Chapter Four

Silence

An awful suffocating silence.

Her father finally spoke, breaking the silence. "We will push the process forward. She will cooperate. She must."

Her mother whispered, almost pleading. "She's been calm for now. She probably thinks this is something political. Only if she knew it was for her security."

Her heart stung, tears staining her eyes.

They didn't trust her. They didn't believe she could handle the truth.

They weren't protecting her. They were making decisions for her. And even if they were protecting her, what exactly were they protecting her from?

Her father sighed heavily. "We'll keep her in the dark a little longer. Once the arrangement is finalized, she'll understand. "

Marius hummed sceptically. "I certainly hope so. Because the threat is closer than you do realize."

The silence that followed that was heavy yet cold. A truth none of them wanted to face.

Her father spoke at last, " Then we move quickly. No more delays. We must ensure that she is protected at all costs. "

She turned and walked away with trembling feet, her heart racing and breath uneven.

Protected at all costs.

She now understood the strange guards. The sudden surveillance, the increased security, and the fear in her mother's eyes.

She wasn't being traded for power or wealth. She was being hidden. Secured like a fragile object that was wanted badly enough to destroy.

And they thought she would break if they told her, but they were wrong.

She wiped her tears as she reached the garden.

They wanted to keep her safe, but they kept her in the dark instead.

Alright, if they wouldn't tell her the truth, then she would find out herself. Quietly and carefully without raising suspicion.

She would continue with the fake smiles and would say yes to everything. All while uncovering the mastermind behind the threats and attacks and why.

Because if danger was coming for her, she refused to sit idle and wait for it to come to her.

She didn't sleep that night. How could she sleep when every time she closed her eyes, the voices from the study replayed in her mind.

She had been tracked. The window incident and more.

Her parents had hidden all of it from her. It wasn't just the threats. It wasn't just the attacks that they hid from her but the fact that someone had invaded her space and that he or she had been so close. She lay awake until dawn broke, staring at the glow of the curtains. When the sun finally rose from across her room, she rose quietly the decision already in her mind.

She needed to see the truth they had buried from her by herself. She waited for the perfect opportunity. Her mother's room remained quiet, and her father's study still reminded locked. Perfect.

She stepped into the hallway and walked towards her window, the one they had lied about.

Her room was beautiful but lonely. Soft white walls. purple curtains. Everything seemed perfect, exactly her her mother liked it.

But she had never paid attention to that window. Why exactly would she ? Because to her it had only been a window just like all the others. Showcasing a view of the gardens, the hills beyond, the sky that frred her whenever she felt trapped.

Now she approached it like it was an enemy. She reached out and ran her fingers along the wooden frame. At first, it was normal. Nothing seemed out of place . Then, her fingertips grazed across a mark. A thin, unnatural line in the wood barely visible but deep and sharp. Clearly done on purpose. Her breath caught in her throat. She leaned closer, and she finally saw it clearly. Another scratch, and then even more scratch across the wooden frame of the window. She would have assumed they were claw marks, but the marks were too clean and deliberate. Marks left by a blade. Her chest tightened as she rested her head against the cool glass. Her hands were trembling as she slowly pushed the frame upwards. It didn't move. She tried again, but it wouldn't budge. It wasn't just locked, but it was reinforced. Someone had added an internal latch, probably after the incident her parents had discussed, because it used not to be there.

The window hadn't always been that secured. Someone had tried to get in. She stood slowing, backing away from the glass. Her legs felt weak like she'd been running for hours. A cold sweat sweat broke across her face, and the world around her suddenly felt smaller. She turned, scanning the room. Now clearly seeing crack lines she had taken for granted , placements she had never questioned and shadows she thought were harmless. She sat on the floor trying to remember anything unusual from the night this happened , but there was nothing . She couldn't recall anything. Her memory only held quiet nights, soft breeze. Peace. Which means the incident hadn't been peaceful at all. She just hadn't known about it.

Her parents had kept her blind not to protect her feelings but because the truth would have terrified her.

A faint sound echoed outside, the distant clash of training swords, guards changing shifts. Normal life continuing and here she was sitting on the floor, discovering the truth of the danger ahead of her. She pressed a shaky hand over her mouth.

Everything Lord Marius said now made sense to her. "They'll come for her."

"They were spotted in the city."

Her parents weren't exaggerating. They hadn't panicked for nothing. The alliance wasn't about politics, but it was rather about keeping her alive and safe. She wiped her tears quickly and stood, breathing deeply until her heartbeat studied.

If someone wanted her and had been bold enough to try breaking in the she couldn't afford to be blind anymore. She would not sit quietly, and while her parents locked her in a gilded cage and relied on strangers from the Blackthorn pack to save her.

Because if they came once then there's a possibility they could come again. And next time, she might not wake up safely.