, "Rex signed the seizure order before the manor staff understood George was dead and Ray detained. The legal cover is clean."

Arik’s mouth curved without warmth. "Rex works quickly when angry."

"He has had years of practice," Mezos said.

Stanford continued. "All remaining staff are contained in the lower reception hall for questioning. Their comms were disabled before the alert could leave the property. No confirmed Felix loyalists were identified yet, but several senior attendants attempted to wipe the household servers when the seizure began."

"Did they succeed?"

"No, Your Highness."

"How many injured?"

"Two staff members. Nonfatal. Both resisted Shadow restraint and attempted to trigger data-erasure wards tied to the private archive system. One Wrohan guard sustained a minor ether burn from a security panel. No civilians dead."

Arik hated that Felix had walked away breathing.

Behind the closed bedroom doors, Liam slept because he had chosen civilians over himself. Because Stanford had not attacked. Because Mezos was right.

Because Felix had understood all of them too well.

Arik turned his head slightly toward the bedroom.

The bond remained faint, warm, and exhausted.

Liam’s breathing did not change.

Only then did Arik look back. "Felix’s suite."

Mezos’s jaw tightened. "Secured. Barely."

Stanford’s voice roughened. "The room was prepared as a layered trap. The emergency transport ward was embedded beneath the flooring panels, hidden under the rug and connected to the manor’s private ether grid. It was anchored to the dried ether-blooms in the display cases, the portrait frame, and the private security system. When Felix vanished, the route burned itself out behind him, but the Shadows captured partial residue."

"Destination?"

"Three possibilities," Mezos said. "A private medical estate outside the western district, an abandoned Canmore research annex near the industrial ring, or a secured vault beneath the northern registry. The residue fractured deliberately. He wanted us chasing all three."

"Then we chase all three."

"We already are."

For the first time, Arik looked at him fully.

Mezos’s expression did not move.

"Agaron teams are moving under Shadow authority. Wrohan teams are moving under Rex’s seal. No one goes in alone. No one touches any device, archive drive, ward node, or medical equipment without ether screening. No one follows Felix through a transport signature without a medical unit attached."

Arik said nothing.

Mezos held his gaze.

"I do learn, occasionally."

Stanford continued before Arik could respond. "The portrait has been placed under stasis."

The room went colder.

Even Mezos glanced toward him.

Arik’s voice dropped. "Is it an original?"

"Yes," Stanford said.

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