The moon had risen high when I finally dared leave my chambers.
The palace halls were quiet—too quiet. I didn't know where I was going, only that I couldn't sit in that room another second, waiting for someone to decide whether I lived or died.
I turned a corner and nearly collided with someone.
"Oh—Lira?" I stepped back.
The demon princess stood there with her arms folded, her silver braid glowing faintly under the moonlight. "You shouldn't be out here."
"Neither should you," I shot back.
She smirked. "Fair. But I'm not the one who almost got poisoned."
I lowered my eyes. "Do you know who did it?"
She hesitated. "Not yet. But Kaelith's… dealing with it."
"Right. Your brother, who treats me like I'm a disease."
Lira tilted her head. "You don't understand him yet."
"Because he won't let me."
She sighed, then stepped closer. "Do you want to know why he's like this?"
I didn't answer—but I didn't walk away either.
"Years ago, when he was still… softer, he had a friend. A demon soldier. They were like brothers. The High Court sent him to negotiate a peace treaty with a powerful human kingdom. Only his body came back. In pieces."
I felt a chill down my spine.
"He blames humans. All of them. Maybe he shouldn't. But when you lose someone like that, something inside you burns out."
I swallowed hard. "So I remind him of that pain."
"No," she said quietly. "You remind him of everything he's been told to hate—and he doesn't want to."
Later that night, I passed by the war chamber. The door was slightly ajar.
Inside, Kaelith stood with his back to me, flames flickering from his palm, swirling in the air like a restless storm.
He wasn't shouting. He wasn't angry.
But the fire in the room felt alive with quiet fury.
"I don't care who they serve," he said to a guard kneeling before him. "I want the name. I want their blood. Anyone who touches her again dies."
The guard nodded and vanished.
Kaelith turned slightly, as if sensing someone behind the door.
I stepped back quickly and hurried away, heart pounding.
He hadn't seen me.
But I'd seen enough.
Maybe he didn't trust me.
Maybe he hated what I represented.
But he wasn't going to let anyone hurt me.
Not while he was breathing.