Chapter 9: The Loudest Words That Were Never Said

The road back to the palace stretched longer than usual. Matias could feel it in his limbs, the weight of something unseen, pulling at him like an invisible leash. The closer he got, the worse it became.

The sensation wasn't pain, exactly. It was something worse. Something he couldn't name.

He tried to piece it together. To recall exactly what had happened with Naomi. But his mind slipped like fingers through water. He remembered the tension in her voice, the sharp panic, the way she had looked at him, not with malice, but with something just as dangerous.

And then, the command.

It still rang in his skull, as if his own thoughts were not entirely his anymore.

"You can never tell anyone about this."

Matias forced his boots forward, each step heavier than the last. Doubt clung to him like damp cloth, tightening around his chest the closer he got to the palace. The thought of speaking to the Rat King should have been a relief, should have offered clarity. But the more he tried to piece together what had happened, the more his own mind rebelled against him.

Memories twisted, details blurred, like trying to recall the shape of smoke long after it had disappeared into the air. Naomi had done something to him. That much of course, he knew. But beyond that? The truth lay just outside his grasp, infuriatingly close yet utterly unreachable.

The only thing left was to at least make an attempt to tell The Rat King.

Matias walked through what felt like a dreamscape as his mind burned with the burden of providing some type of solution as he finally made it through the palace doors.

The throne room was dimly lit, save for the soft flicker of golden lanterns lining the walls. The Rat King sat where he always did, poised, watchful, an unmoving figure in the dim light.

But the moment Matias entered, he felt the shift in the air.

There was no need for formalities here. It was as if The Rat King could sense it on Matias.

The Rat King studied him for a moment before speaking, his voice smooth as silk.

"Old friend, something seems to be weighing on you as of late."

Matias clenched his jaw, nearly letting out a cry from the frustration, ignoring the way his hands twitched at his sides. A part of him wanted needed to spill everything, to tell the Rat King what he had seen, what he had felt.

But the words would not come.

Not the truth.

Not the full truth.

A tightness wrapped around his throat. Not physical, but something deeper. Something lodged in his mind like a wedge, forcing his thoughts to skid off track every time he tried to push past it.

He exhaled sharply. "It's Naomi."

A flicker of interest crossed the Rat King's face, but he did not interrupt. He only tilted his head slightly, waiting.

Matias grit his teeth. "I followed her. I had been tracking her through the city. I—"

His voice stopped.

A pause stretched between them.

The Rat King's golden eyes narrowed. "You…?"

Matias forced a slow breath. "I don't know."

A lie.

Or rather, a lie made true. He should know. He should be able to recall every detail, down to the way the air had felt on his fur. And yet…

Nothing.

It was like trying to grasp at a memory that had been yanked away mid-thought.

He shook his head, frustrated. "I was there, but I—" His hands curled into fists.

The Rat King's expression did not change, but something in his gaze sharpened.

"She did something to you," Not a question. A confirmation.

Matias swallowed hard. "I wont tell you."

There it was. The truth. The real truth. The single, devastating truth that was eating him alive.

"I want to," he continued, voice rough. "But I strictly unable"

Another pause.

Then…

The Rat King leaned forward, his gaze never leaving Matias's face.

"Not won't," he mused softly. "Can't."

Matias nodded stiffly. "She took something from me. Blocked me. I can't say what I saw. Can't even think about it properly."

He let out a bitter exhale. "It's like a wall in my own damn head."

The Rat King was silent for a long moment. Then, he nodded.

"I see."

The weight of the silence was suffocating as Matias watched The Rat King put the pieces together.

The Rat King drummed his fingers against the armrest of his throne, his mind still working through the puzzle laid before him.

Matias couldn't tell him what he had seen.

Which meant Naomi had done something unnatural.

And Naomi would not have done such a thing lightly.

Which meant she was hiding something. Something worth risking everything for.

"You followed her," the Rat King murmured, almost to himself. "You were tracking her to a place she did not wish you to be."

Matias stiffened.

His fingers twitched at his sides. The truth was there, just beneath the surface. But every time he tried to grasp it, his mind twisted away.

The Rat King continued.

"You know something," he mused. "You just… can't touch it."

Matias exhaled sharply. The weight slowly being lifted from him. "Yes my King."

Another pause.

Then.

The Rat King leaned back slightly, his golden eyes glinting with recognition.

"She has you in her grip."

Matias's pulse kicked up.

The Rat King was too smart, too perceptive. Even without all the pieces, he was dangerously close to the truth.

But then the Rat King did something Matias did not expect.

He sighed.

Not out of frustration. Not out of anger.

Something closer to understanding.

He steepled his fingers beneath his chin. "Matias," he murmured, "tell me… do you think she even realizes what she has done?"

Matias froze.

Of all the things he had expected the Rat King to say… that was not one of them.

Because the truth was.

He didn't know.

Naomi had been scared. Desperate. Her ability had lashed out like a cornered animal, like something instinctive rather than planned.

