CHAPTER 006: THE QUIET GAME

The note burned against my ribs as I stepped into the war room.

Cassair was already there—of course, he was. Pouring Kaelen a drink, talking too softly, too familiarly. Like the betrayal hadn't already begun.

Kaelen turned when he saw me. His face eased. That rare softness only I saw.

"You're late," he said.

"Am I?" I replied, light and sweet. "Apologies. I was… thinking."

Cassair gave me a polite nod. "Good evening, Lady Valtore."

"Dravik," I corrected. "Let's not pretend we're still enemies."

He smiled. It didn't reach his eye—the one that wasn't covered by the black patch.

"We never were, not really," he said.

That smile used to unsettle me. Now it made my fingers itch for steel.

Kaelen gestured to the map spread across the table. "There was another border shift. Valtore lands, northern edge. Someone's pressing in."

"Do we know who?"

"Unofficially?" Cassair said, tracing a line with his finger. "We suspect remnants of the Myron Syndicate. Or Noctem testing a flank."

"Convenient," I murmured.

Kaelen glanced at me. "You don't think it's a coincidence."

"No," I said. "I think someone's trying to distract you."

Cassair tilted his head. "From what?"

I met his gaze dead-on. "From what's already rotting inside your house."

Silence fell like a blade.

Kaelen's jaw ticked.

Cassair only smiled again.

"Rot always smells," he said. "And I haven't noticed a thing."

I stepped around the table, pretending to study the map. "Some poisons are slow. You only feel them when it's too late."

I felt him watching me.

Good.

Let him wonder.

Kaelen stepped beside me, voice low. "You're tense."

"I'm surrounded," I said.

"By who?"

I looked up at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Cassair chuckled behind us. "You two are quite the pair. I should charge admission."

Kaelen ignored him. "Walk with me later."

"I'd like that," I said.

Lie.

I'd like to search your friend's room.

Cassair lifted his glass. "To peace," he said.

I touched mine to his. "To justice."

His fingers tightened just slightly on the glass.

I saw it.

And I smiled.

Talon was exactly where I expected him to be: alone, armed, and annoyed.

He stood at the edge of the eastern training field, watching two junior guards spar as it offended him. Sword in hand, jaw tight, mind elsewhere.

Perfect.

I stopped beside him, close enough to make him twitch.

"You're following me now?" he said without turning.

"No," I replied. "I'm interrupting you. Slight difference."

"What do you want, Valtore?"

Still refusing to use my married name. Cute.

"I need a second pair of eyes," I said.

"Use Kaelen's."

"I'm looking for a pair that doesn't trust me."

That got his attention. He glanced at me, cautious. "Why?"

"Because the ones who don't trust me tend to see things more clearly."

Talon wiped his blade on a cloth. "What is this, exactly? A trap? A test?"

"A warning," I said.

He turned fully now. "Speak plain, Lady."

"I think Cassair is hiding something," I said.

Talon blinked. Once. "And what would make you think that?"

"My gut."

"Not evidence?"

"Not yet."

He narrowed his eyes. "That's not good enough."

"Then make it good enough. Watch him."

Talon crossed his arms. "What's Kaelen say?"

"He doesn't know."

That landed. I saw it in the slight shift of his shoulders.

"You think Cassair's a threat to Kaelen," he said.

"I know it."

Talon looked down at the training field, jaw tight.

"He saved Kaelen's life once," he said. "Pulled him from a failed raid, carried him three miles bleeding."

"And he may be the reason Kaelen needs saving again."

We stood in silence for a moment. Just long enough for the weight to settle.

"I'm not asking you to pick sides," I added.

"You're just asking me to betray one of them."

"I'm asking you to be smart," I said. "If I'm wrong, you've wasted nothing. If I'm right…"

He looked at me then—looked.

"You think Kaelen's in danger."

I nodded. "I think he's already bleeding. He just doesn't know where from yet."

Talon studied me for a beat longer, then finally said, "I'll watch."

"Silently."

"Obviously."

I turned to go, but his voice stopped me.

"If this is some long con—"

"It's not."

"You care if Kaelen lives?"

I paused.

Then turned just enough to let him hear it.

"Yes," I said softly. "That's why this is going to hurt."

Cassair's quarters were tucked in the north wing—far from the guards, the council, and Kaelen.

Of course, they were.

No one kept a room that quiet unless they had something to hide.

I waited until midnight.

Talon had done his part: redirected the hallway patrol with a weapons "discrepancy." Gave me exactly twelve minutes of silence. No witnesses. No excuses.

The lock was older than it looked. Cassair liked appearances. I liked knives.

Two clicks and the door gave way.

The room was dim. Sparse. Everything in its place—clean, polished, unfeeling. Just like him.

I moved fast. Dresser drawers. Under rugs. Behind paintings. I wasn't looking for a map. Or a weapon. I wanted something Cassair would think no one would look for.

Paper.

I found it tucked into a false-bottomed drawer in his desk—a thick envelope sealed in crimson wax.

The seal was broken.

Inside was a single folded letter and a crest I didn't recognize at first—three overlapping circles with a line through the centre.

Then it hit me.

Noctem.

The paper smelled faintly of smoke and iron. The letter was short—coded but clear enough.

 "Phase One complete. The heir suspects nothing. Phase Two begins upon marriage confirmation."

No date. No signature. Just that chilling symbol.

I stood there, heart pounding.

Cassair had contact with Noctem. Before the wedding.

Before the assassination.

I tucked the letter into my sleeve and replaced the drawer cover carefully.

Then I paused.

There, in the fireplace, sat a single sheet of parchment—half burned, edges curling. The name at the top hadn't yet turned to ash.

Sereya.

I didn't need to see the rest.

I left the room silently, locked the door behind me, and walked the hall like nothing had changed.

But everything had.

Kaelen found me on the balcony.

The moon was high, casting everything in silver. The same balcony where we first touched without meaning to. Where he first looked at me like I wasn't a threat—but a question he wanted to solve.

He stepped beside me, silent.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

"I wasn't trying," I said.

He leaned on the railing, arms crossed. "You're quieter lately."

"So are you."

"That's never a good sign."

We stood there in the dark, not touching, but close enough that I could feel the warmth of him. The weight of his breath. The thing I almost believed in.

"I meant what I said the other night," he murmured.

"Which part?"

"That you're the only one I don't regret."

I closed my eyes.

Don't believe him. Not yet.

"Do you believe me?" he asked.

I turned and met his gaze. It was soft. Open.

I wanted to scream.

Instead, I nodded. "Yes."

Lie.

He stepped closer, hand brushing mine.

And I let him.

But only for a moment.

Then I pulled away, not harshly. Just enough for him to feel the difference.

Kaelen's eyes searched mine. "Did I lose you?"

"No," I said.

Lie.

"Then why do you feel so far away?"

Because I found the fire, I wanted to say. And it's coming for you next.

I gave him the smal

lest smile I could manage. The one that used to mean something.

"Not far," I said. "Just… thinking."

He didn't press.

He just stood beside me as the wind picked up, cold and clean.

And I counted my heartbeats—

One for my father.

One for the lie.

One for the shot I knew I'd have to take.