Kael bristled. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know exactly what I saw.”
Kael’s gaze sharpened.
“I went to deliver the news about the spreading Veil,” Thauren said. “I found Alarik in Maris’s chamber.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Thauren went on, calm and steady. “He was in a chair, fully clothed, Kael. Asleep. Not her bed. Sitting like a sentry. She was staring out at the waves when I entered, still in her gown.”
Kael breathed a sigh of relief.
Thauren nodded.
Kael turned away, throat tight.
“I’m not saying it didn’t mean something,” Thauren added. “I’m saying, maybe it meant something different than what you feared when you went by her rooms last night.”
Kael exhaled slowly, the rage and guilt a tangled knot in his chest.
Grief for the way she used to look at him, when it was just she and him. For the version of them that existed before gods and war and betrayals carved lines between their hearts.
Thauren clapped a hand to Kael’s shoulder, firm and grounding as he drifted out to follow the others.
-Maris-
The knock came just before midnight, a request to meet in the war room, yet again.
She dressed hurriedly and rushed to the tower.
A scout entered, soaked to the bone, his face pale beneath his hood. Dark blood shaded muck covered his boots, chest heaving as every pair of eyes around the table turned to him at once.
He didn’t wait to be addressed. Just said the words:
“House Liraeth is gone.”
The silence that followed was worse than a scream.
Kael stiffened in his seat. Alarik cursed under his breath. Thauren leaned forward, knuckles whitening on the edge of the table.
Maris didn’t move.
The scout continued, voice trembling. “The stronghold is dark. No torches. No patrols. We sent ravens, and the last rider never made it back. It’s like they’ve vanished into the Veil itself.”
Or worse, Maris thought. Aligned.
With them. With Eiren.
Kael’s voice was low and sharp. “You’re sure?”
The scout nodded. “Yes, my king.”
Thunder cracked outside the high windows. Somewhere across the sea, more terrors were being born.
Alarik leaned forward. “House Liraeth holds most of the coast. If they’ve defected,”
“They’ll open the way for a siege,” Thauren said grimly. “An army could march right through.”
