“They didn’t just plan her death… they planned my downfall.”
Kael
I rode through the palace gates covered in blood that wasn’t mine.
The guards at the inner gate saw me coming.
They had learned to read me over the years, so they knew what kind of night it had been.
They stood straighter, stepped back, and kept their eyes forward.
They didn’t look at my face or the blood on my hands and shirt.
They knew better.
I jumped off the horse before it fully stopped and walked inside.
The palace felt different tonight.
The air was tight, like everyone already knew something was wrong.
At this hour, it was usually quiet, with servants finishing their work and guards settling into their posts.
But this wasn’t that quiet.
This was a careful silence.
As I walked, the few people in the corridor quickly moved out of the way.
Some lowered their heads, others disappeared into side halls.
They knew what it meant when I came back like this.
One mistake could cost them more than a warning.
I had been distracted lately and focused on her more than I should have.
That alone was enough for people to start forgetting what I was.
The hallway cleared before I even reached it.
It always did when I lost control.
I kept walking.
The captain of the guard appeared almost immediately, with Riven beside him.
The captain looked shaken, but he held his ground and met my eyes.
“Your Majesty,” he said, bowing.
“The North Wing,” I said, my voice low.
“Seal it now. No one goes in or out without my order.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Double the guards on that wing,” I added.
“Keep them hidden. I don’t want her to see them.”
I didn’t wait for a reply.
I was already moving, with Riven right behind me.
The war room was cold.
It was always cold—I preferred it that way.
It kept things clear.
But tonight, the cold didn’t help.
The rot inside me still burned.
I went to the table and pulled out two maps.
One was our official palace map.
The other was the one taken from the hunters.
I placed them side by side.
The difference was obvious.
The hunters’ map was more detailed.
It showed the current guard schedules, the exact ones we were using now.
That meant whoever gave them this had recent access.
Riven set his reports on the table beside mine.
We worked in silence, fitting the pieces together like we always did.
“Varen,” Riven said.
“Varen,” I agreed.
“He’s been doing this longer than the Steward,” Riven continued.
His tone stayed steady.
“This map avoids the old guard posts we shut down three years ago. To know that, you’d have to be deeply involved in palace operations for a long time.”
I looked at the lines on the paper.
He was right.
“The route to the North Wing was drawn before Lena was even assigned to those rooms,” Riven said quietly.
“The ink on this map is old. They knew she was coming before we even announced it.”
Silence hit the room like a physical thing.
“They knew,” I whispered.
I felt a new kind of cold settle in my bones.
“They knew which wing she’d be in before she even set foot here,” Riven met my eyes.
I stood there, blood drying on my hands, and let the truth settle into something colder than rage.
This wasn’t an accident; it wasn’t someone acting on an impulse.
This was a long-term plan.
Someone knew about the bond before the official letters were even sent and before I announced it to the council.
They had built a network, drawn the maps, and hired the killers all before she arrived.
“Who else?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Riven said.
“But the Steward knows.” Something in me went still, instead of that which was worse than rage.
The dungeons were deep under the east wing.
It was an old, cold place made of heavy stone.
I walked down there without rushing.
I stopped outside the last cell.
Haren, the Steward.
He was an older man.
I had watched him grow grey over the years.
I had always trusted him.
He was sitting on a stone bench, looking at his hands.
When he looked up and saw me, he didn’t look scared or angry.
He looked like a man who had made a choice and was ready for the end.
I opened the cell and stepped inside.
I stood there and said nothing.
Silence does the work.
Most people can’t hold it for long.
They try to escape it.
They start talking to break it.
Haren lasted about forty seconds.
“I know what you’re going to ask,” he said.
“Then answer me,” I replied.
His hands shook in his lap.
These were the same hands that had held me when I was a seven-year-old boy at my father’s funeral.
“They told me the girl would destroy you,” he said.
“That the bond would…”
“Who told you about the bond?” I didn’t show any emotion.
“Varen. And…” He stopped.
He looked guilty, like he was finally seeing the mess he had made.
“They said the curse would take you,” he continued.
“That the human girl would make it happen faster. That having her here was a mistake.”
Varen and the others knew too much.
Whoever was involved had access to information they shouldn’t have known.
“Was she the target?” I asked.
A long pause.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“From the very beginning?”
“Yes.”
The words stayed in the air.
I looked at him, holding on to the last bit of human feeling I had left.
“She is my mate,” I said.
My voice was a whisper.
“I know,” he said.
“That’s why…”
He went mute.
“I want names,” I said.
“Every name, every letter and everyone involved.
I waited.
He looked at me for a long moment.
He knew there was no way out of this.
He spoke for a long time.
I didn’t move once.
I didn’t interrupt.
I let every word expose him fully.
When he finished, I had everything I needed.
And nothing about it made me feel satisfied.
I turned to leave.
“Your Majesty,” Haren called out behind me.
I stopped but didn’t turn around.
“I thought I was protecting the kingdom. I thought she was a risk we couldn’t take. I want you to know that.”
I stood in the doorway for a second.
“I know you believed that,” I said.
“That would have mattered… if you had been right.”
I walked out.
Riven was waiting in the hall.
I gave him the list of names.
He recorded them quickly.
“How do you want to handle this?” Riven asked.
I had been thinking about this since I was in the woods.
“They won’t die in the dark,” I said.
“They betrayed me using their titles and their power. They will answer for it where everyone can see. In front of the council. In front of the court. I want everyone to see what happens when you touch what is mine.”
Riven was quiet.
“That’s going to shake the whole palace.”
“Good,” I said.
“It should.”
I went back up into the palace alone.
The halls were empty now.
Everyone had heard the warnings and stayed in their rooms.
I didn’t really have a plan, but I found myself walking toward her door.
I stopped outside and met the hidden guards I had placed there.
Good.
At least she was safe for now till I dealt with those traitors.
Her light was off, and it was quiet.
I stopped in front of her door.
I could feel her through the bond, warm, steady and asleep.
She was unaware of everything burning outside her world.
The rot pulsed again.
I put my hand over my heart.
I could feel the veins moving under my skin—twelve days until the ceremony.
I had names to erase, and a council to break in the morning… and her.
Sleeping behind a door, I told her to lock it, like that was enough to protect her from the world.
If I stayed quiet enough, I could almost hear her breathing.
I sat there with blood drying on my skin and the fire burning in my chest, feeling things for her I wasn’t ready to name.
Tomorrow, the court will understand the cost of betrayal.
Tomorrow, I stop showing mercy.
I turned and left.
Kael’s world is crashing down, but he’ll do anything to keep Lena safe.
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