Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
I pushed open the door to my old room and stepped inside, the familiar scent of dried herbs and ink greeting me like an old friend. The space was small, but it was mine. Still untouched.
Zander stepped in behind me, his eyes scanning the room with quiet curiosity. He moved toward the desk where a few of my old things had been left, candles melted down to stubby wax nubs, a few pieces of charcoal in a cracked jar.
His hand settled on a sketchbook. I didn’t stop him when he flipped it open.
He turned a few pages slowly, charcoal etchings of the alley behind the tavern, a few portraits of Solei mid-laugh, some dragons in flight drawn from memory.
Then his hand stilled.
He stared down at one page, his thumb brushing the edge as if the image might vanish.
It was Remy.
Sitting in the corner chair of his room, head bowed over a book, one leg crossed over the other. There was a softness to his expression in the drawing. Peaceful. Content. The opposite of the storm-wrought version of him that haunted the world now.
“You did these?” Zander asked, his voice quiet.
I nodded. “Obviously, I didn’t have time to pack before I was relegated to the guild,” I said with a small shrug. “I’m surprised Cyran hasn’t gotten rid of my stuff.”
Zander set the sketchbook down gently, but didn’t look at me right away.
“You really loved him, didn’t you?” His voice was tight, something brittle just beneath the surface.
I didn’t flinch. I didn’t lie.
“Yes,” I said softly. “I was going to marry him.”
He finally looked at me, and there was something raw in his eyes. Hurt, maybe, or fear that he didn’t dare name.
“But…” I let the word hang between us like smoke. “You can’t build a life on a lie.”
Zander’s jaw clenched, but he gave a curt nod, as if he understood far too well.
And for a moment, the air between us hummed with all the things we weren’t saying.
The silence stretched between us, weighted and full of the ghosts we both carried.
“There’s more to your relationship with Remy,” I said finally, my voice quieter than I meant it to be.
Zander didn’t deny it. He just nodded.
“Remy was always an overachiever,” he said, his eyes drifting toward the dark window. “He would’ve done anything for my father’s favor. Emlem loves him… maybe as much as any of his actual children.”
That admission hit harder than I expected.
“He was always closer to Theron than me growing up,” Zander continued. “Always the one to do the crown’s dirty work. But even with that, I don’t believe Remy would ever betray my father.”
I turned toward him. “You think he’d betray you?”
Zander’s jaw worked for a moment. “Not before I got involved with you.”
He finally looked at me then, eyes full of something wounded.
“Now… I’m not so sure.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed, the creak of old wood loud in the quiet room.
“Remy and I were apart a long time before I joined the guild,” I said. “If he truly loved me, he could’ve come back. I would’ve left with him. I would’ve forgiven the lie if he’d told me in the first few months.”
My voice cracked, but I kept going.
“After that, I went numb. There’s no coming back from what he put me through.”
Zander stepped closer, the shadows soft around him. He didn’t touch me, just stood near, like that was all he could offer.
“I’m sorry, Ashe,” he murmured.
I wasn’t sure if he was apologizing for Remy… or for the tangled web between us.
But I nodded, quietly.
And lay back onto the bed, the weight of it all pulling me down like the storm I knew was still coming.
Zander shifted, his weight dipping the mattress as if he was about to lie beside me. The tension in the air was uncertain, delicate, but then the door creaked open, and Solei stepped inside.
Her eyes moved between us. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
I rolled my eyes, sitting up straighter. “You always are. What happened?”
She didn’t bother with pleasantries. Just held up the missive in her hand, the wax seal already broken.
“Major Ledor has requested an audience with Cyran,” she said. “They know Cyran can find you. And they know he’ll never hurt you.”
My stomach dropped.
“That puts the crown in a tough position,” she added, her voice a little too calm. “To say the least.”
“They know about the Blood Oath?” Zander asked harshly.
“How?” I added, heat rising in my chest. “How would they know that?”
Solei shrugged, but it was the kind of shrug that told me she already had her suspicions. “You must have told someone. I know our people wouldn’t share that information.”
“I only told the riders I trust,” I said.
Zander’s eyes met mine, dark, searching.
“Then someone overheard you,” Solei said simply, folding the parchment back up. “You think we’re not being watched? That the walls in the barracks don’t have ears?”
I swallowed, uneasy. “You think someone’s spying on us? Inside the barracks?”
