Chapter 18: Leaving the Shadows Behind

Kael was numb.

She had spent her entire life thinking she was nothing more than a forgotten orphan, a girl who had barely survived the massacre of her family.

But now—

Now she knew the truth.

She had not been just another noble.

She had been a lost heir.

A queen who never took her throne.

And the people who had taken everything from her? They were still in power.

Her fingers hovered over the old, faded pages of the book they had found in the vault. It wasn't just a record. It was history rewritten.

Her father's name had been carefully erased from the royal line.

His legacy buried.

And in its place—the Dain family.

Riven's family.

The air in the ruins of Blackreach felt heavier than before, like the city itself was watching, waiting for her reaction.

She inhaled, forcing the rage down.

Not now.

Not yet.

Jorrik sighed, running a hand over his face. "Well. That was unexpected."

Riven let out a slow breath. "I don't know. Feels like fate, doesn't it?"

Kael snapped the book shut and turned toward him, her storm-colored eyes sharp as steel. "Don't. Say. That."

Riven arched an eyebrow. "Touched a nerve, did I?"

Jorrik muttered, "You touch all her nerves, Riven. That's basically your job at this point."

Riven smirked. "And I do it so well."

Kael resisted the urge to stab him.

Not because she didn't want to.

Because she needed him alive.

For now.

^A Past That Was Never Theirs^

The book in her hands held names she barely remembered—uncles, aunts, knights sworn to House Veyne.

But one name stood out.

Her father's.

The rightful heir.

And beneath it, a note:

"Executed on orders of the Crown."

Kael's breath turned sharp.

"The Crown," she muttered. "But the King was his friend."

Riven's usual cocky expression dimmed slightly. "I was thinking the same thing."

Jorrik frowned. "So you're saying someone else gave the order?"

Kael's grip on the book tightened.

"Not just anyone," she said quietly. "Someone inside the palace."

Someone who had erased her family.

Someone who had made sure her father never ruled.

Kael's mind raced.

Her father had been killed.

Her mother had been killed.

Her brother—

The breath left her lungs.

There had been a name missing from the book.

Her brother.

She had been too young to understand that night—too young to see if he had died with their parents. She had assumed he was gone.

But if his name wasn't here…

Her pulse pounded.

She closed the book and turned on her heel. "We're leaving."

Jorrik blinked. "That fast?"

Kael strode past him, heading toward the tunnel entrance. "I didn't come here to sit in a tomb."

Because now, she had more questions.

More names to chase.

And if her brother was still alive—

She was going to find him.

The Final Goodbye to the Underground

The tunnels stretched before them, cold and quiet.

Kael moved quickly, her pace steady, her thoughts a storm beneath her skin.

She had spent her first years above ground.

She remembered the sunlight, the feel of the wind through the trees near her home. She remembered her mother's voice, her father's laughter, her brother's hand gripping hers as they ran through the halls.

She had lost all of that.

And she had spent the years after hating the nobles who had done it.

She thought she had escaped it all.

But the past had found her again.

Jorrik walked beside her, quiet for once. He was letting her think.

Riven, of course, was not.

"You know," he mused, stretching his arms, "this is the longest you've gone without threatening me."

Kael didn't look at him. "I'm still considering it."

Riven smirked. "That's my girl."

Kael stopped walking.

Riven nearly ran into her.

She turned slowly, her storm-colored eyes dangerously unreadable. "I am not your anything, prince."

Riven held up his hands. "Touchy."

Jorrik groaned. "Can we focus?"

Kael exhaled sharply and turned back toward the tunnels. "Let's just get out of here."

They walked in silence for a while. The tunnels slowly began to widen, the air growing lighter.

Kael felt her pulse quicken.

She had spent years down here, hunting, surviving, hiding in the shadows.

Now, she was about to step back into the world that had forgotten her.

And she wasn't sure if she was ready.

But ready or not—

She wasn't running anymore.