The smoke from the burning balcony curtains billowed into the high-ceilinged bedroom, carrying the sharp stench of cordite, singed velvet, and old blood.

Corvo was fast, but his rage made him predictable.

He slashed wildly toward my neck. I ducked beneath his blade, the cold steel whistling an inch above my hair. Pain shot up my injured thigh as I pivoted, but I used his momentum against him, driving my elbow hard into his fractured arm.

Corvo let out an ear-splitting howl of pain, stumbling sideways.

The gallery of lieutenants gasped.

Roman stood at the edge of the circle, his hands clenched into tight fists, his dark eyes tracking every movement, ready to leap in the second anything went wrong.

Corvo turned back to me, his face contorted in blind fury. "Bitch!"

He abandoned all form, charging at me like a mad bull, aiming to tackle me to the stone floor where his weight would crush me.

I didn't try to dodge. I couldn't dodge with my bandaged leg.

Instead, as he reached me, I dropped to my knees on the cold marble, sliding beneath his outstretched arms, and slashed my knife upward across his chest.

The blade bit deep, slicing through his charcoal suit and cutting across his ribs.

Corvo crashed onto his face behind me, skidding across the stone floor, spraying blood across the white marble.

I pushed myself up, breathing heavily, holding the knife with both hands, my crimson dress stained with fresh sweat and Corvo's blood.

Corvo struggled to his knees, gasping, clutching his bleeding chest. He looked up at me, the arrogance completely gone from his eyes, replaced by terror as he saw the reflection of the braziers burning in my eyes.

I walked up to him, stopping three inches away, pointing the tip of my blade directly at the hollow of his throat.

"Yield," I commanded, my voice echoing off the high stone arches. "Yield, Corvo, or I finish what you started twenty-four years ago."

Corvo looked at the knife at his throat. He looked at Moretti, who refused to meet his eyes. He looked at Roman, who was watching him with the cold eyes of an executioner.

Corvo dropped his knife onto the floor. "I... I yield," he choked out.

The chamber fell into total silence.

I didn't lower my weapon immediately. I stood over him, taking a long, deep breath, letting the full weight of the moment wash over me. I was no longer the quiet tailor’s daughter hiding behind a counter. I was the woman who had brought the High Council to its knees.

I pulled my knife back, turned my back on Corvo, and walked straight toward the Council table.

I picked up the blackened pendant from Moretti’s desk, placed it back around my neck, and looked at the five Don's.

"The Valente seat is claimed," I announced. "And as my first decree as head of the Valente family, I transfer all harbor shipping rights, all territory, and all security command to my husband, Roman Vance."