Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
The wind tore through the empty courtyard, cold enough to bite beneath my armor, rattling the old iron torches along the wall and whistling through the narrow stone arches. Midnight had long since passed, and the chill in the air settled into my bones like a warning.
I stood near the gate, arms crossed, eyes scanning the darkness beyond, but movement was scarce. Even the stars looked distant tonight. I yawned, jaw cracking slightly, exhaustion from the battle and the interrogation catching up with me now that the adrenaline had begun to fade.
Twenty minutes passed in silence before I saw her.
Solei moved like a shadow, her steps smooth, precise, calculated, even when not on a mission. She walked right past Gerane without even acknowledging him. He didn’t stop her, didn’t even look surprised. He knew better than to stand in her way.
Her long silver-blond hair was pulled into a tight braid down her back, but what caught my attention was the tunic, loose-fitting, worn, and plain. Something Solei would never wear if she were working. That alone told me this wasn’t a mission.
She stopped a few feet from me, crossing her arms.
“You look good,” she said, her tone softer than I expected.
I didn’t return the smile.
“You can skip the pleasantries,” I said flatly. “While I know you won’t assassinate me, one of the others will.”
She flinched—barely. A subtle twitch of the brow, a breath too long in the pause. Anyone else would’ve missed it.
But I knew her too well.
“No,” she said, voice tight. “They won’t. Father rescinded the contract.”
I blinked. “Why?”
“He realized he was being played,” she said simply. “He’s furious. He wants to know who’s been manipulating the Order from within.”
I studied her carefully. “It’s not just here, Solei. There are issues in the other kingdoms too. Warders dying. Politics are shifting.”
She nodded once, sharply. “We know.”
She stepped closer, voice lowering as her eyes locked onto mine with that old glint of purpose.
“We need your help, Ashe. And we’re willing to trade information. If it saves the Order…” Her jaw clenched. “We’ll give you whatever you need.”
I stared at my sister, the wind pulling strands of silver hair loose from her braid. She looked older tonight, tired in a way that didn’t come from lack of sleep, but from carrying too many secrets for too long.
“I still love you,” I said, my voice firm, though the words tore a little coming out. “But I will never forgive you. Or Cyran.”
Solei flinched again, this time visibly. Her eyes dropped for the briefest second, then lifted again, hard with control.
“It was business,” she said. “You know I never wanted to do it.”
“But you did,” I snapped, my jaw tightening. “You were prepared to put a blade in me if he ordered it. That’s the difference between us. I’ll never follow an order like that.” I paused, then added coldly, “Even if Kaelith kills me for it.”
Solei’s gaze darkened, but not with anger. “You were always too soft for the Order,” she murmured.
I smirked, slow and unrepentant. “And yet I have the second-largest dragon in the horde.”
I pulled the pendant from beneath my armor. The gold glinted in the torchlight, the deep-violet of Kaelith’s scale now shining through almost entirely, just a thin rim was left at the edge, the last fragment of resistance.
The bond was nearly complete.
Solei’s eyes flicked to it, and for a heartbeat, something like awe crossed her face.
Then she turned her gaze upward.
The sky stretched black above us, scattered with stars, and dulled by the force of coming storms. She watched it like it held answers.
Or warnings.
“We don’t have much time,” she said softly, almost to herself.
“What does Cyran want?”
Solei shifted her weight, her arms crossing over her loose tunic as she stared at me. The wind cut through the empty courtyard behind her, the fabric at her sides catching like sails in the tension between us.
“Cyran found something,” she said finally. “Something that suggests the Order and the court are both being manipulated.”
“The Blood Fae,” I said, the words like iron on my tongue. “We’ve encountered human spies that confirm it.”
Solei didn’t even blink. “So have we. They’re not just infiltrating kingdoms, they’re manipulating the throne itself. All of it. Every move. Every command.”
Her voice dropped as she glanced toward Gerane behind me, but his gaze was fixed straight ahead, as though he hadn’t heard a word.
“They tried to assassinate Dorian,” I said. “Fifty Blood Fae against a handful of riders. And they would have succeeded if Foran hadn’t saved him.”
Solei stared at me for a long moment, the wind brushing the few loose strands of hair from her face. Her mouth tightened. “Why are you sharing this with me now?”
I stepped closer, keeping my voice low. “I was always willing to share information if it meant protecting Warriath. I just wasn’t willing to do it at the expense of my squad.”
