Keira's POV
I ran toward the screaming children.
My body still ached from the poison, but adrenaline pushed me forward. Caelan ran beside me, his wind magic already swirling. The palace corridors filled with smoke and the sound of clashing weapons.
"The children's wing is on the east side," he shouted. "If we—"
An assassin dropped from the ceiling, blade aimed at Caelan's throat.
My lightning struck before I could think. The assassin convulsed and fell. I didn't stop to check if he was dead.
"Stay close to me!" I ordered Caelan.
"I'm the prince! I should be protecting you!"
"You're also the target!" We burst through a door into chaos. "Let me do what I'm trained for!"
The children's wing was a war zone. Covenant assassins fought palace guards while terrified children huddled in corners. I saw Finn, the servant boy, using his small body to shield three younger kids.
My heart twisted. These weren't soldiers. They were babies.
And the Covenant was using them as bait for me.
"Keira!" Silas emerged from the smoke, looking like death itself. Bruises covered his face from our last fight. "There you are. Grandmother's message is simple: surrender yourself, or we kill one child every hour until you do."
White-hot rage exploded through me. "You would murder children? What happened to you, Silas?"
"You happened!" His poison magic flared. "You betrayed us! Betrayed me! Everything we built together, everything we were—you threw it away for him!" He pointed at Caelan with pure hatred.
"I threw away a lie," I said coldly. "Now get away from those children before I make you."
"Make me?" Silas laughed bitterly. "You can barely stand. The poison is still in your system. You're weak, Keira. Just like Grandmother always feared you'd become."
He was right. My body trembled. My lightning sparked inconsistently. I was in no condition to fight.
But I'd made my choice. And I'd protect these children even if it killed me.
"Last chance," I warned. "Leave. Now."
"Come take me."
I attacked.
Our battle was brutal and fast. Silas knew all my moves—we'd trained together since childhood. But I was fighting for something bigger than myself now. Fighting for children who reminded me of the five-year-old girl who'd been stolen from her brother.
Caelan's wind magic joined mine. Together, our elements created a barrier around the children, protecting them from the chaos. Silas couldn't break through.
"You're making a mistake!" Silas screamed as palace guards overwhelmed the other assassins. "Grandmother will never stop! She'll burn this entire kingdom down! Come home, Keira! Please! Before it's too late!"
For a moment, I saw the boy I'd grown up with. The one who'd held my hand after my first kill. The one who'd protected me from the worst punishments.
The one who'd always been a victim too.
"Come with me," I said suddenly. "You don't have to serve her anymore. You can be free, Silas."
His expression crumbled. For one heartbeat, I thought he might say yes.
Then his face hardened. "I'd rather die than betray my family."
"Then you're already dead," I whispered.
Commander Theron's earth magic erupted, trapping Silas in stone bindings. Other guards dragged him away, still screaming curses at me.
The battle ended. The children were safe.
But I collapsed, my body finally giving out.
I woke in my tower room again. This time, Caelan sat beside my bed, looking exhausted but relieved.
"How long?" I croaked.
"Two hours. Lyra said you pushed your body too hard. The poison isn't fully gone yet." He held up a cup of water. "Drink."
I obeyed, too tired to argue. "The children?"
"Safe. Thanks to you." His smile was gentle. "You saved them, Keira. You saved everyone."
"I brought the danger here in the first place."
"No. Grandmother Nyx brought the danger. You ended it." He set the cup down. "Keira, we need to talk. Really talk. No more running. No more avoiding. I need you to understand what's really happening."
Dread pooled in my stomach. "What do you mean?"
Caelan stood and pulled a large portrait from behind a chair. When he turned it around, my heart stopped.
Two people stared out from the canvas—a handsome man with silver-white hair and a beautiful woman with storm-gray eyes. Between them stood two small children who looked exactly alike.
I was looking at myself. At Caelan. At our parents.
"King Darian and Queen Elara Stormwright," Caelan said quietly. "Our parents. This was painted six months before they were murdered."
"No." But even as I denied it, I couldn't look away. The woman's face was my face. The little girl's smile was the smile I'd seen in old memories trying to surface.
"You were Princess Keira Stormwright. First-born twin of the Stormwright royal family." He sat beside me. "Twenty-one years ago, six kings from the Old Continent discovered our parents were part of a prophecy. That their twin children would one day unite the continent and end centuries of war and corruption."
"That's impossible."
"The kings thought so too. They couldn't allow it. So they hired the Shadow Covenant to eliminate our family." His voice cracked. "Grandmother Nyx herself led the attack. She killed our parents right in front of us. We were five years old, Keira. We watched them die protecting us."
