Chapter 11 – The Observatory Pact
1073 Words
The clock struck 11:42 PM.
The silence in Blackthorn felt heavier than usual, like the whole estate was holding its breath.
Aria stood at the edge of the grand staircase, dressed in black from head to toe. Her hair was tied back, her eyes unreadable in the faint hallway light.
She clutched the Vault keycard in one hand… and a flash drive in the other containing all the files she and Lucien had managed to save before Ronan’s raid.
Lucien was still missing.
No call. No sign.
The image Ronan had dropped at her feet haunted her—Lucien’s unconscious body, bloodied, surrounded by masked guards bearing the Vale insignia.
Aria had no choice.
If she didn’t go… Lucien would die.
And worse, she’d never uncover what her mother died protecting.
She exhaled slowly, then walked into the night.
The observatory was an abandoned dome that sat on the highest cliff edge of the estate’s northern grounds. Once built to chart the stars, now it watched over a kingdom of shadows.
Fog crept around her ankles as she approached, her footsteps muffled on the gravel path.
The dome’s entrance was already open.
No guards.
No lights.
Just silence.
Until—
“You came.”
Ronan’s voice echoed from the shadows. Smooth. Calm. Laced with that same deadly charm that had once intrigued her.
Aria stepped inside, keeping her distance. “Where is Lucien?”
He emerged from the dark, dressed in a tailored coat, gloves on, eyes gleaming with something far too close to obsession.
“Safe. For now.”
“I want proof,” she demanded.
He raised a hand.
A nearby monitor flickered on.
Lucien tied to a chair, but conscious now. Bruised. Alive. His eyes locked onto hers through the screen.
“Aria don’t—!”
The monitor went black.
Aria’s heart nearly stopped. She turned back to Ronan.
“You monster.”
Ronan tilted his head. “Monster? No. I’m just the one unafraid to use the truth.”
“You’re manipulating it,” she spat. “You twisted everything my mother died for.”
He stepped closer. “Your mother wanted to destroy the Vault… because she saw it as a prison. But it was meant to be freedom. Control the Vault, Aria… and we control every elite legacy in the country. Every mask, every heir, every empire.”
“I don’t care about legacy,” she said coldly. “I care about people.”
Ronan paused.
Then quietly, almost vulnerably he said, “What if I told you this was never about the Vault?”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
He took a slow breath. “I saw you once… before all this. Before Lucien ever pulled you into his world. You were walking out of that bookstore on Monroe Street. You smiled at the clerk and bought two books you didn’t even look at. You weren’t rich. You weren’t powerful. But you glowed.”
Her breath caught.
“You followed me?”
“I remembered you,” he said. “That terrified me.”
Aria didn’t move. “So you built an empire of lies to get close?”
“I didn’t need the lies. Just the truth,” he said, voice low. “And the truth is we’re the same. You and I. Built from pain. Shaped by betrayal. But more than anything… we want to matter.”
Aria’s voice cracked. “Lucien matters.”
A flicker of something crossed Ronan’s face, jealousy? Sadness?
“Lucien’s weakness is love,” he said. “That’s how I’ll break him.”
Her fists clenched. “You won’t touch him again.”
He stepped closer. “Then unlock the Vault. Finish what your bloodline started. And no one else gets hurt.”
A long pause.
Then she nodded once.
“Where’s the terminal?”
In the observatory’s underground chamber, a glowing console awaited.
Two handprint scanners. One red. One blue.
“Your hand on one,” Ronan instructed. “Mine on the other.”
Aria hesitated.
Her mother’s voice echoed in her head. “The truth won’t always save you, Aria. But it will free you.”
She closed her eyes and placed her hand on the scanner.
Ronan mirrored her.
Processing…
Access confirmed.
Final Vault Sequence initiated.
The floor vibrated.
The wall to their left hissed open.
Beyond it a narrow bridge.
And at its end… a glass room, glowing with golden light. Inside it stood a single chair. And a device shaped like a crown.
Aria’s heart sank.
“A neural crown,” she whispered.
Ronan nodded. “One memory. One bearer. Whoever sits there… sees the origin of the Vault.”
“And then what?”
“Then they decide what happens next.”
Ronan looked at her.
“I want it to be you.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “You dragged me through hell. For this?”
“I chose you for this.”
She shook her head. “You never chose me. You chose control.”
Then she shoved the flash drive into the console, triggering the override.
Red lights flashed.
Ronan’s eyes widened. “What did you do?!”
“Installed a failsafe,” she said. “If anything happens to Lucien… this data leaks to every outlet in the world. All of Blackthorn’s secrets.”
Ronan lunged forward, furious.
But Aria stepped back onto the bridge.
“Let him go. Or everything burns.”
For a moment, it looked like Ronan might strike her.
But then… he laughed.
A low, hollow sound.
“You’re colder than I thought,” he whispered.
“No,” she said. “I’m just done playing.”
Then she turned and disappeared into the golden room.
Inside, the crown hummed softly.
Aria sat in the chair.
Closed her eyes.
Placed the crown on her head.
And the world exploded.
Images flooded her mind.
Her mother.
Lucien as a child.
Ronan sobbing in his father’s arms.
The founding of Blackthorn built on sacrifice, silence, and suffering.
And then, one last image.
A letter written by her mother, hidden in the crown’s memory.
“My dearest Aria.
If you’re reading this, you’ve already seen the cost.
But know this: you were never meant to be their pawn.
You are the queen on this board.
And queens don’t follow kings.
They bury them.”
Aria opened her eyes.
She was ready.
- Writer
