Chapter Eight: A Blade Between Us
The morning after the letter was sent, I awoke to the sound of raised voices outside my chamber.
By the time I rose and opened the doors, Marella was already bowing low, her face pale.
"The Prince demands your presence in the west courtyard," she whispered.
"Demands?"
Marella only nodded.
I didn't ask what mood he was in.
I already knew.
The courtyard was empty when I arrived, except for Kael—standing beside a rack of practice blades, stripped down to a tunic, eyes burning.
"Pick one," he said.
"I don't duel."
"You do now."
I stepped forward slowly, studying him. "Is this how you intend to prove your worth? By bullying women in gardens?"
"No," he said, tossing me a wooden sword. "This is how I remind you what kind of man I am."
I caught it easily.
"Then allow me to remind you what kind of woman I am."
We clashed hard.
Wood cracked on wood, footsteps scraping against stone. Kael was stronger, yes—but I was faster. Smarter. Sharper in more ways than one.
"Where did you learn this?" he growled, sweat slicking his brow.
"I had time to kill."
His blade missed me by inches.
"Is that what this is, Elira?" he hissed, swinging again. "A game to you?"
I blocked him. "No. But it's not love either."
"You were mine!"
That stopped me.
I looked at him—really looked at him.
"That's the problem, Kael. I was never yours. And you were never worthy of me."
I dropped the sword.
Turned.
Walked away while the heat of his fury burned behind me like the sun.
Let him rage.
Let him break things.
Every moment he wasted on pride was one I used to prepare.
That evening, I met with Caden again—this time in the war room, where old maps of the realm lay gathering dust.
"I want to control the message," I told him. "The court thinks Kael is the war hero. But if they knew what he really did..."
Caden's expression darkened. "Then you need the proof."
"I need the sealed report from the siege at Elareth. The one he buried."
"I'll get it," he said without hesitation.
I looked at him then. "Why are you helping me, Caden?"
He was quiet for a beat too long.
"Because someone has to."
That night, I lit a candle at the window.
A signal.
And far below, across the palace garden, a second flame answered.
The Chancellor had received my message.
The game was no longer just mine.
Now, the realm was watching.
To be Continued...