Chapter 7: Guardians and Secrets

The morning sun shone brightly through the castle windows, but the warmth the sun produced couldn't ease the tension that still existed in Olivia's body. She had barely slept after the information she heard in the archives. Her brothers' secret conversation replayed in her mind repeatedly without missing a word.

"She's getting too close. You know what the Weaver will do."

The weight of their words pressed on her chest. They weren't just hiding something, they were hiding something about her. Olivia's patience was already out of her hands. She needed answers, and she needed them now.

She found Paul in the training courtyard, practicing with his sword. The sound coming from the two steel swords clanging together sounded through the air as he sparred with a guard. His movements were accurate, powerful, and with styles, as though he were trying to distract himself from something weighing heavily on his mind.

"Paul," Olivia shouted, her voice firm.

He turned to her, his expression unreadable. "Olivia, what are you doing out here so early?"

"I need to talk to you," she said, she stood still with her arm crossed by her chest.

Paul cleaned up the sweat from his face and nodded to the guard to leave them. "What's this about?"

Olivia hesitated, her hands dropped by her sides. "I heard you and Tom last night. In the archives."

Paul stood still and looked closely at Olivia, his jaw firm. "You shouldn't have been there."

"And you shouldn't be keeping secrets from me!" she answered immediately, her frustration was already visible and her anger already increasing as well. "What did you mean when you said you were protecting me? Protecting me from what? From who?"

Paul sighed, putting his sword down. "Olivia, this shouldn't be much of a concern to you now. You know you are still healing.."

"Don't do that," she said, moving closer. "Don't push my words away and treat me like I'm a small child. I've had enough of being kept in the dark. You owe me the truth, Paul."

His gaze softened, but he shook his head. "It's not that simple."

"Then explain it to me," Olivia asked further. "What's not simple about my own life? You said you were protecting me. Protecting me from what?"

Paul looked away, his shoulders dropping as if carrying an invisible weight. "Olivia, you've always been different and Special. From the moment you came into our lives, it's been my duty to keep you safe."

"Your duty?" she responded immediately, her heart breaking. "So that's all I am to you? A duty?"

"Olivia, it's not like that, You're my sister, and I care about you a lot. But there are many things you don't understand. Things that have been happening for long even before you were born." " Paul said, his tone sharp.

"Then help me understand," she said, her voice shaking. "I can't keep living like this, Paul. I feel like I'm playing a puzzle without knowing what the true picture is supposed to look like."

Paul hesitated, his expression unreadable. "You're not ready for the truth, Olivia. Not yet."

Frustrated and unsatisfied, Olivia walked away angrily from the courtyard. If Paul wouldn't give her answers, she'd find them herself. She went back to the archives for more discoveries, with full determination to uncover more about her family's secrets.

As she went through the shelves, She saw something that shifted her attention immediately, a small, beautiful jewelry box hidden in one corner. It was covered in dust, its lock rusted from years of not touching it. With a bit of effort, he got it open.

Inside was an old family crest, delicately designed with symbols she didn't recognize. It was beautiful yet strange, unlike anything she had seen in the castle before.

Her eyes opened widely as she examined it. This crest didn't belong to the lineage she had been told was hers. The symbol at the center a twisted interwoven with stars and it felt strangely familiar, sending a shiver down her body.

Suddenly, a memory came into her head. In the Threads of Eternity, she had seen this exact symbol shining faintly in the background as the Weaver had spoken to her.

Her heart raced as she tried to understand it very well. What connection did this crest have to the Weaver? And why was it hidden in the castle archives?

Before she could think deeply about it further, she heard footsteps coming close to the archives. She quickly kept the crest in her pocket and turned to see Tom standing in the doorway, his expression cautious, he looked firmly at her and the surroundings he had found her.

"Olivia," he said slowly, "what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she replied, trying to sound calm.

Tom's eyes moved to the open box on the table. "You shouldn't be digging through these things. They're not meant for you."

"Why not?" she replied back without any form of hesitation. "Because they might actually tell me the truth?"

Tom's jaw tightened. "Leave this alone, Olivia. I'm warning you."

Olivia stared at her brother, her mind racing. She couldn't trust him—or Paul. They were both keeping too many secrets from her, and their warnings only made her more determined to uncover the truth.

"I'll leave," she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. "But this isn't over."

Tom's expression softened for a moment as if he wanted to say something, but he decided to hold his speech. "Just be careful," he said quietly before turning and walking away.

Once he was gone, Olivia brought out the crest from her pocket and looked closely at it again. The twist and stars seemed to vibrate faintly in the dim light as if it were alive.

She held her fist around it, her determination hardening. Whatever secrets her brothers were hiding, whatever her connection to the Weaver was, she would find out. No matter the cost.

But as she left the archives, the air felt heavier over her skin, she felt an energy she couldn't explain. It was as if everyone in the castle was aware of her discovery, and the threads of her fate were beginning to tighten.