He faced her fully now. “Thaelyn said that she wasn’t sure.”
“She’sshaken,” Elyria snapped. “They used every enchantmentthey could, fractured her senses, masked her dragon, bent her thoughts. And through all that, she still felthim. Do you understand what that means? Even when every magic was twisted against her, the shadow ofKaen’saura bled through.”
Varian shook his head slowly. “We don’t have proof. We cannot declare treason on the future King based on feelings, or on fragments of pain.”
“Are you saying that we should wait until there’s proof in blood?” Her voice dropped. “You think I wanted to believe it? That I want to see the darkness I once glimpsed as prophecy fulfilled? I don’t want to think our son might have aligned himself with something vile, horrible, and ancient.”
He said nothing.
Elyria stepped closer. “I watched you today. You hesitated. I understand why. He’s our son. But he wasalwaysclever enough to twist truth into virtue. He knows how to stand behind masks and maneuver in shadows. And now, he’s surrounded himself with loyalists who answer only tohim. Scholars. Aides. Mages who never declare their alignment.”
“He is preparing to rule.”
“No, Varian,” she said. “He is preparing for something darker.”
He clenched his jaw, but doubt finally began to fracture the certainty in his eyes. “What would he gain by taking her?”
“Control,” she whispered. “Over Aether. Over the storm dragons. Over theveil itself. Thaelyn is the last of the Taranveil bloodline. She carries the blood that sealed the rift. She and Nyxariel are more than bonded; they are keys.”
Varian exhaled, running a hand down his beard, slow and measured. “If you’re right–”
“Iamright,” she said, and softened only slightly. “I fear Kaen’s no longer planning. He’s already moving. The necromancers stir in the west. Spells are being cast in corners that I cannot see. And Kaen has that same look your deceased brother once did before the rebellion.”
The King looked sharply at her. “Do not compare them.”
“I’m not,” she said quietly. “I’m warning you. Kaen is smarter. Colder. And he believes it’shistime.”
They stood in silence for a moment, husband and wife, King and Queen, sovereign and seer. Finally, Varian’s shoulders sagged. “Then we watch him.”
Elyria nodded. “Carefully. Without tipping our hand.”
“I’ll move discreet loyalists into his retinue.”
“I’ll do what I must. And if the threads pull me further into the dark, I’ll follow them. For Thaelyn. For Thorne. For the realm.”
Varian turned back toward the window. Outside, the sky had deepened to indigo. The stars were not yet visible, but something in the air had shifted; he could feel it now. That strange hum. A pause before the storm.
“You believe there’s still time?” he asked.
Her voice was soft but firm behind him. “There always is, until there isn’t.”
Chapter
Fifty
The moon was shining brightly by the time Thorne returned from his meeting with Commander Dareth. His jaw was tight, his strides silent. The corridors of the Asgar Training Academy had long since emptied for curfew, leaving only the low flicker of blue-tinted lanterns to guide him through the east wing. He reached the door to his chamber and pushed it open.
Thaelyn was curled on his bed, a book open beside her and tray of fruit and cheese untouched on the table. She looked up as he entered, her eyes flickering with quiet welcome. She wore one of his spare shirts, oversized and loose, the sleeves rolled up around her slender arms. Her hair was still damp from the bath.
Thorne exhaled slowly, then closed the door behind him.
"How did it go?" she asked, her voice soft but clear.
He crossed the room, sat beside her, and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Kieran agreed. You’ll stay here until it’s safe. No more dorms. No more shared walls with people we can’t trust."
She nodded, though part of her gaze drifted toward the window, where Nyxariel's silhouette could be made out circling above. "I can feel her again. Not completely but she's closer. We’re repairing the bond that was silenced."
He turned toward her and gently took her hand. "We’ll get all of it back. I swear." They sat like that for a long while, neither of them needing words. Outside, a gentle knock echoed against the chamber door. Thorne rose with reluctance and opened it. Standingthere was Queen Elyria, cloaked in midnight silk, her presence serene but unreadable.
