Chapter.27
Thorns in the Court
>The Hollow War I
---
"The deeper the rose roots grow, the sharper its thorns will strike."
Ancient Proverb of the Crimson Chamber
---
The Sanctuary Tower – Arcanhelm's eastern fringe
The rain had not ceased.
Outside the stone-glass windows of the ancient tower, Arcanhelm was cloaked in a veil of fog and wet sorrow. The city was breathing unease. Under its cobbled skin, secrets slithered.
Kael stood in silence beside the rusted brazier. Lireen knelt nearby, her hands brushing the spines of ancient scrolls sprawled on the stone floor. The flicker of the dying fire kissed her face with orange light, but her eyes remained shadowed.
> "They're moving," she said at last. Her voice was hoarse. "My brother... he's begun the purge."
Kael's eyes didn't leave the flame. "And the Tribunal?"
> "Complicit. Or blind. Maybe both. The bloodlines that remember are being watched. Or worse."
Kael reached for the blade resting at the table's edge. Not a weapon of war, but a ceremonial dagger the kind used in nobility oaths.
> "Then it's begun. Not the war outside. The one within."
---
Inner Court – Hall of Verdicts
The Court had never been so quiet.
The ten marble thrones of judgment stood occupied, draped in silver and crimson, and yet none dared to speak first. At their center, High Prince Calven Velmire stood before the altar of ancestral verdict. His black gloves shone with water from the rain he hadn't wiped away.
> "Lady Lireen Velmire," he spoke slowly, carefully. "Has betrayed blood and tradition."
Gasps. Then stillness.
> "She has aligned herself with the Architect's remnants. She is no longer protected by Rite of Inheritance."
The statement was not just exile. It was erasure.
From the side, Sir Denlor stepped forward, a scroll in his hands, sealed in black wax.
> "By the ruling of this Court, effective tonight, any house that aids Lireen Velmire or the one called Kael is considered enemy of the Crown."
No dissent. Only nods.
The thorns had begun to pierce.
---
Secret Cloister beneath the Outer Wall
Kael and Lireen stared down at a map etched into the stone floor no ink, just heat-burned lines that moved when touched by blood.
> "There," Lireen said, pointing. "That mark... it's not on any of the kingdom's maps."
Kael traced the line. It pulsed faintly.
> "The Architect's prison. Or at least, part of it."
> "And my family knew. That's why they kept the Thorn Relic hidden."
She unwrapped the velvet bundle between them: a silver crown twisted into a rose. In the center, a single thorn tipped with crimson glass.
> "This isn't just a relic, Kael. It's the key."
> "Then it's time we plant it."
---
House Drelvan – Northern Wing, Hours Later
In another part of Arcanhelm, not all were sleeping.
Lady Seralyne paced before her candlelit chamber. Her hair was unbound, her robe soaked with dew. Before her, a letter burned slowly in the fireplace.
> "So... Lireen has chosen defiance. And the boy with her chooses silence."
Behind her, a voice whispered, cloaked in shadows.
> "They'll choose more than that soon."
> "And if they awaken the Hollow Gate?"
Silence.
Then:
> "Then the war ends before it ever begins."
---
At the Edge of the Lower Ring – Just Before Dawn
Kael wrapped Lireen's shoulders with the old traveler's cloak. She flinched, not from cold but from the weight of memory.
> "Do you regret it?" he asked.
> "No." Her voice cracked. "But I fear it."
> "Then we walk into fear together."
They turned away from the sanctuary, away from the court that had abandoned truth, and walked into the misty path toward the Vale of Thorns.
The place where the Hollow War would begin.
But not with swords.
With secrets.
With truth.
And with pain.
---
📌 Highlight Teaser:
> Exiled and hunted, Kael and Lireen begin their silent campaign to unearth the truth buried beneath Arcanhelm. As the court tightens its grip, ancient relics and family betrayals converge in deadly rhythm. The Hollow War is no longer whispers it's roots, thorns, and blooming rebellion.
Next: Chapter 28 – "The Feather and the Fang" 🪶🩸