Sera's POV
"Did you have a visitor last night?"
Kade's words froze the blood in my veins. His fingers still gripped my shoulder, tight enough to bruise. Around us, the medical wing had gone silent—everyone watching, waiting to see what the general would do to the girl who'd just used magic.
Or thought they'd seen magic. Maybe. Possibly.
I forced myself to meet his eyes. "A visitor? I was asleep, my lord."
"Liar."
The word was so quiet I almost didn't hear it. But I felt it—felt the certainty in his voice, the trap closing around me.
"The escaped prisoner," Kade continued, still speaking only to me. "She was seen near the healers' quarters. Near your room."
My heart slammed against my ribs. Lyra had been caught. And now they thought I'd helped her.
"I don't know anything about escaped prisoners," I said. "I was sleeping—"
"Search her room," Kade ordered, finally releasing my shoulder. "Now."
Three soldiers rushed out. I stood frozen, my mind racing. What did I have in my room? Nothing incriminating, I was always careful—
The note.
Horror crashed over me. The mysterious note that had appeared under my door last night. Third floor. Midnight. Come alone—or people die. I'd shoved it under my mattress, planning to burn it later.
I was dead. So completely dead.
"My lord," I tried one more time. "I swear I haven't—"
"Quiet." Kade's eyes never left my face. "You healed that soldier's leg. I saw the light. Don't insult me by denying it."
Around us, people gasped. The word magic rippled through the room like poison.
"I didn't—it was just—" My voice cracked. "Please, I just wanted to help him."
Something flickered in Kade's expression. Not quite sympathy, but not hatred either. Before he could respond, the soldiers returned.
"Nothing in her room, my lord," the captain reported. "We searched everywhere."
I nearly collapsed with relief. They must have missed the note. Or maybe it had fallen out when they moved the mattress—
"Except this."
The captain held out a small velvet pouch.
My blood turned to ice. I'd never seen that pouch before in my life.
Kade took it, opened it. His jaw tightened. "Rebel coins. Marked with their symbol."
"That's not mine!" The words burst out. "Someone planted—"
"Take her to the holding cells," Kade said flatly. "Under guard. No visitors."
"No! Please, you have to believe me—"
Two soldiers grabbed my arms. I thrashed, panic overwhelming reason. This couldn't be happening. I'd been so careful, so invisible—
"Kade!" I used his name without his title, desperate. "I didn't betray you. I swear on everything I have—"
He turned away. "Get her out of my sight."
They dragged me from the medical wing. People stared as I passed—some with pity, most with satisfaction. The little Dust girl who'd gotten too bold, finally getting what she deserved.
The holding cells were underground, cold and dark. They threw me into one and locked the door. I was alone except for the guard posted outside.
I sank onto the stone bench, trying to breathe. Trying to think. Someone had planted those coins in my room. But who? And why?
Lady Celeste. It had to be. She'd been looking for ways to destroy me ever since Kade started paying attention to me.
But knowing didn't help. I was trapped. And if they questioned me with torture like they did other rebels—
I couldn't. I'd break. I'd tell them everything.
Hours crawled past. No food. No water. Just cold stone and darkness and my own terrified thoughts.
Then, just as I was starting to drift into exhausted sleep, I heard it.
A scratching sound. Coming from the wall.
I sat up, heart pounding. "Hello?"
The scratching got louder. Then a brick shifted, pushing inward. A small gap appeared.
"Sera?" A whisper. Lyra's voice.
"Lyra! You're still here? They said you escaped—"
"I did. Then I came back for you." Something slid through the gap—a rolled piece of paper. "Read this. Quickly. Then burn it."
"How? I don't have—"
"Figure it out." Lyra's voice was urgent. "Master Theron sent this before they caught me. He's dying, Sera. Really dying. He needs to see you tonight. He says it's about your parents."
My hands shook as I unrolled the paper. In the dim light from the corridor, I could barely make out the words:
Seraphina—
I haven't much time. The proof you need is hidden in the old healing house, beneath the third floorboard from the east wall. But there's more. Your uncle knows you're alive. Someone told him. And they know you're here, in this compound.
The general is your only chance. He's not what he seems. Trust him. But first, you must come to me tonight. There are things you need to know about your mother's death. Things that will change everything.
Come to the Dust Quarter. Our old meeting place. Midnight.
If you don't come, they'll kill you by dawn. I'm certain of it.
—Theron
The paper trembled in my hands. "Lyra, this doesn't make sense. How would my uncle—"
"I don't know. But Theron's never wrong." A pause. "There's a way out. The drainage tunnel under your cell connects to the sewers. I can guide you from the outside. But you have to go now. The guard changes in ten minutes."
"If I run, they'll know I'm guilty."
"If you stay, you're dead."
She was right. I knew she was right. But something about this felt wrong. The mysterious note from before. Now this urgent summons. Everything happening at once.
"How do I know this is really from Theron?"
Silence. Then: "You don't. But do you have a choice?"
I looked at the note again. The handwriting was Theron's—I recognized it from our lessons. And he was the only one besides Lyra who knew my real name.
"Sera." Lyra's voice was fading, like she was moving away. "Ten minutes. The tunnel entrance is behind the loose stone near the floor. I'll be waiting in the sewers to guide you out."
"Wait—"
But she was gone. The brick slid back into place.
I stood there, holding the note, my mind spinning. This could be a trap. Or it could be my only chance to save myself.
The guard outside coughed.
I had ten minutes to decide whether to trust a dying man's message—or trust the general who'd just locked me up.
I looked down at the note one more time. And that's when I saw it.
At the very bottom, in letters so small I'd almost missed them:
He's watching you through the walls. Don't trust anyone. Not even—
The sentence ended there, like Theron had been interrupted.
My hands started shaking so hard I nearly dropped the paper.
Someone was watching me. Right now. Through the walls.
I looked up slowly at the stones around my cell. Searching for cracks, gaps, anywhere someone could see through.
And there—in the corner near the ceiling—was the faint glint of glass.
A spy hole.
Someone had been watching me this entire time. Had seen Lyra. Had heard everything.
The guard outside suddenly went silent. No coughing. No shuffling.
Then I heard it—the soft sound of a body hitting the floor.
My cell door creaked open.
A figure stood in the doorway, backlit by torchlight. I couldn't see their face.
"Hello, Seraphina," they said softly. "We've been looking for you for a very long time."