Chapter 19
1440 Words
Serena stood in the dim corridor just outside Elias’s chambers.
The torchlight painted long shadows on the stone walls. Her heart pounded, not exactly with fear, but something raw and urgent.
Elias’s door opened silently.
He stepped out, cloak drawn tight, his eyes flickered to Serena’s waiting form. “You requested to see me?” he asked, his voice low and composed.
She nodded and stepped into the light. “Yes. I have information.”She said her voice was steady, but her fingers curled at her sides.
She wasn’t just coming with secrets she was coming with desire, something she couldn’t deny even now.
Elias studied her. “Go on.”
Serena took a breath. “Lord Lucien is shifting his pieces. He sent new orders last night. I overheard a messenger talking about secret guard rotations and a weakness to exploit.” She paused, watching his face. “It means he knows more than we thought.”
Elias’s jaw tightened. “Very good.” He turned and walked a few steps, then stopped. “Why bring this to me?”
Serena stepped closer. “Because I’m loyal to you. And because I want him to see me not just as Aric’s wife, but as someone who matters.” Her last words hovered between them. Something unspoken, dangerous.
Elias’s eyes flickered with something like appreciation and amusement “Loyalty is a rare gift,” he said softly. “You’ll be rewarded.” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Stay close. Watch him. Feed me what you learn.”
Serena swallowed hard. “Yes, my lord.” she said her voice was quiet, but strong.
He leaned in. “And Serena..remember. I see what you feel. I see what you won’t say.” he told her, his voice almost a whisper
She nodded, unable to look away. The corridor felt smaller now, the shadows pressing in.
When Elias turned and disappeared behind his door, Serena remained standing.
Her breath came fast. She clenched her fist, hiding the ache and the hope both.
The echo of the servant’s muffled cries still lingered in Serena’s ears as she stood quietly by the door, watching Elias wipe the blood from his fingers like it was dust.
“You look pale,” he said without glancing at her. “I thought you said you could handle this.”
“I can,” she replied, but her voice betrayed the weight in her chest.
Elias turned to her then, eyes gleaming with something cold. “Good. Because now I need you to do something far more delicate.”
He handed her a folded piece of parchment unmarked, sealed with a thin black thread.
“Place this behind the loose panel in Lucien’s study,” he said. “The one near the hearth. Do not open it. Do not ask. Just make sure it’s found.”
She stared at the parchment. It was so light, yet felt heavier than any blade. “What’s in it?”
“A nudge,” Elias said with a thin smile. “A little truth wrapped in a lie. Enough to make him question his walls.”
Serena’s fingers curled around the message. She gave a slow nod, turned and left.
Later that evening, cloaked, she slipped through the quiet corridors of the estate quietly.
She knew the guards’ schedules. Elias had made sure of that.
On her way to the study, her steps faltered near the window overlooking the main courtyard.
There he was Lucien.
Still distant and alone.
He wasn’t facing her, but even now, her breath caught just seeing him. Strong posture, unreadable expression.
A man ruled by shadows and silence.
“He looks through you like glass,” Elias had once said that to her
Maybe. But a small part of her still wished he’d turn. Just once.
She inhaled sharply and stepped away from the window.
The study door creaked open, and she moved quickly inside.
The hearth was cold, but she found the panel. Her fingers hesitated before slipping the parchment inside.
Then she stood for a moment in the quiet, staring at the empty room that still smelled faintly of smoke and pine.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to no one.
Then she vanished into the hall, shadows swallowing her whole.
Lucien stood at the edge of the hallway, just out of sight from his study.
He had been heading back when he felt it a shift in the air, the soft sound of footsteps that didn’t belong.
Then came the faint creak of his study door opening.
He didn’t move he just stood waiting while the seconds dragged.
When the door closed again, he stepped out from the corner very quietly.
His eyes followed the figure turning the corner at the end of the hallway.
Something about the movement tugged at him.
It was familiar. Too familiar.
The light caught the edge of her cloak.
A glint of dark hair.
Selene? He thought
His breath caught, but he didn’t call out.
He didn’t need to.
The scent lingering in the air already told him. A faint trace of roses. She always smelled like that.
His jaw tightened.
She was supposed to be gone.
Lucien pushed open the door to his study and stepped inside.
The room was untouched at least on the surface.
But the air still held the warmth of someone’s presence.
His presence and also hers.
He scanned the room slowly.
His eyes landed and stopped on the hearth.
Something about the way the ash near the bricks was shifted made him frown.
He moved closer to the hearth , he knelt, and brushed his fingers along the stone.
Click.
The panel gave way.
Lucien pulled out a folded piece of parchment, sealed with a black thread.
He broke it open, eyes narrowing as he read.
It was a message from Elias.
It was short, sharp and carefully written to stir doubt.
He wasn’t just warning him, he was setting a bait.
He stared at the words, heart steady, but something inside him turning cold.
Why would Selene be the one to deliver this?
She had nothing to gain, unless Elias had offered her something he couldn’t, or maybe she was never on his side at all.
He stood slowly, the message still in hand. He walked to his desk and sat down, eyes fixed on the fire crackling in the hearth.
The scent of roses still hung in the room. Sweet, soft and wrong.
Lucien leaned back in his chair, the message burning in his fingers.
She had come into his study.
Planted a message.
Walked out like a shadow.
And left him with more questions than answers.
But now he knew one thing for sure.
Selene was playing a part in this game.
And soon, he would find out exactly what that part was.
No matter what it cost.
The ward was quiet, filled only with the low murmur of pain and soft shuffling.
Elira moved between the wounded, her hands steady as she cleaned and wrapped their injuries.
Two soldiers lay side by side and as she bent over one, changing the bandage on his shoulder, the other spoke up.
“Have you heard the stories of Eryndor?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“The great knight?” the second replied. “Yeah. They say he fought like no one else that he disappeared during the last war.”
“Some say he died,”
Elira paused slightly, her fingers stilling on the bandage.
Eryndor.
She’d heard that name before.
Lucien.
He’d mentioned it in passing, weeks ago, while she was cleaning up a deep wound on his arm.
She hadn’t thought much of it then just another strange name in a world full of them.
But now hearing it again, something tugged at her.
She finished her task in silence, not asking questions.
That evening, back in her small home, she moved through her kitchen, trying to distract herself by making something to eat.
She tied her apron and lit the stove, chopping vegetables with practiced ease.
“ Eryndor where have I heard it beyond Lucien? Why does it feel like more than a name?” She asked herself
As she stirred the pot, a sharp flash hit her.
A memory
A battlefield.
Smoke in the air.
Screams in the distance.
And a man.
Tall, his armor bloodied.
Golden eyes locked onto hers.
He reached for her.
Elira gasped. The wooden spoon dropped from her hand.
Her knees buckled.
The world spun.
She collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
- Writer
