THE BETRAYAL
I found out about Lucian on a Sunday.
Not through surveillance. Not through Soren’s intelligence network or Cavendish’s council channels.
I found out because I turned into the east wing corridor at the wrong time and heard his voice through a partially open door.
I would have kept walking.
But something in his tone stopped me.
I stood still.
And then I heard the voice on the other end of his communication device.
I had only heard it once before.
Garrett of Ashvale.
Everything in me went still.
I stayed where I was, just outside the line of sight, the door cracked enough to carry sound but not enough to reveal me. The corridor behind me remained empty, silent, stretching long and cold.
Lucian wasn’t whispering.
He wasn’t afraid of being heard.
Or he believed he wa
