THE INTERRUPTION

The moment Alara pushed open the heavy doors to the council chamber, all conversation ceased. The lords turned, their expressions shifting from shock to irritation at the sudden interruption. A few murmured among themselves, clearly displeased. 

Kael, seated at the head of the long table, lifted his gaze, his amber eyes narrowing. His jaw tightened. "Alara," he said, his tone sharp. "What are you doing here?" 

She didn't answer right away. Her breath was uneven, her hands curled into fists at her sides. The lords were staring, their displeasure thick in the air, but Alara couldn't bring herself to care. Not when the feeling of being watched still clung to her skin like a ghostly whisper. 

"Forgive me," she finally said, her voice steadier than she felt. "I—I needed to see you." 

A few of the lords scoffed. One, an older man with a thick beard, leaned back in his chair with a huff. "This is highly inappropriate." 

"Has the lady no sense of decorum?" another muttered. 

Kael exhaled slowly, irritation flickering across his face. He hated interruptions, especially during matters of court. But then—he really looked at her. 

She was pale, her lips pressed tightly together, her eyes holding something just beneath the surface—something shaken. 

His irritation faded. 

Kael stood. "Leave us." 

The lords stiffened. One opened his mouth as if to protest, but Kael's gaze cut to him, cold and final. Within moments, chairs scraped against the floor as the council begrudgingly rose and exited the room. 

When the doors shut behind them, Kael stepped toward Alara. "What happened?" His voice had lost its sharp edge, now low, careful. 

She swallowed hard, struggling to put it into words. "I—" She hesitated, then looked up at him. "Something was watching me." 

Kael's expression darkened. "Where?" 

"The garden." 

His hand twitched at his side. The air in the room seemed to shift, a quiet tension settling between them. 

"You're sure?" 

Alara nodded. "Yes. It talked to me." 

Kael studied her for a long moment, then exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "What did it say?" 

She relived the moment as she said, "That it was there for me. That it wants me. Because I woke it up from its slumber."

Kael's thick eyebrows shot up, a surprised look marrying his face, "What did you do? How did you wake it up from its slumber?"

She remembered how the voice talked to her from the garden was the exact same one from the library. But she did not do anything to wake it up. All she did was merely roaming inside the library, was it her presence that disturbed the spirit?

"You remember when I left our chamber on our first night?" She looked at him, voice low as a murmur. 

He nodded. His eyes staring into her soul. 

She hummed, "That night I was roaming through the hallways to find a chamber to stay the night. But every single one was locked from the outside."

"What? None of the chambers on our floor is locked from outside." He said to her, eyebrows furrowed and a questioning look on his amber orbs.

"No. I saw it with my own eyes! Every single one of them was locked and the library's was the only door that wasn't locked. It was filled with books that looked cursed and selves that glowed in the dark. I was amused, so I wandered inside." 

"What are you talking about Alara? There is no such thing as a library on that floor." Kael said clearly put away by her confessions. He looked truly concerned. Was he thinking that Alara lost her mind? Faes already see humans as stupid things that deserves none of their concerns. Was he thinking the same about her?

But she saw it with her own eyes. She wasn't dreaming, it all happened. The spirit that came for her was proof enough. How can she make him believe her? She fisted her hands in frustration, she looked at him and blurt out the first thing that came to her mind. "Your uncle was there." 

Kael's brows knit together in confusion "what do you mean."

"Your uncle was there. I saw him. And he warned me about that place." She said with a firm tone. Her eyes pleading him to believe her.

"At that hour of the night? In a library that doesn't even exist?" Kael pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

"It exists!'' She all but yelled. "I have seen it!"

Kael pinned her with a sharp look, "lower your voice. The lords are still outside."

Alara let out an angry whimper, "You know what? I shouldn't have came to you. I'm really stupid to think that you would help me. You are like the rest of them.''

Before he could open his mouth to say anything, Alara had opened the door and slipped out of the meeting room. The lords threw irritated looks at her but she paid them no mind.

She needed to find what was going on inside this palace.

She would find it soon.