“If I were trying to destroy the crown from the inside,” she said coolly, “I wouldn’t start at the front gates.”
She looked at me flatly.
“I’d be sleeping in the bunk across from yours.”
* * *
I stood, crossing my arms as Solei moved toward the door. “Is Cyran going to take the meeting?”
She turned back, a glint of something unreadable in her eyes. “Yes. And he wants you both there.”
“Us?”
Solei nodded. “The major’s coming alone. No guards. And since we all know his dragon won’t answer him, he’s taking a risk just showing up. Under current circumstances, that’s practically suicide.”
I glanced at Zander. “What do you think?”
He shifted beside me, arms loose at his sides, expression unreadable. “I think we should find out what he has to say.”
“Agreed,” I said quietly, already reaching for the jacket tossed at the foot of the bed.
Solei gave a single nod. “Good. He’ll be here in five minutes.”
She opened the door again, pausing only long enough to say, “Come to Cyran’s office. He’s expecting you both.”
And then she was gone.
We waited almost ten minutes before we left my room.
Zander and I moved in silence through the winding tunnel halls, the flickering torchlight casting gold and amber shadows on the stone. Every step echoed, boots steady, hearts not so much. I could feel the tension building like a storm inside me—part dread, part fury.
When we entered Cyran’s office, the door creaking open just enough for us to slip in, Major Ledor was already standing at the center of the room.
He turned the moment we stepped inside, his eyes locking on Zander first, then me.
His expression hardened. “I did not realize the traitors would be present.”
“We’re not traitors,” I snapped, stepping forward as the words hissed from my lips like a whip crack. “And you damn well know it.”
Cyran didn’t even rise from behind his desk. He simply made a sweeping gesture with his hand, as calm as winter frost. “If you’re rude to Ashlyn again,” he said, “her sister will slit your throat.”
Major Ledor’s gaze darted to Solei, who stood just to my right.
She didn’t move. Didn’t blink. But her hand tightened on the curved dagger strapped to her hip. It wasn’t one of her usual tools—it was heavier, more ornamental, with savage engravings down the steel. It was designed to look terrifying. And right now, it was doing its job.
Ledor’s face paled.
“I… apologize,” he said stiffly, dipping his chin slightly in my direction. “I’m here to request that you both return to the castle.”
Zander’s arms crossed over his chest, his voice flat. “To be assassinated?”
“We’ll pass,” I added coldly, stepping closer to the desk.
Ledor shook his head. “That wasn’t my intention. The dragons are demanding a trial.”
My heart skipped.
He went on, his voice more careful now. “They claim they can prove Zander’s innocence. And technically… no charges were ever brought against you, Ashlyn.”
I exchanged a look with Zander. His expression didn’t change, but his eyes? They flared with something dangerous.
Hope. Or fury. Maybe both.
The dragons were intervening.
Which meant this war between truth and lies was far from over.
I let out a guttural sound of disbelief.
“Nobody gave a damn whether Zander was innocent until the dragons intervened.” I took a step forward, the heat rising in my voice.
“Did you actually think Hein would let you kill Zander, knowing he’s innocent?
You risked the treaty because you want to suck up to Theron. ”
Major Ledor’s jaw clenched. “I do not care which Rayne wears the crown,” he said, voice cool but firm. “I care about the dragons. And they have never intervened like this in castle politics. Not once. This is unprecedented.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Did it ever occur to you that Zander’s birth was preordained? Planned, even? That maybe we need him? That the dragons need him?”
“Why?” he asked, skeptical.
I didn’t look away. “Because the answers we need lie in the Fae Sanctuary. And Zander’s power is required to access it.”
The major went still, his eyes glancing down as if he were trying to weigh those words against everything he thought he understood. “The Fae Sanctuary…” he muttered. “That’s impossible…”
“It’s not,” I said quietly. “It’s real. And it holds the key to ending this war.”
He was silent for a long beat.
Then, slowly, he nodded. “I will guarantee your safety. Stand trial. Allow the dragons to present their proof. We need this stalemate to end. The continent is not safe without the treaty.”
I opened my mouth, but Zander’s hand settled gently on my shoulder. I glanced up into his eyes, calm despite the fire I could feel building beneath his skin.
“I believe in the dragons,” he said, voice clear and unshakable. “We’ll return tomorrow.”
He met the major’s gaze without flinching.
“Have your trial ready.”