Chapter 2: A Cage Opened, A Court Stirred
The sun was setting when we finally returned from the hidden place beneath the palace garden.
Kael walked beside me in silence. He was barefoot. His dark hair hung in messy, wet strands. The scraps of clothing he wore looked like they hadn't been changed in years. He didn't ask where I was taking him. He didn't ask why I set him free.
He simply followed.
As we stepped into the main hallway of the palace, I felt the shift immediately.
Eyes.
Fear.
The guards straightened like stone. Maids stopped in their tracks. One dropped a tray. Another whispered a prayer and backed away.
It didn't matter that Kael hadn't spoken. It didn't matter that he walked quietly.
To them, he was danger.
"He's not a threat," I said clearly, looking at the nearest guard.
The man's eyes jumped from me to Kael, then back again. He looked afraid, even though he tried to hide it. "Princess Aurelia… that boy is a prisoner. An imperial order keeps him sealed. If anyone sees him—"
"He is under my protection now," I interrupted. "And if anyone has a problem with that, they can bring it up with the emperor himself. I'm sure Father will enjoy explaining his daughter's decisions."
It wasn't the truth. The emperor barely remembered I existed.
But no one wanted to question a royal in public.
The guard's face turned pale. He bowed quickly. "Yes, Princess."
Kael raised one eyebrow as we walked. "You're good at this," he said.
"I don't lie often," I replied. "But when I do, I make sure no one can argue."
He let out a short sound. Not quite a laugh. But not silence either.
I led him to my part of the palace — a quiet area where no one visited unless they had to. I was easy to forget, and that worked in my favor now.
When we reached my room, I called for clean clothes and warm water.
The maids stared, but did as I asked. Their eyes avoided Kael like he was a ghost.
He sat on the edge of the bed, his back straight but unsure. Like someone who didn't know what comfort was.
"You're not worried they'll poison me?" he asked, voice dry.
"No," I said. "You don't seem like someone who dies easily."
His mouth twitched. A tiny smile. "And if I kill you right now?"
"You won't."
He stared at me, quiet. The light in the room caught his eyes — silver, glowing slightly, like melted metal. Strange and beautiful. But also sharp. Watching.
"You're really sure."
"Yes."
He leaned back slowly. His voice was soft, almost tired. "You're either the dumbest person here… or the most dangerous."
"I might be both," I said, turning away to let him rest.
That night, when I returned, the room was quiet.
Kael was curled up in the corner, near the open window. The soft wind moved through his hair. He hadn't touched the bath or the food. But he wore the fresh clothes I had left for him — a black tunic and pants, too big for his thin frame.
He opened his eyes when he heard me.
"You don't need to sleep on the floor," I told him.
He didn't move. "Old habit."
"From the prison?"
He opened one eye, then closed it again. "From life."
I didn't ask more. I placed a tray of simple food — bread, fruit, tea — on the table between us.
He didn't move at first. Then, after a long moment, he reached for the bread.
"What's your name?" I asked quietly.
"…Kael."
"No family name?"
He shrugged. "If I had one, it died with the house."
He didn't explain, and I didn't ask. I could tell it hurt too much to speak about.
He took a sip of tea and made a face.
"Too hot?" I asked.
"No," he said. "Just… too kind."
I tilted my head. "You're not used to kindness?"
He looked at me for a moment. Then said, "No one gives without wanting something."
Maybe he was right.
But I didn't say anything.
Instead, I handed him a notebook and a piece of charcoal. "Can you write?"
He looked surprised. Then took the items and began drawing on the page.
I leaned over to see.
It wasn't a picture.
It was a formula. Complex, clean. About energy, movement, heat… maybe magic, maybe science. I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
I stared at it, heart beating faster.
"You think in equations?" I asked, amazed.
He didn't smile, but his voice had a sharp edge. "I am one."
I smiled, wide and honest.
This wasn't just a strong boy. He wasn't just dangerous.
He was smart.
Very smart.
And he had survived this long without help.
He was a mystery. And maybe even a miracle.
And I would never let this cruel world trap him again.
Later that night, I stood at the window. The moon hung low over the garden, lighting the leaves with silver light.
Behind me, Kael slept again — this time on the couch. A small glow shimmered just under his skin. Faint veins of light moved slowly through his arms and chest, like living silver beneath the surface.
I touched the cold glass.
This world feared what it didn't understand.
They feared people like Kael.
Maybe they feared people like me, too.
But I didn't fear the unknown.
I wanted to understand it. To learn from it.
Kael wasn't the only one who had been locked away.
I had been, too. In silence. In loneliness. In a palace that treated me like I didn't matter.
But now, something had changed.
I wasn't alone anymore.
And I wouldn't let him be either.
Not just so we could survive.
But so we could change everything.
This world had spent too long chaining what it feared.
I would teach it how to fly.
"And in the silence between heartbeats, I swore no cage would ever hold a storm again."