The Gathering Storm

The noble houses as always swam in runs just out of reach, changing the world in ways most knights did not care to comprehend.

The overwhelming majority of knights were weapons, trained to kill and die without question of whose hands held the reins.

But I wasn't most knights.

And neither was Asura.

…..

The whispers were throughout the night, in hushed tones among knights who believed themselves unobserved.

A noblewoman. A name with weight. A force behind the curtain.

Others had noticed, too.

Asura was seated next to me in the mess hall, her physiology as relaxed as ever but her gaze was sharp. She had heard it too.

I leaned in a little and lowered my voice. "They're speaking of someone significant."

She didn't meet my eyes, but she responded with the slightest flicker of acknowledgment on her face.

"Not just important," she said quietly. "Powerful."

That meant something.

It wasn't just about rank. Nobles were in all shapes and sizes — some were useless, overstuffed figures sitting on their riches, hiding behind titles they hadn't earned.

But then came the others.

The ones who didn't wear crowns, and didn't need armies, to govern.

The ones whose words alone had the potential to bend the globe.

Not that this woman was just another noble.

She was a player in the game.

And we were just getting on the board.

….

By the time the night had settled in, I would hear her name again three times.

Always in passing. Never speak too loudly.

That told me enough.

She was not an easily ignored person.

But she was not someone they wanted to cross, either.

I breathed deeply looking out the window of the barracks at the courtyard. The world was shifting.

Not only because of the enemies lurking in the dark.

Not only because the war is edging nearer.

But only because the nobility was watching.

And I wasn't certain then if that would be a good thing — or didn't — a curse?

The Order Moves, Only Not for Us

The following morning, Commander Gregor announced.

A deployment.

Not for war. Not yet.

But for something equally dangerous.

Political maneuvering.

They were sending a squad to speak with the nobility. To talk about "the future of the knight order."

I didn't think that for one second.

Asura was at my side, arms folded, listening to names that were read.

Not ours.

But that didn't matter.

Because we weren't in line to be called.

We were going to discover the answers ourselves.

...

By midday, we regained access to the archives.

Not in the main halls. Not in the certain places knights belonged.

But deeper. Where the history no one wanted to remember was stored.

Asura traced her fingers along the weathered spines of books, her expression inscrutable.

Then—she stopped.

I glanced back at what had grabbed her interest.

A ledger. Thick. Dust-covered. Bound in dark leather.

She opened it and skimmed the pages.

Her fingers stilled.

I knew that look.

She had found something.

I leaned in closer, peering over her shoulder. A list of names.

Some I recognized. Some I didn't.

But one thing was certain: every last one of them was gone.

Not killed. Not discharged.

Erased.

….

A sharp knock at the door.

Not hurried. Not panicked.

Just firm. Deliberate.

We exchanged a glance.

The person on the other side of that door was not a recruit.

He wasn't a knight.

Wasn't here by accident.

Asura dropped the ledger, which went closed, arranging it shuffling under her cloak.

I took a step forward and put my fingers near my weapon.

I opened the door.

On the other side stood a man.

Not a soldier.

Not a noble.

Something in between.

He looked me over, then Asura, then back.

Then he spoke.

"She will see you now."

I didn't have to ask who he was talking about.

The noblewoman.

The person whose name had trailed us all evening.

The one who had been watching us long before we knew she existed.

The Nobility Moves in Silence

We trailed after the man through the halls of the fortress, farther than I had ever been permitted.

The chambers were different here. No stone and iron.

Velvet. Gold. Raw power in every nook and cranny.

At the end of the corridor awaited a room, its doors carved with sigils I did not recognize.

The man stepped aside.

We were supposed to go in by ourselves.

Asura glanced at me.

I met her gaze.

After that, we stepped forward without hesitation.

And for the first time ever, I saw her.

The woman whose name had already created the world around us.

She didn't get up as we walked in.

She didn't need to.

That was enough just by her being there.

Now I knew at once — this was someone you could not afford to underestimate.

This, however, was no ordinary lady.

This was a force of nature.

…..

The doors closed reluctantly behind us, their weight felt like an absolute.

