The Silent Weapon
984 Words
By midday, the palace had learned a new routine.
Food was left outside Aria’s door.
The king remained outside it.
And anyone foolish enough to comment on either quickly regretted having a tongue.
Kael had not moved far from the eastern corridor all morning. Meetings were brought to him. Reports were delivered to him. Two warriors had been dismissed for speaking too loudly nearby. One servant had cried after dropping a spoon.
The palace adjusted.
Kings inspired loyalty.
Obsessed kings inspired efficiency.
Inside the room, Aria sat beside the tall window with a book open in her lap she had not read for nearly an hour.
The words blurred.
Her mind refused to stay still.
Every page became the same things.
The ballroom.
The kiss.
The way Kael had waited outside her door all night.
The way some traitorous part of her noticed he had not left.
She hated that most.
A knock sounded.
She ignored it.
Another.
Then Lena’s calm voice came through the wood.
“It’s me.”
After a pause, Aria unlocked the door.
Only enough for the healer to slip inside.
Then she locked it again.
Lena carried fresh bandages, herbs, and the look of a woman already tired of everyone else’s nonsense.
“You ate breakfast.”
Aria returned to the window seat.
Lena smiled faintly. “Progress.”
Aria said nothing.
That, too, was becoming routine.
Lena knelt at her feet and began unwrapping the bandages. The cuts had already begun to close, though they still looked angry from her run through the forest.
“You should walk more carefully.”
Silence.
“You should also stop punishing yourself.”
Aria’s gaze sharpened.
Lena met it calmly. “Refusing food. Isolating yourself. Pretending you feel nothing. Those are punishments.”
Aria looked away.
Because they were true.
Lena rewrapped her feet with practiced hands.
“Heat can come and go for a while,” she said. “Especially if the bond is strong.”
Aria’s throat tightened.
She did not want to hear about bonds.
She did not want to hear about wanting him.
She wanted the version of herself that had existed before the ballroom.
That girl was dead.
A knock sounded again.
Three sharp taps.
Lena sighed. “That will not be someone pleasant.”
Before Aria could stop her, the healer opened the door.
Selene entered without waiting.
She wore fitted black silk, silver at her throat, and confidence sharpened into cruelty. Beautiful in the way blades were beautiful.
Her gaze swept the room.
Paused on Aria.
Dismissed her.
“How generous,” Selene said coolly. “The king abandons council for a guest who cannot even behave properly.”
Lena straightened. “You weren’t invited.”
“Neither was she.”
Aria remained seated.
She would not rise for this woman.
Selene’s smile thinned.
“I expected more from the legendary mate.” Her eyes traveled slowly over Aria. “Instead, we received a human girl hiding in a bedroom.”
The insult landed.
Aria gave her nothing.
Selene circled the room slowly, fingertips brushing furniture as though inspecting property.
“Do you know what a queen does here?” she asked. “She leads hunts. Settles disputes. Commands loyalty. Speaks for the throne.”
Her gaze sharpened.
“You can’t even speak for yourself.”
Lena took one step forward. “Enough.”
Selene ignored her.
“It must be humiliating,” she continued softly, “to have everyone discussing you while you sit here mute and helpless.”
The word hit harder than it should have.
Mute.
Helpless.
Aria’s fingers curled around the edge of the chair.
She had chosen silence.
But hearing it turned into weakness stirred something vicious in her chest.
Selene noticed.
Predators always noticed.
“Yes,” Selene murmured. “There you are.”
Aria rose slowly.
The room shifted.
Even Lena went still.
Selene smiled, pleased she had drawn blood.
“Have you finally found your voice?”
Aria took one step closer.
Then another.
She stopped close enough that Selene had to tilt her chin to maintain superiority.
Aria’s pulse beat hard and steady.
She wanted to say many things.
You are nothing to me.
He does not want you.
Leave my room.
Instead, she used the weapon she had left.
She smiled.
Then reached beside Selene, took the silver vase from the table—
And poured the water directly over the woman’s head.
Silence crashed through the room.
Water streamed down Selene’s perfect hair, over her painted face, into the expensive silk clinging suddenly to her body.
Lena made a choking sound suspiciously close to laughter.
Selene did not move.
For one dangerous second, Aria thought the woman might attack.
Instead, Selene’s expression went colder than ice.
“You think this changes anything?”
Aria stepped back toward the door.
Opened it.
Then looked directly at Selene for the first time.
“Out.”
One word.
Low.
Sharp.
Enough.
Selene’s eyes widened—not at the command, but at hearing Aria speak at all.
Then fury replaced surprise.
She stalked past Aria and into the corridor, dripping rage.
Kael was already there.
Of course he was.
His gaze moved from Selene’s soaked state to Aria standing in the doorway.
A slow understanding entered his eyes.
Ronan, lounging nearby with entirely too much interest, nearly grinned himself unconscious.
Selene lifted her chin.
“She assaulted me.”
Ronan coughed. “With hydration.”
Kael ignored him.
His attention remained on Aria.
“She spoke.”
The words were quiet.
Too quiet.
Aria’s heart betrayed her with one sharp beat.
She shut the door in his face.
The lock turned.
Outside, Selene’s nails bit into her palms until blood welled.
Inside, Aria leaned against the wood, breathing hard.
Lena crossed her arms.
“That was reckless.”
A pause.
Then the healer smiled.
“But excellent.”
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