ALLURING : Between Two Realms

Chapter 18: The Broken Protocol

As night consumed the Human Realm, the Other Realm remained restless.

Inside Ravynn's mansion, silence sat heavily between him, Lord Caelum, and Lady Maerith. None of them had spoken for several minutes, yet the concern in the room felt louder than words.

The arrival of the provincial Elders was not something they could ignore. Not when all four provinces had entered Central without notice. Not when no royal witness had been summoned. Not when protocol itself had been broken.

Finally, Ravynn spoke. "I think we need to discuss this with Arjuna's father."

Lord Caelum lifted his gaze.

"Lord Alaric should be informed," Ravynn continued. "If the Elders are moving without announcement, the noble houses are at risk as much as the royal bloodlines."

Lady Maerith nodded slowly. "And Adelia will sense it soon enough, if she has not already."

Lord Caelum drew in a quiet breath.

"Let us see whether he is still awake at this hour."

Ravynn's gaze remained steady.

"I will mind-link him."

Lord Caelum shook his head slightly.

"No. Allow me."

There was something in his tone that made Ravynn pause. Caelum was not merely an older royal. He was one of the few who still carried the weight of old protocol in his bones. If he reached out to Alaric himself, the message would not sound like concern. It would sound like a warning.

Lord Alaric

"Stop pacing, darling," Adelia finally said from the wing chair.

Lord Alaric stopped near the window, then realized he had been walking the same path across his study for longer than he intended. It was a habit of his, one Adelia knew too well. Whenever worry settled too deeply in his mind, his body refused to remain still.

He turned toward her with a tired sigh.

"I do not like this."

"I know."

"The Elders from all provinces do not enter Central under sealed passage without reason."

Adelia's fingers tightened slightly around her cup of rose tea. Before she could answer, a knock came at the door.

Knock.

Knock.

"Father, may I come in?" Arjuna's voice sounded from outside.

Alaric pinched the bridge of his nose. Arjuna had felt it too. Of course he had.

"Come in, Arjuna."

The door opened slowly, and Arjuna peeked inside first. His eyes moved from his father to his mother before he stepped fully into the study and closed the door behind him.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" Adelia asked.

Arjuna's expression darkened.

"What are they doing here, Mother? Father?"

"We are not sure yet," Adelia answered, though concern had already softened her voice.

Alaric looked at his son. "Where is Aurelia?"

"On her way home," Arjuna said. "I asked her to return immediately."

"Good."

"Why are the Elders from all provinces here at once?" Arjuna asked.

Alaric was about to answer when a mind-link touched him. He stilled. The presence was familiar. Ancient. Royal.

Adelia noticed the change in him at once.

"Alaric?"

He lifted one hand slightly, asking for silence.

Alaric.

Lord Caelum. If Caelum could reach him through mind-link, then he was already somewhere within Central Province. Mind-link was useful among royals and nobles, but even it had limits. Distance remained one of them.

Yes, Lord Caelum, Alaric answered.

Caelum's voice entered his mind, low and grave.

Are you aware of the intrusion?

Yes, my lord. I am in my study with Adelia and Arjuna as we speak.

There was a pause.

And Aurelia?

Alaric's jaw tightened. He understood the concern immediately. With all provincial Elders gathered in Central, every remaining royal and noble bloodline had become vulnerable.

She is on her way home from a healer friend's house.

Good. Keep her close tonight.

Alaric glanced at Arjuna, whose eyes had narrowed as if trying to read the silence between thoughts.

This is not good, Alaric, Caelum continued. They are moving with purpose.

Do you know what they want?

Not yet. But we cannot allow them to meet unwitnessed.

Alaric's pulse tightened. What do you suggest?

A meeting tomorrow morning.

Ravynn's private meeting chamber.

No formal summons. No records. Only those whose loyalty can survive silence.

Alaric understood the weight behind those words. This was no ordinary discussion. This was the beginning of something far more dangerous.

Yes, my lord. We will come.

Bring Adelia. Bring Arjuna. Keep Aurelia near.

Understood.

The mind-link severed. For a moment, the study remained quiet.

Adelia set her cup down carefully. "What was that?"

