The attack during the Festival of Skyfire had left more than blood on the marble tiles.
It left doubt.
Whispers.
And the scent of betrayal curling through every corridor.
---
Kael's Recovery
Kael awoke three days later, in a chamber half-lit by candles and watched over by silence. His side burned like fire. His sword was gone. So was his armor.
But what shook him most… was the hand clasping his.
Elara.
She had fallen asleep in the chair beside his bed, her brow furrowed, her lashes wet.
He didn't move. Didn't dare.
Because if he looked at her too long, he feared he'd forget everything else—duty, oaths, even death itself.
> "I would've died for her again," he thought. "And again. Even if it kills me slowly instead."
---
Elara's Heart
When Elara woke, Kael pretended to sleep.
She didn't speak.
But she whispered something he wasn't meant to hear:
> "You keep saving me. And I keep breaking both of us."
Her voice cracked.
Kael clenched his fists beneath the sheets.
---
The Crown Prince's Burden
Auren walked the halls like a man carrying too many ghosts.
He had loved Kael like a brother. Trusted Varyx like an uncle.
But something was wrong.
Too many "accidents." Too many attacks. And Kael—the most dangerous man in the kingdom—wounded and out of the way.
Auren's instincts whispered treason.
But his heart still remembered how Varyx had stood beside his father, the old King.
> "Surely not him. Not Varyx."
---
The Snake Strikes
Varyx stood in the Hall of War, cloaked in indigo and authority. His voice calm. Rational. Poison in silk.
"We've had reports of a rebellion in the Northern Territories," he said. "Rumors of border breaches, growing unrest. If we don't send someone to quell it, it could become a threat to the child."
Auren frowned. "Then I'll go."
Varyx shook his head smoothly. "Your life is too valuable. The people need to see their Crown Prince ruling, not vanishing to fight rumors. But the General—he's recovered. He's our sword."
Kael—still pale, still healing—stepped into the hall behind them.
"I'll go," he said.
Auren turned sharply. "You're not strong enough."
"I'll be strong enough."
Varyx smiled faintly. "There is no one else I trust to handle this cleanly."
Kael's eyes flicked to Auren, then to Elara standing in the distance, uncertain, caught in the middle of a war none of them fully saw.
"I'll leave at dawn."
---
The Lie Beneath
What no one knew was that Varyx himself had stirred the rebellion.
Whispers of corruption. Coins passed under tables. Shadows fed to desperate men.
His plan was simple:
Send Kael to war, already wounded.
Let the rebels finish him off.
Arrange a second strike within the palace to eliminate Auren and the child.
Take the throne—as the only surviving loyalist from the old King's circle.
> "Blood clears the board," Varyx thought, holding an old ring of the former King in his palm. "And power crowns the patient."
---
That Night
Elara found Kael preparing in the barracks.
She didn't ask permission. She just walked in.
"You're not ready," she said.
He kept sharpening his blade. "I don't need to be."
"Kael—" Her voice cracked. "Don't die. Please."
He turned to her, eyes unreadable.
> "Why not?"
She stared at him. "Because... because I don't want to lose you too."
He hesitated.
Then leaned down… just enough to whisper:
"Then don't watch."
And walked into the night.
---