He leaned back in his chair. “Before you leave, I want you both to speak with the Queen. She’s seen things, more than I understand. She asked to see you personally.”
Thorne’s expression shifted. A flicker of something uncertain passed across his face; it quickly buried itself.
“She’ll be waiting in her scrying chamber. You’ll need to leave the palace in the morning; there’s a storm building to the south. If the enemy plans to strike, they’ll use the weather as cover.”
The doors opened behind them with a soft creak before either of them could speak.
“Or perhaps,” came a smooth, confident voice, “she should stay.”
Kaen entered like a shadow draped in silk. He wore navy robes trimmed with gold, more formal than Thorne’s leathers, but not overly regal. His hair was golden-brown and swept back from a face too perfect, a sharpened jaw, high cheekbones, and the faintest curve of a smirk at his mouth. His eyes were moltenamber, too warm to be trusted. When he smiled, it never quite reached them.
Thaelyn stiffened instinctively.
“My apologies, Father,” Kaen said easily, stepping into the circle of firelight. “I was told the meeting had ended.”
King Varian’s jaw ticked. “It has not.”
Kaen’s eyes slid to Thaelyn, slow and deliberate. “Then allow me a moment to offer counsel.” He approached the table with the confidence of a man who assumed his voice would be heard. “Thaelyn should remain at the palace. She could study with the ancient masters housed here, those who served under Aeromir’s last court. Some still linger in the lower archives. They might awaken things even the Asgar Training Academy has forgotten.”
Thorne’s face darkened, but he said nothing yet.
Kaen turned his full attention to Thaelyn. “You’ve only just begun to understand your potential. You need more than trials and blades. You need prophecy. Legacy. Blood memory.”
There was a pause, just long enough for tension to stretch.
“And?” Thaelyn asked, her voice careful.
Kaen’s smile grew. “And I can protect you while you learn. You would want for nothing here. You could walk the halls freely. Eat beside royals. Be seen as you were meant to be.”
She studied him. “And what am I meant to be?”
“Queen,” Kaen said simply. The word hit the air like a blade unsheathed.
Thorne stood. The movement was slow, deliberate, but crackling with suppressed fury. His shadows stretched long behind him as he stepped between Kaen and Thaelyn, not entirely blocking her, but no longer standing at her side.
“Back off,” Thorne said. His voice was low. Dangerous.
Kaen’s lips twitched upward. “Protective, aren’t we?”
“She’s not a piece on your board.”
“No,” Kaen agreed smoothly. “She’s the storm rising off the board. That’s why she needs someone who can anchor her. And I need to be betrothed, married, and have an heir when I am King.”
Thaelyn rose then, stepping to Thorne’s side, her chin lifting.
“I can anchor myself,” she said.
Kaen’s expression shifted, just barely, a flicker of something wounded, or more likely, offended. “Think carefully, Thaelyn. This path you’re walking will make you a target. Thorne can’t protect you as I can. I will be the King, and my children will be next in the succession. That is not in his future. You may wake one day and find the Asgard Training Academy burned. The dragons hunted. And then what?”
She met his gaze, unwavering. “Then I will still have my bond. My storm. And my choice.”
Kaen said nothing. But his eyes burned gold as he inclined his head slightly to the King. Then he turned and left. The door shut behind him with a whisper.
The King sighed. “He believes he is securing the future of the throne.”
Thorne turned to him, voice clipped. “You’ll let him pursue her?”
“It is a rather good idea. Especially if war is imminent, it makes sense to have him married and to start creating an heir. I haven’t thought much about it. I’m not going to rule on it now,” Varian said. Then, he turned to Thaelyn, “But know this: he will not stop. He believes his future depends on you.”
