Chapter 550: The Serpent Sleeps Not

"What you protect defines you. What you betray reveals you."

--

Before dawn, Rizwan entered the archives hidden beneath the Eastern Watchtower. Only a few knew it existed—Jayden, Maggy, and now him.

The scroll he unrolled trembled in his hands. A name etched in forgotten ink: Naela Veyrane, former assassin of the Seventh Fang, last seen fleeing the Cradle of Ashes after the poisoning of King Lumaro.

Her record had been wiped—but not perfectly.

He whispered, "She's not here to help us… she's here to finish something."

He knew now.

Naela wasn't a healer.

She was a conclusion.

---

Gloria stood beneath the moon, her silver dagger pressed into the hollow of a tree. It glowed faintly—enchanted to bind truth.

She had set the trap in Jayden's quarters. Not to kill Naela—but to expose her.

Jayden entered the tent moments before Naela. His face unreadable, his aura calm—but the storm inside him raged.

When Naela entered, the dagger pulsed. Gloria stepped out from the shadows.

"Tell me, Naela," Gloria said, voice honeyed with venom. "Which King did you kill first?"

Naela's smile never faltered. "Which king didn't deserve it?"

--

Jayden's voice was soft. "You lied to me."

Naela met his eyes. "No. I simply didn't tell you what I was."

"And what are you?" he asked.

She stepped closer, dagger to her own throat. "A mirror. You're becoming what I once was, Jayden. Ruthless. Strategic. Dangerous. But unlike me, you're still... pure."

Gloria growled, "You poisoned an empire."

Naela turned to her. "And saved a continent."

Jayden finally spoke: "Then prove it. Help us take down Otieno's heart."

Naela hesitated—then knelt. "Then let me be your blade."

---

Otieno sat on his black marble throne. His informant, cloaked in blue silk, whispered: "They've found the serpent. But they're feeding her… not caging her."

Otieno smirked. "Fools. Let her bite."

He stood, gazing at a portrait of Jayden's mother—burned and defaced.

"Jayden Ochieng… you carry two names. One given. One earned. But both… cursed."

He turned toward the growing storm outside.

"The war begins now."

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