This was no ordinary chamber. Everything in the room communicated power, but not the kind you demand: instead, the kind that makes silence itself a means of domination.

Velvet drapes lined the windows in deep folds, deadening the evening light to a gentle haze. The furniture, dark wood treated to a muted shine, was arranged with an elegance that said careful precision, not comfort. On a low table, a single silver tray is untouched.

And at the middle of it all sat she.

Not waiting. Expecting.

She remained seated as we entered. She didn't need to.

We entered the room, and it was overcome with her presence.

….

She was pretty enough to be hard to miss.

Her golden-blonde hair was arranged in pristine, near-rivers of wavy glam, kiting past her shoulders, brushing lightly against, but not a hair on her head out of position. Her skin glimmered like polished bronze in the sun, smooth and unworn by the ravages of conflict, but there was something disconcertingly restrained in the way she carried her body.

Not soft. Not delicate.

Sharpened.

Her brow line was slightly arched, and her deep-set eyes held almost a kind of lethal clarity. Brown, though in the low light, they appeared to contain something more profound — the kind of gaze that could not just see you, but also through you.

She had no affectation, no desperate display of riches—merely a fitted emerald tunic, the midriff bared and the border trimmed with delicate embroidery. All the kind of effortless confidence that made every last little gesture seem deliberate.

When she did speak, her voice was smooth, level, and uncomfortably unreadable.

"You arrived earlier than I expected."

The First Exchange

I didn't know how to respond.

Not immediately.

She hadn't asked a question. She had made an observation — one that somehow put her in charge of this meeting before I had even had a chance to process it.

Asura stood a few steps behind me, not moving. But I knew her well enough to pick up the way her weight shifted just a little bit — not caution, but awareness.

But this woman was no ordinary noble.

She was a force that flowed without asking for permission.

I exhaled, steadying myself. "You knew we would come."

A slight tilt of her head. "Of course."

She didn't elaborate.

She didn't need to.

She cast an eye toward Asura as if to examine her, the manner in which gave Asura the impression that she already knew a lot more than what she was revealing.

Then finally—"You've been searching for answers.'

It wasn't a question.

…..

A new tension settled into the air, subtle and yet acute.

I sensed it in the way she leaned back just a bit, with the kind of poise that signaled she was in charge, no matter what we thought we knew.

For the first time, Asura spoke; her voice was low yet resolute. "You are well informed for someone who ought not to be involved."

The noblewoman didn't blink.

"Involvement is all in the mind."

She said it as if it were the most self-evident of facts.

Like she had already determined how much of this conversation was going to count.

I gritted my teeth, suppressing the feeling that I could allow frustration to flavor my voice. "Then tell us what it is you see."

She released a breath, as though in thought.

Then — "A kingdom held together by rotting thread. No more than a knighthood in order for show. Two warriors walking blindly to something they don't yet realize."

A pause.

Then, effortlessly — "Would you like me to continue?"

…..

I hated how easily she spoke.

Not because she was wrong.

But because she had already decided how small our reactions were.

To my surprise, Asura did not immediately respond.

She was watching her. Measuring her.

And the noblewoman?

She was letting her.

I'd seen Asura take on men twice her size without breaking a sweat. I had witnessed her slaughter enemies before they could so much as pull out a weapon.

But in this room — this was a different kind of battlefield.

And I wasn't sure who was winning, for the first time.

….

At last, the noblewoman leaned toward them, her hands propped lightly on her hips.

"I guess you're expecting my name."

She smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"And I suppose you believe that knowing it will give you some edge."

She tilted her head slightly.

"It won't."

Silence.

Then — "But I will give it to you anyway."

She looked me in the eyes, her expression as stoic as always.

"Celeste."

The name hung in the space between us.

Simple. Controlled.

But there was something in it that felt heavier than it needed to be.

As if it bore a weight I wasn't ready to grasp.

And I had a feeling she knew that, too.

…..

Celeste rose slowly, all her movements smooth, unhurried.

I should have been relieved.

I wasn't.

Because at that point, I knew something.

This wasn't just a meeting.

This was an evaluation.

And we had simply entered a game that she already was playing long before we showed up.