Images flashed through my mind. Blood. Screaming. A woman's voice: "Run, babies, run!"
"Stop," I whispered.
"Loyalists saved me. Got me out of the palace. But you..." Caelan's hand found mine. "You were taken by Grandmother Nyx. She recognized your potential. Your magic. Your strength. And she decided to use you."
"Use me how?"
"To destroy everything our parents died for." His storm-gray eyes—our eyes—were wet with tears. "She raised you as a weapon. Trained you to kill. Then sent you to assassinate me—your own twin brother—to complete her revenge. She wanted us to destroy each other."
"That's insane!" I yanked my hand away, standing on shaky legs. "You're lying! This is some elaborate trick to—"
"To what? Make you question everything?" Caelan stood too. "You already are questioning, Keira. That's why you hesitated when you had your blade at my throat. That's why you saved me from Silas. That's why you protected those children even though it nearly killed you."
"I don't—I can't—" My lightning magic exploded uncontrollably. "The Covenant saved me! Raised me! They're my family!"
"They're your kidnappers!" He grabbed my shoulders, making me face him. "Look at me! Really look! Do you see yourself in my face? Feel our magic connecting? Keira, I know this is terrifying. But it's the truth."
I stared at him. At the face that was my face. At the magic that danced with mine like they were two parts of one whole.
"I don't remember them," I whispered. "Our parents. I don't remember anything before the Covenant."
"Because Nyx erased your memories. But they're still there, buried deep. We can help you find them." He released me gently. "Please. Just give this a chance. Give us a chance."
I wanted to throw something at him. Wanted to scream that he was lying. But the portrait stared at me from across the room, showing a truth I couldn't deny.
That little girl with the bright smile was me.
Before the darkness. Before the killing. Before I became a weapon.
"If this is true," I said slowly, "if I really am your sister... why didn't the Covenant just kill me? Why raise me for twenty-one years?"
Caelan's expression darkened. "Because you're part of the prophecy too. And Grandmother Nyx doesn't just want our family dead. She wants the prophecy corrupted. Twisted. She wants to use you to—"
A guard burst through the door, interrupting.
"Your Highness! We interrogated the captured assassins!" The guard was pale, frightened. "They're saying Grandmother Nyx is coming herself. She's bringing the entire Shadow Covenant—hundreds of assassins. And she's made an alliance."
"With who?" Caelan demanded.
"With King Aldric and the Old Continent armies." The guard's voice shook. "Your Highness, they're declaring war. Full invasion. They'll be here in three days."
My blood turned to ice.
"And there's more," the guard continued. "The assassins say Grandmother Nyx has a weapon. Something she's been building for twenty-one years. Something that can destroy Valdoria completely."
"What weapon?" I asked, though dread already told me the answer.
The guard looked at me with pity and fear. "You, Princess. The weapon is you."
Silence fell like a hammer.
Caelan turned to me, his face stricken. "Keira—"
"She's not done with me." The realization hit like lightning. "She let me 'defect.' Let me come here, get close to you, to Valdoria. Because she always planned for me to be the thing that destroys everything."
"What are you talking about?"
My hands shook as the pieces fell into place. "The poison Silas used. It wasn't meant to kill me. It was meant to change me. To activate something inside me."
"Activate what?"
I met his eyes, terrified. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it's going to happen in three days. And when it does, I'm going to become exactly what she created me to be."
"A weapon," Caelan breathed.
"Not just any weapon." I looked at the portrait of our smiling parents. At the innocent children we'd been. "A weapon designed specifically to kill you and destroy everything you love."
"We'll stop it. We'll figure out—"
"There's only one way to stop it." The words came out hollow. Dead. "You have to kill me before the three days are up."
"No!" Caelan grabbed me. "I just got you back! I'm not killing you!"
"Then everyone here dies!" I shouted. "Don't you understand? She made me into a bomb! A magical bomb designed to explode and take you with me!"
"I don't care! We'll find another way!"
"There is no other way!" Tears streamed down my face. "This is what I am, Caelan. This is what she made me. And in three days, I'm going to murder you and everyone you've sworn to protect."
"Then we have three days to break her spell." His voice was iron. "Three days to prove that love is stronger than whatever curse she put on you."
"And if we fail?"
His smile was sad. Resigned. Loving. "Then we die together. Like we should have twenty-one years ago."
Outside the window, storm clouds gathered on the horizon.
The clock was ticking.
And somewhere far away, Grandmother Nyx smiled.