The warmth of the bath lingered around Xandria, but the peace of the moment was fleeting. As she lay back against Maltherion's chest, the reality of his past weighed on her heart. The revelation of his father's brutal death and the secrets surrounding his mother's disappearance left a bitter taste on her tongue.
"How do you carry such pain for so long?" Xandria murmured, her fingers tracing the rim of the tub absentmindedly.
Maltherion's fingers brushed through her hair, his touch light but full of an unreadable intensity. "You learn to bury it. You learn to become the monster they expect you to be. Pain is a luxury I don't afford myself."
Xandria turned her head slightly, catching his gaze. She could see the darkness in his eyes, the shadows that lingered even after so many centuries. "And yet... here you are. Still caring. Still protecting. Still..." She paused, her throat tight with emotion. "Still human."
"Not for long," he muttered under his breath, his words heavy with something unspoken.
Xandria wanted to ask more, to pry deeper into his pain, but the words died on her lips. Instead, she closed her eyes, letting the soft bubbles of the water soothe her. But the silence between them was not comforting—it was suffocating.
Suddenly, a faint rustling sound from the corner of the room broke the quiet.
Xandria's eyes snapped open, her senses alert. She tried to sit up, but Maltherion's hand was firm on her shoulder, keeping her grounded. He looked toward the shadows, his expression hardening.
"Did you hear that?" Xandria whispered, her heart racing.
Maltherion's gaze narrowed. "Someone's here."
A figure stepped out from the shadows—Anaya, her presence unsettling as always, her eyes gleaming with an unnatural intensity.
"You don't know how to keep your secrets, do you?" Anaya's voice was smooth, almost mocking. She stepped closer, her eyes flicking over Xandria with a look that bordered on curiosity.
Xandria stiffened. "What are you doing here?"
Anaya didn't answer right away. Instead, her gaze flicked over to Maltherion, lingering on him in a way that made Xandria's skin prickle. "Just checking in. I see you've become quite... comfortable with the queen. Is this what you wanted, Maltherion? To break free of the past and take someone who'll stand by you?"
Xandria's mind raced. There was something in Anaya's tone, something calculating beneath the surface.
"You should leave," Maltherion said coldly, his voice like ice. He didn't move, but the tension in his body was palpable. "Now."
Anaya raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I'm not here to stay. But I think you'll need me soon. There's more to your story than you realize. And I've always been good at finding what's hidden."
She turned to leave but paused at the door, her eyes flicking back over her shoulder. "Oh, and by the way, Xandria... your past is coming for you. You'd better be ready for it. All of it."
With that, she slipped out, leaving a trail of unease in her wake.
Xandria stared after her, her heart racing. "What does she mean by that?"
Maltherion didn't answer right away. His jaw clenched as if fighting the urge to snap something in two. "It's nothing. Ignore her."
"I can't," Xandria said softly. "She's not just a maid. There's something dark about her, something that doesn't fit. You heard the way she spoke—like she knows things she shouldn't."
Maltherion's gaze softened slightly as he looked at her, but the walls around him remained firm. "She's a witch. She doesn't care for anything but power. Don't trust her."
"But why stay here, in the palace, if she's as dangerous as you say?" Xandria asked, a hint of suspicion creeping into her voice.
Maltherion's lips twisted into something bitter, but he didn't offer any further explanation. Instead, he stood and held out his hand. "Come. Let's get you out of here."
---
Elsewhere, in the Shadows
The silence of the room was oppressive as Anaya stood alone, her back pressed against the cold stone of the corridor. The tension from her encounter with Maltherion and Xandria lingered in the air, but she allowed herself a moment to breathe, her fingers tracing the edges of the mirror before her.
The reflection that stared back at her was her own, but it felt... distant. Like a mask.
"Zendriya," Anaya whispered softly, the name a ghost on her lips.
For a long moment, she stared at the mirror, and then, as though waiting for something—or someone—the surface rippled.
An eerie, dark form materialized before her—a face that looked familiar yet ancient, the eyes glowing with an inner fire. It was Zendriya, her presence more powerful in the reflection than in reality.
"Anaya," Zendriya's voice echoed from the mirror, a low, almost hypnotic sound. "Do you feel it? The pull. The inevitable clash that is coming."
Anaya's lips curled into a smile, but it wasn't one of comfort. "I feel it, yes. Xandria and Maltherion... they're growing closer. It won't be long before everything unravels. I'll make sure of that."
Zendriya's eyes narrowed, her tone sharpening. "Do not underestimate them. Especially her. Xandria has more strength in her than you realize. And Maltherion's power... it's not something you can control so easily."
Anaya's smile widened. "I'm not trying to control them. Just to set things in motion."
"Be careful," Zendriya warned, the reflection flickering as if on the edge of dissolving. "You cannot defeat them with mere games. Remember your purpose."
The mirror rippled once more, and Zendriya's form began to fade, leaving Anaya standing in the dim light of the corridor, alone.
Anaya's hand lingered on the mirror, her reflection now nothing but a dark, empty surface. Her smile remained, full of mystery. "I know exactly what I'm doing. The pieces are falling into place, and soon... the kingdom will be mine."
---
Back at the Palace
Xandria couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled over her since Anaya's cryptic words. She kept asking herself: Where has she been all this time? Why now? It was unlike Anaya to just appear out of nowhere after disappearing for so long. She had been a constant presence in the palace, yet for weeks, she had been completely absent. Where had she gone? What had she been doing?
Her sudden reappearance didn't feel like a coincidence, and neither did her cryptic warning. Xandria couldn't help but wonder what she had been hiding—and why now?
In the quiet moments of the day, she found herself growing more and more uncertain. The palace, with its lavish halls and grand windows, seemed to close in on her, as though the walls themselves were whispering secrets that she wasn't yet ready to hear.
Maltherion, ever watchful, had said little after their confrontation with Anaya, but his eyes were always on alert. His thoughts were distant, and Xandria could sense he was holding something back, something he wasn't ready to share.
And then, when the day felt like it might finally return to normal, the unexpected happened.
Anaya reappeared.
But this time, there was no hiding, no cryptic words from the shadows. She stepped out into the open, her gaze fixed on Xandria and Maltherion as she made her presence known, fully and unmistakably. No more games. No more secrets.
"I'm not just a maid," Anaya said coldly, her voice carrying through the room, her eyes locked onto Xandria's. "I never was."