NEVER MEANT TO STAY

The Keep

The walk to Blackfang Keep took almost an hour.

Elara spent most of it looking for a way out.

Not because she planned to run — not yet — but because she refused to believe there wasn't one.

She glanced over her shoulder for what felt like the tenth time.

The trees all looked the same.

"I know what you're doing," Kael said.

She didn't look at him.

"I'm stretching my neck."

"No."

"No?"

"You're looking for an escape route."

She sighed.

"You answer questions I never ask."

"They're usually the important ones."

"You do that a lot."

"What?"

"Decide what matters for everyone else."

He was quiet for a moment.

"I suppose I do."

She hadn't expected him to admit it.

That somehow made arguing with him even harder.

The trees slowly began to thin.

Stone walls appeared between the branches.

Then the forest opened completely.

Elara stopped walking.

The keep wasn't just big.

It was overwhelming.

Dark gray stone climbed into the mountainside as though it had grown there naturally. Watchtowers overlooked the valley, banners shifted in the breeze, and guards moved along the walls with practiced precision.

"You live here?"

Kael followed her gaze.

"My family has for generations."

"It looks more like a fortress."

"It is."

"And that's normal?"

"For us."

She looked at him.

"You really don't hear how strange that sounds."

A corner of his mouth twitched.

"Probably not."

That was the closest she'd seen him come to smiling.

Before she could decide whether she'd imagined it, the front doors opened.

A man about Kael's age walked down the steps with an easy confidence that immediately set him apart from everyone else she'd met that day.

"You're back early," he called.

Then he noticed Elara.

His expression changed.

Not dramatically.

Just enough that she caught it.

His eyes flicked to Kael.

Kael gave the smallest nod.

Understanding settled over the man's face almost instantly.

"So..." he said quietly.

"You found her."

Kael didn't answer.

He didn't need to.

The silence confirmed everything.

The man let out a slow breath.

"I honestly stopped thinking this day would ever come."

"So did I," Kael admitted.

It was the first time she'd heard anything close to emotion in his voice.

The man looked at her again.

His smile returned, gentler this time.

"I'm Rhys."

"Elara."

"It's good to meet you."

"You say that like you've been expecting me."

Rhys looked at Kael.

"I'll let him answer that one."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

Kael stepped forward.

"Rhys will show you to a room."

"And you?"

"I have work waiting."

Elara folded her arms.

"Seriously?"

He looked at her.

"You can't possibly think this conversation is over."

"It isn't."

"So why are you leaving?"

For a moment, he didn't answer.

"I've ignored enough responsibilities today. There are enemies who'd very much like to know I have something worth losing again, and the longer you're seen with me before I've dealt with them, the more of a target you become."

"So this is for my own good."

"Yes."

"How convenient."

"It wasn't meant to be convenient. It was meant to keep you alive."

That landed differently than she expected, some of the fight in her chest going quiet for just a second before she caught it and shored it back up.

"You're going to have to actually explain that eventually," she said. "Enemies. Targets. All of it. I'm not staying in the dark just because you've decided I can't handle it."

"You'll get explanations." His eyes held hers a beat too long. "Not tonight."

"That's not a real answer."

"It's the only one I can give you today."

She searched his face for some sign that he realized how ridiculous the situation sounded.

Instead, she found something else.

Reluctance.

He didn't want to leave.

The realization caught her off guard.

He looked toward Rhys.

"Make sure she's comfortable."

"I can look after myself."

"I don't doubt that."

His answer came so quickly that she blinked.

"But you're still my responsibility while you're here."

"According to who?"

"Myself."

There wasn't any arrogance in the way he said it.

Just certainty.

The kind that didn't seem interested in arguing.

He held her gaze for another second before forcing himself to look away, then turned and disappeared through an archway before she could argue further.

Rhys let out a quiet breath once he was gone.

"He's not usually like this," he said.

"Like what? Insufferable?"

"Careful." A faint smile. "I was going to say rattled. I've known him fifteen years. I've never seen him bring someone back here. Not once."

Elara didn't know what to do with that, so she filed it away next to everything else she didn't understand yet and said nothing.

"This way," Rhys said, gesturing toward the entrance. "East wing." He paused at the threshold, the easy charm giving way to something more serious. "Whatever you think of him right now — the enemies part. That, you should take seriously."

"Is that a threat?"

"No." His expression didn't waver. "That one's just true."

She stepped inside, and the massive doors swung shut behind her with a deep, echoing thud that lingered through the entrance hall.

It didn't feel like a prison.

Not yet.

But for the first time since entering Blackfang territory, Elara wasn't completely sure she'd ever find her way back out.