I couldn’t get Varek’s message out of my head: You are looking in the wrong kingdom.
Kael barely said a word after we found it. He barked orders, set more guards, doubled the patrols, sent riders toward the borders—anything to look busy. But none of it mattered to me. It didn’t answer the one question burning in my chest.
Why would Varek tell us to search somewhere else? And why did he sound so certain—like he knew exactly what happened to my parents?
I didn’t want more secrets. I wanted answers. Real ones. Not another locked door or a vague promise that Kael would eventually tell me the truth.
So I went back to the archive on my own.
The hidden room felt heavy and silent when I slipped inside. Dust hung in the air. Shelves reached into darkness. Somewhere, my parents’ records sat wai
