Chapter 10

The moon was still high when I finally tore my gaze from the courtyard. Whoever had been standing in the shadows was gone now, as if the night had swallowed them whole.

I told myself it was nothing.

I told myself to sleep.

Neither worked.

So when I heard the faintest creak of the door an hour later, I was instantly awake, heart thudding against my ribs. I sat up in bed, clutching the blanket in both hands.

“It’s me,” came Lucien’s low, velvet voice.

I exhaled sharply. “You can’t just—” I stopped, because there he was, closing the door behind him with the quiet elegance of a predator.

“You were still awake,” he said simply, as if that explained everything.

“Because you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Lucien’s crimson eyes swept the room, lingering briefly on the window. “I saw movement again. Same place as earlier.”

I frowned. “Kael already checked—”

“And found nothing,” Lucien cut in smoothly. “That doesn’t mean there’s nothing there. Whoever it is, they’re skilled enough to avoid him. That alone should concern you.”

I swallowed. “Why are you telling me this and not him?”

Lucien’s smile was faint, unreadable. “Because Kael will treat you like glass. I, on the other hand...” He stepped closer until the air between us was thin as paper. “I think you’re much stronger than you realize.”

His gaze held mine, and I felt heat curl low in my stomach despite the coolness of his presence.

Before I could decide how to respond, there was a knock at the door — firm, impatient.

Lucien’s eyes sharpened. “Kael,” he murmured.

Sure enough, when I opened the door a crack, Kael stood there, shirt half-laced like he’d thrown it on in a hurry. His amber eyes went immediately to Lucien standing behind me, and they hardened.

“Of course,” Kael muttered. “Why am I not surprised?”

Lucien didn’t move. “We were discussing the shadow you failed to catch.”

Kael’s jaw tightened, but his attention shifted to me. “I came to tell you to stay away from the windows. There’s movement along the outer wall. I’m going to check the gates.” His gaze flicked briefly — pointedly — at Lucien. “You’re coming with me.”

Lucien gave a slow, almost mocking bow. “As you wish.”

The two of them left without another word, the tension between them so sharp it was a wonder the walls didn’t crack.

---

The silence after they were gone was worse than their bickering. I paced the room for what felt like hours, each passing minute stretching tight across my nerves. Finally, unable to take it anymore, I grabbed my shawl and slipped into the hallway.

I kept to the quieter corridors, avoiding the patrol routes I’d memorized over the past week. If Kael thought I was going to sit in my room like a scared child while something stalked the palace grounds, he was wrong.

By the time I reached the main gate, the night had deepened to that peculiar stillness where even the crickets seemed to hold their breath. The torches along the outer wall flickered in the wind, casting long, jagged shadows.

Voices drifted from beyond the gate — low, urgent. I edged closer, keeping to the side where the wall curved.

“...too much attention already,” one voice hissed.

A second voice replied, deeper, almost growling. “We can’t wait forever. The longer she’s here, the more dangerous it gets.”

My pulse quickened. They were talking about me.

A sudden scrape of boots on stone made me flinch. I ducked behind a stack of supply crates just as two figures emerged from the dark. They were cloaked, faces hidden, but one of them moved with a strange, fluid grace that prickled the edge of my memory.

Before I could get a better look, a loud crash split the air — steel against steel. Shouts followed, and I saw Kael and Lucien appear from opposite sides, cutting off the cloaked figures’ escape.

“Go!” one of them barked, and they bolted for the narrow path along the outer wall.

Kael went after them instantly, his sword catching the moonlight in a flash. Lucien moved differently — fast but calculated, cutting off angles rather than chasing blindly.

I stayed hidden, but my eyes tracked the fight. Kael was strength and ferocity, each strike powerful enough to break bone. Lucien was precision, his blade a silver whisper that never missed its mark.

Despite their efforts, the cloaked intruders managed to vanish into the night, melting into the shadows as if they’d never been there at all.

---

When the dust settled, Kael was breathing hard, frustration in every line of his body. Lucien, as always, looked untouched, though his eyes glinted dangerously.

“They knew the grounds,” Kael muttered. “They’ve been here before.”

Lucien’s gaze slid toward the crates where I was hiding. “Or they had help from inside.”

I froze, but he didn’t call me out. Instead, he turned back to Kael. “We should double the patrols. And keep Astrid in the inner wing.”

“She won’t like that,” Kael replied.

Lucien’s smirk was faint but knowing. “She never does.”

I slipped away before they could spot me, my mind spinning. Whoever those people were, they hadn’t come to kill me — not yet. They wanted something. And if Kael and Lucien were right, I was running out of time before they tried again.

---

Back in my chambers, I sat on the edge of the bed, fingers twisting the edge of my shawl. I didn’t hear Kael return until his voice broke the quiet.

“You were out there.”

I looked up sharply. He was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, sweat still drying on his skin.

“You could have been seen,” he said, his voice low with anger — and something else.

“I was seen,” I replied, my voice sharper than I meant. “By you. By Lucien. But not by them. I’m not as helpless as you think.”

Kael stepped forward, and the way his shadow fell over me made my breath hitch. “You’re not helpless,” he said. “You’re stubborn. And that’s what’s going to get you hurt.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he closed the space between us, his hand brushing my cheek — so lightly I wasn’t sure I’d imagined it.

“I can’t protect you if you keep walking into danger.” His voice had softened, but the intensity in his eyes made my heart race.

“I never asked you to protect me,” I whispered.

His jaw worked like he wanted to argue, but instead he just stepped back. “Get some rest.”

When he left, the door stayed slightly ajar. Moments later, Lucien appeared in the gap, leaning casually against the frame.

“You really are at the center of everything, aren’t you?” he said, almost to himself.

I gave him a tired look. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Lucien’s smile was slow and unreadable. “It means the game has started, Astrid. And you’re the prize.”

Before I could respond, he disappeared into the hallway, leaving me alone with the echo of his words.

That night, sleep finally came — but it brought no peace.

I dreamed of moonlight and blood, of Kael’s warm grip pulling me to safety, of Lucien’s cold whisper in my ear. And somewhere beyond them both, in the deep shadows at the palace gate, two faceless figures waited, patient as wolves.

They were waiting for me.

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