Alaric looked at her, then at Arjuna.

"Lord Caelum is here."

Adelia's face changed. Not fear. Recognition.

"If Caelum came in person, then this is worse than we thought."

Alaric nodded slowly.

"He is calling for a meeting tomorrow morning."

Arjuna straightened. "A meeting with whom?"

Alaric looked toward the window, where the silver sky over Central had darkened beyond the estate grounds.

"With those who still remember that the Elders were never meant to rule alone."

Once Lord Caelum had severed the mind-link, Ravynn wasted no more time. If the meeting was to be held in secrecy, then the summons could not pass through ordinary hands.

There was only one person in the realm he trusted with that kind of silence.

The Royal Witch.

Royal Witch POV

I was stirring the potion when I sensed him.

His presence entered my sanctuary before his body did.

Cold.

Ancient.

Royal.

The flame beneath my copper cauldron bent low, as though bowing before a name no one dared speak anymore. A chill spread through my veins, slow and deliberate.

It had been almost a hundred years since he last stepped foot into my sanctuary in person.

A hundred years since the old blood had crossed my threshold.

I stopped stirring.

The potion continued moving on its own, thick and dark beneath the silver smoke curling toward the ceiling. Then I walked to the door and opened it before he had the chance to knock.

Ravynn stood beyond it, tall beneath the moonlight, his silver hair falling over his shoulders like something carved from the realm's forgotten winter. His expression was calm, but I knew better than to trust calmness in a royal who had begun to remember.

I lowered my head and bowed. Not out of habit.

Out of fear. Out of respect. Out of loyalty to a throne the realm had been taught to mourn quietly.

"What can I do for thee, my Sire?"

His eyes darkened.

"There is no throne for that title."

I kept my head bowed.

"A throne may sleep beneath dust," I said softly. "But blood does not forget what it is."

For a moment, silence settled between us. Then he stepped inside. The candles along the wall flared once as he passed them. Not bright. Not warm. Only aware.

I closed the door behind him.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"A gathering," he said.

The word was simple. But in his mouth, it sounded like a storm being given permission to enter. I turned toward him slowly.

"Whose names shall be called?"

"Only those who can still keep silence," he replied. "A handful of royals and nobles from each province. Not the loud ones. Not the ambitious ones. Those whose loyalty has not been bought by the Elders."

My fingers tightened around the edge of my sleeve.

"Then the hour is grave."

"It is."

"And the Elders?"

"Must not know."

A faint smile touched my mouth, though there was no joy in it.

"Then thou hast come to the right witch."

Ravynn reached into his coat and withdrew a folded parchment sealed in dark wax. No crest marked it. No royal stamp. Nothing that could accuse him if it was found.

Wise.

Or desperate.

Perhaps both.

I accepted the parchment with both hands.

"Send the invitation tonight," he said. "No messengers. No records. No trace."

"And where shall I bring them?"

"My private meeting chamber. Tomorrow morning."

I looked up. His gaze held mine. For the first time in centuries, I saw something beneath his stillness.

Not uncertainty. Not fear. Recognition trying to claw its way through a sealed door.

"What stirs, my Sire?" I asked quietly.

The Nuummite in his hand pulsed once. Blue light slipped between his fingers. My breath caught. Ravynn looked down at the stone, his gaze sharpening.

"What is it?" he asked.

I lowered my eyes to the light bleeding from between his fingers. So it had begun. The old verse had found its tongue at last.

"The prophecy," I whispered.

The word moved through the sanctuary like a blade through water. The potion behind me stopped stirring. Even the smoke froze.

Ravynn's jaw tightened.

"What prophecy?"

My heart sank. Of course. Even he did not remember.

I looked at him then, at the royal blood standing before me with power in his veins and absence in his eyes.

"Not all things forgotten are lost, Your Highness," I said softly. "Some were merely hidden where cowards would not think to kneel."

His gaze darkened.

"Do you remember it?"

"Enough to fear its waking."

Silence settled between us. Then he held out the parchment.

"Send the summons."

"As thou commandest."

I bowed again, deeper this time.

When I rose, he was already turning toward the door.