The echo of armored boots faded into the hall.
Lirien had left, his cloak whispering against the marble as he disappeared beyond the library doors, guards trailing after him. The vast chamber was suddenly emptier, but no less oppressive.
Aria sat stiffly at the long table, her hands curled in her lap. She could still feel the weight of the diary, though it was gone now, locked away with Lirien's cold authority.
She wasn't alone.
Across the table, lounging in the chair Lirien had vacated, sat Xyren. He hadn't spoken once while his brother was present, but now his amber eyes flicked toward her, sharp and uncomfortably alive.
For a long while, neither said anything. The silence stretched like a bowstring.
Finally, Aria swallowed and muttered, "You could at least stop staring."
Xyren smirked, leaning back in the chair. "Why? Does it frighten you?"
Her pulse quickened. "I'm not frightened. Just… uncomfortable."
"Good." His tone was edged steel, though his smile remained. "You should be uncomfortable. You don't belong here."
The words stung more than she expected. "As if I chose this. Do you think I wanted to wake up in your—your castle, with your brother barking orders at me like I'm some tool?"
His gaze darkened. "You are a tool. That's why you're still breathing."
Aria pushed back her chair, anger cutting through her fear. "I'm not your servant. I'm not your enemy. I'm just—" Her voice broke, raw with exhaustion. "I'm just trying to survive."
Something flickered across his face, too quick to catch. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. His voice dropped, low and dangerous.
"You don't understand what you've been dragged into, human. This is not survival. This is a war you can't even see yet."
Her breath caught, a chill running down her spine. "Then tell me."
His jaw tightened. For a moment, she thought he might. But instead, he scoffed, pushing back his chair and standing. "No. Better you stay ignorant. Lirien will keep you on your leash."
Aria's fists clenched. "You're just as cruel as he is."
Xyren stopped in the archway, turning his head just enough for her to see his profile. His smile had vanished, leaving only something brittle in his expression.
"Don't mistake cruelty for truth," he said quietly. "One day you'll wish I'd lied."
And then he was gone, his footsteps fading into the silence he left behind.
Aria sat alone at the table, her heart hammering. The air still felt heavy with his presence, sharp and suffocating. She hated him. She feared him.
But more than either, she couldn't stop thinking about his words.
A war you can't even see yet.