Her eyes flickered, something unreadable moving behind them.
“That’s new,” she said, but her voice didn’t hold the edge it usually did.
“No, it’s not.” I looked away, toward the castle looming behind us. “It’s just the first time I’ve had something worth protecting.”
Solei let the silence stretch between us before finally nodding. “Then maybe… we both want the same thing.”
Her fingers twitched subtly in a silent admission.
We will trade. But not everything. Not yet.
I nodded back, fingers just as quick. Good. Because some truths aren’t mine to give.
And we stood there for a long moment, assassin and soldier. Sisters. Caught between a kingdom on the brink and a past we couldn’t escape.
Solei watched me in silence, then her voice softened.
“You have a new family now,” she said. “You’re… different.”
“Yes,” I answered, without hesitation. “And it’s not just my dragon.”
I glanced toward the barracks in the distance, where Thrall Squad slept under the weight of too many battles and not enough answers.
“I have people who would die for me,” I said. “Not kill me.”
Solei looked down, her hands flexing at her sides before she spoke. “I will endeavor to regain your trust. You know I will never raise a blade to you again.”
“I do,” I admitted. “But I will never trust you. Your loyalty is to the Order, not to me. Not to my new family.”
Her mouth twitched like I’d hit her, because I had. But she didn’t deny it.
“Someday,” she murmured, “my loyalties will change. But for now, we must defeat the Blood Fae.”
“Easier said than done, Solei.”
“I’m aware,” she said grimly. “But warders are being assassinated at an alarming rate. And soon, our protections will fall, just as easily as the Outer Kingdoms already have.”
I turned to her sharply. “You know about the deaths?”
Solei nodded. “The Orders have been communicating. We all have spies in the castles of our kingdoms. The question we keep asking is—Why haven’t the Blood Fae annihilated the kingdoms with no defenses?”
I froze. “There are kingdoms with no warders?”
“Several.”
My stomach turned. “How can that be?”
She exhaled through her nose, her jaw tight. “Simple. When a warder dies here, the king pulls one from an Outer Kingdom to replace them. Quietly.”
I stared at her. “They’re removing our security across the entire continent.”
“Yes,” she said. “And they’re keeping the raids minimal. Just enough to keep the army busy. Not enough to raise alarm. Not enough for people to realize what’s really going on.”
“And what is that?” I asked, the cold already settling into my bones.
Solei shook her head slowly.
“I don’t know.”
The wind had grown colder, sharp with night air as we lingered by the gate, the conversation shifting from old wounds to the deeper war brewing beneath us.
“They’re playing a long game,” I said, arms crossed, eyes on the shadows shifting just beyond the torchlight. “They’re not trying to win fast, they’re trying to erode us. From the inside out.”
Solei nodded slowly, her eyes narrowed in thought. “It takes more than strength to dismantle a kingdom. It takes access. Connections in the court. The guilds. Even the Orders.”
I turned toward her. “So what are we saying? The Blood Fae have built a network?”
“Or they’ve inherited one,” she replied. “Cyran believes there’s a mole. Someone embedded deep in the Order itself.”
My stomach turned. “Remy,” I said, almost before I could stop myself.
Solei didn’t flinch. “No. Not him.”
I raised a brow.
“He infiltrated us, yes,” she admitted, “but that’s not the same. We’ve done the same thing, placed spies in courts, in guilds, in royal guardhouses. Remy’s different.”
“He would never help the Blood Fae,” I said firmly, the truth of those words settling like iron in my chest.
“I know,” she said, almost too quickly. “Even Cyran knows. That’s why we’ve never put a hit on him.”
“Because he’d kill the assassin,” I muttered.
Solei smirked. “That’s true too.”
The corner of my mouth twitched, but it didn’t hold.
Because the truth was colder than the wind.
If the Blood Fae had someone inside the Order feeding them information, then whoever it was had been playing this game longer than any of us realized.
And they were winning.
“Is there anything else I should know?” I asked.
Solei shook her head. “I will contact you if I have any more relevant information. I hope you will do the same.”
“I will,” I turned to go.
“Ashe, wait.” Her hands fisted at her sides when I glanced at her. “I never lied to you. I do love you.”
“I love you too. That’s why it hurt so damn much.” I strode toward my barracks as something flew above me, blocking the moon.