amdauthor

Synopsis: The Sins That Bind Us

Phileo killed her family. Evelyne knows this. And yet—she walks beside him.

She should have hated him. She should have sought vengeance. But the world is never so simple. The man who tore her life apart is also the only one who can help her uncover the truth—the truth about why her parents were marked for death, the truth about the shadowed hands that still pull the strings from the dark.

But blood cannot be washed away so easily.

With every step, Phileo is forced to confront the weight of his sins, the ghost of the girl he left behind, now grown into a woman who refuses to break. Evelyne does not forgive. She does not forget. And though she needs him now, one day, she will have to decide—justice or survival.

Because when the past finally catches up to them, neither of them may walk away alive.

TruthUntold

The rhythmic clatter of hooves filled the crisp morning air as Phileo, Evelyne, and Alsiel rode through the thinning forest. Dawn had come and gone, but a tension lingered between them like an unspoken storm.

They had left behind the safety of the trees, stepping into open ground where danger could approach from any side. The Black Veil had lost them—for now. But it wouldn't last.

Evelyne adjusted her grip on the reins, glancing at Phileo. He rode ahead, silent and rigid, his gray eyes fixed on the road before them. She knew that look by now. He was thinking. Planning.

Her mind drifted back to his words from the night before.

"I was supposed to kill someone. I didn't."

That was why the Order wanted him dead. Not just because he had been one of them, but because he had defied them.

She had a thousand questions, but only one seemed to matter right now.

"Where are we going?" she asked, breaking the silence.

Phileo didn't turn. "A town near the border. We can gather supplies, rest for a few hours, then keep moving."

Alsiel groaned dramatically. "Only a few hours? What happened to the part where we don't collapse from exhaustion?"

"You can sleep when you're dead," Phileo muttered.

Alsiel gasped, clutching his chest. "That was cruel. Evelyne, did you hear that? He wants me dead."

Evelyne rolled her eyes. "He's right, though. We don't have time to linger."

The trees thinned further, and soon, the first signs of civilization appeared—a well-worn path, distant voices, the scent of bread carried by the wind. The town was close.

Evelyne exhaled. A brief respite. Not safety, but a chance to breathe.

But as Phileo's grip tightened around the reins, she knew one thing for certain.

And sooner or later, it would catch up.

Chapter 21: The Weight of Silence