Chapter 2 Elara's POV

"You need to leave, Elara."

Lena's voice was cold, but her eyes weren't. They flicked across my face like she was searching for something-weakness, maybe. Or guilt.

Too bad she wasn't going to find it either.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. "That sounded more like a threat than advice."

"It wasn't a threat," she said, walking further into the room like she owned it. "If I wanted to threaten you, I would've done it in front of the Council."

I raised a brow. "Afraid I'd embarrass you in front of Kael?"

That hit. Not hard, but enough.

Lena's expression didn't crack, but her fingers twitched by her side. "You think he brought you back here because he missed you?" she said. "This is about politics. Strategy. He needed someone disposable to hold the Alliance back. That's what you are."

"Disposable?" I pushed off the wall, stepping toward her. "You mean like I was when I got dragged out of here in chains? Or when my brother was slaughtered and no one buried him?"

Something flickered in her gaze.

Good.

"I'm not here for Kael," I said. "And I don't need him to want me for me to be dangerous."

She didn't answer right away. Then she turned toward the door.

"Just remember this," she said without looking at me, "he didn't survive the last time you broke him."

Then she left.

She didn't slam the door, but she didn't have to. The air she left behind felt just as sharp.

I stood there a moment, letting her words settle.

Kael hadn't looked broken when I saw him in the chamber. He looked like someone who couldn't be broken anymore. Someone who'd buried whatever softness he had and replaced it with steel.

But Lena's words-it wasn't what she said. It was how she said it.

Like she'd seen him bleed.

And maybe she had.

I dropped onto the edge of the bed and stared at the wall. I wasn't here for Kael. I wasn't here for apologies. This was about balance. Leverage. Keeping the North from marching into Blackthorn and burning it down.

But under all of that, I couldn't lie to myself.

I wanted answers.

I wanted to know why he did it.

I wanted to know why it still hurts like it just happened yesterday.

Sleep didn't come easy. And when it did, it was short.

I woke up to a sharp knock just after dawn.

Three times.

Fast, not protocol.

I grabbed the blade hidden in my boot and moved to the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, loud enough to carry.

Silence.

Then: "It's me."

My hand tightened around the hilt.

I opened the door.

Kael stood there. Hair damp. Shirt wrinkled like he hadn't slept. Eyes hard.

No guards. No Lena. Just him.

I didn't step back. He didn't step in.

"I need to show you something," he said.

My first thought was: trap.

My second thought was: good.

I followed him without asking questions.

The hall was quiet, dimly lit, and freezing. The warriors weren't training yet, and the servants stayed out of the way when they saw him. He didn't speak. Neither did I.

We passed through the old west wing, the part of the compound that used to house the archives. I knew the halls. But I didn't know where he was taking me.

Finally, he stopped at a narrow door tucked behind a pillar. It looked like it hadn't been opened in years. He pulled out a key and unlocked it.

"After you," he said.

I looked at him. "If this is where you dump bodies, I'm not impressed."

Kael didn't even blink. "If I wanted you dead, Elara, I'd have done it the second you walked in."

I stepped through the door.

It led to a narrow stone staircase. Dust coated the walls. No torches. Just darkness. Kael moved behind me and lit a lantern from the wall before closing the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To the truth."

He didn't say more.

We walked down the stairs, stone underfoot, silence between us. At the bottom was a chamber-small, sealed, and dry. Inside were three metal filing cabinets, a desk, and a box sealed with wax.

Kael walked to the desk and pulled out a folder.

He handed it to me.

"Read."

I opened it.

At first, it looked like standard military reports-movements, deployments, territory maps.

But then I saw the name.

Orin Wren.

My stomach tightened.

"These are classified," I said.

"They were," Kael said. "Until two weeks ago."

I read faster.

The report wasn't about Orin's challenge.

It was about surveillance.

He'd been working undercover in Blackthorn for months. Feeding the Alliance information. Strategic weaknesses. Troop numbers. Guard shifts.

He wasn't just a brother looking for justice.

He was a spy.

I dropped the folder on the desk and stepped back.

"No."

Kael watched me. Not smug. Not cold. Just steady.

"This is a lie."

"I thought that too," he said. "But we traced it. His contact in the East confirmed it. Even Lena didn't know."

"He would never-"

"He did," Kael said. "But he didn't do it for them. He did it for you."

I blinked.

"What?"

Kael stepped closer. "They told him if he got enough intel, they'd take you back. That they'd protect you from the fallout. That they'd make you something more."

I felt the ground shift under me.

No.

It couldn't be true.

"I wanted to kill him when I found out," Kael said. "But I couldn't. Not after I saw the recordings. Not after I realized he was trying to protect you, even while betraying me."

I looked at the file again, hands shaking.

It had dates. Transcripts. Recordings. One of them had Orin's voice. He sounded tired. Angry. Desperate.

"She's not safe there. If I can trade this intel, they'll extract her. I don't care what happens to me. Just get her out."

I stepped back like the words had hit me in the gut.

Everything I thought I knew cracked in half.

"He never told me," I said.

"Because he didn't want you to carry it," Kael said. "He made the choice. You weren't part of it."

I looked up at Kael, heart pounding.

"So why are you showing me this?"

"Because you deserve the truth."

That wasn't a real answer.

Kael was many things, but kind wasn't one of them.

"You could've destroyed this," I said.

"I almost did."

"But you didn't."

"No."

He stepped closer, until there was only air between us.

"Why?" I asked.

His eyes burned.

"Because I never wanted to lose you," he said, voice low. "And I did. Twice."

I didn't know what to say.

My throat tightened. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.

"Don't say things you don't mean," I whispered.

"I meant it then," he said. "I just didn't fight hard enough."

"And now?"

His silence said everything.

But before he could speak, the lantern flickered.

Footsteps echoed from the stairs above.

Kael's eyes went sharp.

He moved fast, grabbing my arm and pulling me to the far wall. We crouched low behind the filing cabinet just as the door creaked open.

Two men entered. I didn't recognize them. But I recognized the mark on their coats-Eastern Division. Rogue soldiers.

Not Blackthorn.

They moved straight to the box on the floor.

"They said it's here," one muttered. "Take it and move. We're not supposed to be seen."

The other cracked the seal and pulled out a scroll. Ancient. Gold thread.

Kael cursed under his breath.

I leaned in. "What is that?"

He didn't answer.

Because he couldn't.

Not without revealing that we were here.

The men turned, and for a second I thought they'd leave.

But then one paused.

Sniffed the air.

His head snapped toward us.

"Someone's here-"

Kael moved, fast.

Too fast for them to scream.

The first man hit the wall. The second tried to draw his blade, but I was already in motion, slamming mine into his thigh.

He collapsed.

Kael grabbed the scroll and shoved it into my hands.

"Go," he ordered. "Now."

"What the hell is this?"

"No time!"

We ran.

And behind us, somewhere deep in Blackthorn, a horn sounded.

It was the alarm,that alarm.