Chapter 15: The Key to the Past

Kael was going to kill him.

Not because he was a prince. Not because he had lied. Not even because his stupid magic sword made fights too easy.

No.

She was going to kill him because he wouldn't stop smirking.

"You're glaring at me again," Riven mused, stretching his arms as they walked deeper into the ruins of Blackreach. "It's starting to feel like a habit."

Kael kept walking. "Maybe if you stopped being insufferable, I'd stop."

"Impossible," Jorrik muttered.

Kael arched an eyebrow. "Are you agreeing with me?"

Jorrik sighed. "I don't like it either."

Riven grinned. "You two are getting along. I love this for us."

Kael gritted her teeth. "I hate this for me."

They had been walking for hours, picking their way through the ruined streets, climbing over collapsed buildings, and avoiding any more of those shadow creatures.

The silence of Blackreach felt heavier now.

Like the city itself was waiting.

And Kael was running out of patience.

She hated waiting. Hated being dragged along on someone else's mission when she still didn't have all the answers.

And Riven?

Riven was taking his time.

Too much time.

She stopped suddenly, turning on him. "Enough. You're telling me everything. Now."

Riven blinked. "Everything?"

Kael's grip tightened on her bow. "No more cryptic nonsense. No more avoiding questions. Either you start talking, or I start pulling secrets out of you one arrow at a time."

Jorrik muttered, "I'd pay to see that."

Riven sighed, rubbing a hand through his messy white hair. "You really have no patience, do you?"

Kael drew an arrow.

Riven laughed. "Alright, alright. Gods, you're terrifying."

Kael didn't lower her bow. "Talk."

Riven tilted his head, studying her. Then, with a slow breath-

"My mother was killed when I was a child," he said. "Assassinated."

Kael didn't react. She already knew that much.

Riven kept going. "The official story was that she was killed by a rival noble family."

Kael narrowed her eyes. "And the real story?"

Riven's jaw tightened. "I don't know."

Kael frowned. "You don't know?"

Riven met her gaze, and for once-he wasn't smirking.

"I was supposed to die that night, too," he said. "Whoever ordered her assassination wanted me dead with her."

Silence.

Even Jorrik was quiet now.

Kael studied Riven, searching for a lie.

But there wasn't one.

Riven rolled his shoulders, his smirk returning, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Lucky for me, they failed."

Kael exhaled slowly. "And you think what you're looking for here will tell you the truth?"

Riven nodded. "There's something buried in this city. Something that connects to my mother's murder. And if I find it-"

"You'll know who killed her," Kael finished.

Riven tilted his head. "Exactly."

Kael's mind was racing.

Her family had been murdered. His mother had been assassinated.

And both of them had been left alive.

Coincidence?

Kael didn't believe in coincidence.

"That's not all of it," she said.

Riven arched an eyebrow. "No?"

Kael folded her arms. "My family wasn't just killed. They were targeted. Hunted down."

Riven went quiet.

Jorrik exhaled sharply.

Kael watched him carefully, her storm-colored eyes sharp as a blade. "You knew that, didn't you?"

Riven held her gaze.

Then, finally-

"Yes."

Kael's pulse pounded.

Her breath came slower, heavier.

The truth was right there. Close enough to touch.

And Kael was done waiting.

"Then let's find what you're looking for," she said.

Riven's smirk returned. "Oh? No threats? No arrows?"

Kael's voice was calm, steady, cold. "Not yet."

Jorrik groaned. "I'm surrounded by lunatics."

Riven grinned. "And you love it."

Jorrik sighed. "I really don't."

Kael ignored them both.

She adjusted her grip on her bow, stepping forward.

Because this wasn't just Riven's mission anymore.

This was hers, too.

And she wasn't leaving Blackreach without answers.