The Gate He Closed Became My Crown Chapter 09

The Gate He Closed Became My Crown Chapter 09

Theo stepped out from behind the before I could stop him.

He was still small, but Frost Dragon light had already begun to gather in his ice-blue eyes.

“Do not talk about my mother like she belongs to you.”

Marcus stared at him.

Theo stood beside Caelan, trying not to tremble.

“You hurt her. Father would never do that.”

Marcus’s face flushed with humiliation.

Clarabroke first.

Marcus had called her son a tool in front of the entire court. Now Caelan’s heir stood there defending me, and no one dared laugh.

Her gaze fixed on Theo.

“You little-”

Dark claws burst from her hands before the royal guards could tighten their hold. Scales crawled over her wrists, jagged and gray, forced out by panic and rage.

“I will kill you!”

Caelan moved, but I was closer.

I pulled Theo into my arms and turned my body over his. Clara’s claws tore across my back, ripping through fabric, skin, and the protection spell woven into my gown.

Pain blinded me.

Theo screamed.

Caelan’s roar shook the hall.

The force of it hurled Clara backward. Tables cracked, windows split under frost, and every marked offender dropped beneath the weight of his power.

I held Theo until I felt him breathing against my chest.

Then the pain took me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in the palace healing wing.

The ache in my back returned first, deep beneath layers of salve and bandage.

“Theo?”

Lina caught my hand before I could rise.

“Safe. Not a scratch on him. You held him so tightly the healers had to calm him before he would let go.”

“And the baby?”

“Safe too. The claws missed anything vital.”

Only then did I breathe.

Lina’s eyes were red, but her voice stayed steady.

“Clara is in the lower frost cells. Marcus is under guard. Every noble who helped, mocked, or stood by has been marked for Dragon Court judgment.

Caelan had turned his anger into law.

“Where is he?”

“Council dragged him away. He knelt beside your bed all night before that.”

Footsteps came fast beyond the door.

Caelan entered still wearing the black formal clothes from the banquet, frost clinging to the edges of his coat. The moment he saw me awake, the Dragon King vanished from his face.

He crossed the room and knelt beside the bed.

“I should not have let you out of my reach.”

His voice was hoarse.

“Not for a second.”

I touched his face.

“Caelan.”

“I promised you safety.”

“You came.”

“Too late.”

“You came,” I repeated.

A small voice came from the doorway.

“Mama?”

Caelan lifted Theo onto the bed. He curled against my side, shaking, and I held him as tightly as my injury allowed.

Caelan wrapped his arms around both of us. Theo pressed against my side, and for the first time since the banquet, I let myself breathe. My son was safe, my mate was here, and everyone who had mistaken my quietness for weaknes had finally learned

the cost.