"Go."

"What about Leo?"

"I'll protect him."

She grabbed his arm.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

Elena disappeared into the darkness.

Cassian returned to the palace.

But he didn't know that someone had seen them together.

The next morning, Augustus confronted him.

"You knew Elena was alive."

Cassian didn't answer.

"How long?"

"Twelve years."

The Emperor's face hardened.

"You lied to me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because your brother asked me to protect his family."

Augustus stepped closer.

"Lucius betrayed me."

"No."

Cassian's voice was firm.

"He didn't."

Augustus stared at him.

"Then prove it."

Cassian placed an old document on the table.

It was Lucius's final report.

Augustus read it.

His face changed.

The report described a secret faction inside the palace.

A faction planning to manipulate the succession.

Lucius had discovered them.

He had intended to expose them.

But before he could, the evidence was stolen.

Then Lucius disappeared.

Augustus looked up.

"Why didn't you show me this?"

"Because the seal was broken."

"Meaning?"

"Someone had already opened it."

The Emperor understood.

The conspiracy had been inside the palace from the beginning.

And they had manipulated him into believing his own brother was the enemy.

Then the doors opened.

A guard rushed inside.

"My Emperor!"

"What?"

"The prince is missing."

Augustus stood.

"What?"

"The boy and the lion."

The room went silent.

Someone had taken Leo.

But where?

And why?

Augustus turned toward Cassian.

"Find my nephew."

Cassian nodded.

"And find Elena."

The old general hesitated.

"You want her brought here?"

Augustus looked at the empty chair where Leo had been sitting.

"No."

He shook his head.

"I want her protected."

For the first time, Cassian saw something change in the Emperor.

Augustus no longer looked like a ruler defending his throne.

He looked like a man trying to save his family.

Outside the palace, Leo was being taken through an underground passage.

He wasn't alone.

Aurelius was beside him.

The boy looked at the man leading them.

"Where are we going?"

"To your mother."

Leo stopped.

"Really?"

The man nodded.

"She sent me."

Leo looked at Aurelius.

The lion continued walking.

So Leo followed.

But neither of them noticed the second shadow moving behind them.

Someone else had followed.

And that person had no intention of allowing mother and son to reunite.

The underground passage ended beneath an abandoned temple.

Leo stepped into the sunlight.

He had expected his mother.

Instead, he saw a group of strangers.

Their leader was an older woman named Sofia.

She bowed.

"Prince Leo."

Leo frowned.

"I'm not a prince."

Sofia smiled sadly.

"That's exactly why you're still alive."

She explained everything.

His father had been investigating a secret group called the Circle of Ash.

They believed the kingdom needed a stronger ruler.

They wanted to control the throne.

Lucius had discovered them.

The Circle had framed him.

Then they had staged his death.

Elena escaped with Leo.

For twelve years, she had hidden him.

But the Circle had never stopped searching.

Now they knew Leo was alive.

"They will come for you," Sofia said.

Leo looked at Aurelius.

"Why does the lion know me?"

Sofia smiled.

"Because your father raised him."

Leo looked surprised.

"Father?"

"Lucius trained Aurelius from a cub."

Leo touched the lion's mane.

"He remembers him."

"Animals remember kindness."

Leo looked down.

"Does my father remember me?"

Sofia's expression softened.

"He loved you before you were born."

Leo looked away.

He had spent his life imagining his father as a distant figure from his mother's stories.

Now, for the first time, he could imagine him as a real person.

Aurelius suddenly growled.

Sofia turned.

"Hide."

The temple doors burst open.

The Circle had found them.

People ran.

Leo froze.

Then Aurelius stepped in front of him.

Leo remembered his mother's words.

Don't run from the lion.

But he also remembered something else.

Don't let fear choose for you.

He took a breath.