Matias had assumed she had meant to shut him down, to erase his will.

But what if she hadn't?

What if she had no idea just how much power she held?

His throat was dry. He didn't answer.

The Rat King only sighed again, softer this time.

"Then perhaps she is just as lost as you are."

Matias swallowed hard, but he didn't argue.

Because, deep down, he knew the Rat King was right.

The Rat King had decided he had gathered enough information to know that it would be dangerous to act, but not enough to act on the danger 

He did not know where Naomi was hiding.

He did not know what she was protecting.

He did not know how much control she truly had.

But he knew this was no accident.

Something was coming. Something that had apparently been stewing for quite some time.

And when it did, Rat City would never be the same.

The Rat King gave Matias a knowing look. "You are dismissed, Matias. Please, take some time for yourself."

"Yes, my King."

Matias left the throne room with measured steps, but his mind was anything but steady. The Rat King's words still clung to him, not in their weight, but in their precision.

"Then perhaps she is just as lost as you are."

He exhaled sharply, rolling his shoulders as if the tension could be shaken free. It couldn't. His mind still fought itself, the walls of Naomi's influence lingering at the edges of his thoughts like an unfinished sentence. He should have returned to his quarters, should have studied his notes, should have tried again to make sense of the gaps in his own mind.

But he didn't.

Instead, he turned down a familiar road, one that wound through the quieter districts of Rat City, where the weight of duty did not press so heavily on his back.

The Lantern's Rest wasn't the kind of place the palace guards frequented. It wasn't disorderly, not exactly, but it catered more to those who lived in the margins, workers between shifts, scavengers with something to trade, people who weren't concerned with the politics of the palace. Matias hadn't stepped foot inside in what felt like years.

The bartender looked up as the door creaked open, his eyes scanning Matias before a knowing smirk curled at his lips.

"Matias! Thought you were dead."

Matias snorted, stepping up to the worn counter. "Not yet, Rell."

The bartender, Rell, grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the shelf behind him. "Still drinking the same?"

Matias hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding. "Yeah. Same."

Rell poured without comment, sliding the glass across the counter with an ease that suggested he had, in fact, done this a thousand times before. Matias picked it up but didn't drink immediately. Instead, he just held it, rolling the cool glass between his fingers before he tapped a single claw against it.

For the first time in a long time, no one was watching him. No patrols, no reports, no silent expectations pressing against his spine. Just the low murmur of conversation and the clinking of glasses.

He took a slow sip.

The warmth burned down his throat, settling deep in his chest.

"Didn't think I'd see you here again."

Matias turned slightly, his gaze landing on a rat with sharp eyes and an easy posture. She slid onto the stool beside him, tilting her head as if she were studying something she couldn't quite place.

"Talia," he greeted, the name coming slower than it should have.

"So you do remember," she mused, ordering her own drink with a flick of her fingers. "Had a bet with myself going on whether you forgot me or not."

Matias exhaled a quiet laugh. "No one would take that bet."

She smirked. "I would've."

Talia had been a scout once, same as him. Before his world had become reports and orders, before hers had pulled her somewhere else. They had worked together, fought together, once shared stolen drinks in the aftermath of long nights.

Now, she regarded him with mild curiosity. "You look like a man trying very hard *not* to think."

Matias let the silence stretch before answering. "Maybe."

Talia swirled the liquid in her glass, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "That workin' out for you?"

"Not particularly."

She huffed a quiet laugh. "Yeah. It never does."

They sat in companionable silence for a while. The warmth of the drink, the hum of the bar, the absence of expectation, it was easy to fall into.

Maybe too easy.

"You sticking around this time?" Talia asked eventually.

Matias glanced at her. "What makes you think I was ever planning on leaving?"

She shrugged. "Because you've always been a man chasing something. And when you stop running, it usually means you've lost."

Matias didn't have an answer for that.

He left the bar later than he intended, the city quiet in a way that only happened past a certain hour.

His steps carried him through the familiar streets, past the winding alleys and tucked-away shops. Past the market stalls now covered for the night, past the high walkways where lanterns still swayed overhead, their glow casting soft light against the cavern walls.

For the first time in longer than he cared to admit, he wasn't chasing anyone.

Not Naomi.

Not Castin.

Not the truth that kept slipping between his fingers.

Just walking. Existing.

For a little while, that was enough.

As he reached his quarters, Matias exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He stripped off his outer coat, letting it fall onto the chair by his bedside, and sat down heavily on the mattress.

His mind drifted back to Talia.

The way she spoke to him like no time had passed. The way she saw through him so easily. The way she hadn't pushed, hadn't demanded, just… understood.

A small smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he lay back against the pillows. He had always respected her, always liked her company. There had been a time when things had been simpler between them, when nights like this were more common, when neither of them had carried so much weight.

Maybe he had lost something by chasing his ambitions so relentlessly. Maybe she had been right.

For the first time in what felt like years, he fell asleep without his thoughts clawing at him.

And it was one of the best nights of sleep he'd had in a long time.