CHAPTER 11
THE THIEF
To try to remake the Arcanth will be considered an act of great treason.
– The Arcanth Accords, Article II
Two weeks later.
Kara hadn’t thought there would be this much parchment involved in planning a wedding. She stared at her ink-stained hands, wondering if anyone had ever died of boredom reviewing guest lists.
“You’ve written Roderic Atwater’s name three times,” Henry pointed out.
She glanced down. She had.
“He only needs one invitation,” Henry said mildly. “Unless you particularly want him there.”
A surprised laugh escaped her. “I don’t even know who he is.”
Henry frowned. “A friend of my father’s. Very dull.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“Let me help you,” Henry offered. With a casual flick of his hand, his ice-white magic wrapped around the parchment and quill. It began to scratch away on its own.
Kara cradled her wrist in mock horror. “Couldn’t have done that earlier?”
“You looked like you were having fun,” he said, smiling.
She hadn’t been.
It was endless.
They’d stayed in Vallenna City to arrange it all.
Sienna had lingered too; she’d been keeping a close eye on Kara.
Lyrans didn’t often have arranged marriages – it went against their instinct to let emotions guide them.
Kara’s own mother had been an exception.
And now Kara was following in her footsteps.
They were high above the City streets now, in the study at the Hale residence, the evening breeze flowing through the window.
Henry, ever dutiful, was politely nodding at all her mother’s suggestions.
He was calm, reliable – she envied that about him.
It was the exact opposite of the storm of emotions raging inside her since the ball.
She hadn’t seen Sebastian since then.
Kara had heard he’d taken up a guard posting in Durent – had left the very next morning, as he’d promised.
But she had thought of little else.
It was ridiculous.
She’d known Sebastian for a few days at the Arcalon, and their last words were bitter and unkind. And then he’d left. Walked away without a backwards glance. But what Sienna had told her – that he’d lied, that he cared – had left Kara with an ache in her chest. Constant. Unbearable.
More than once, she’d thought about riding to Durent to see him. It was close to the City. It wouldn’t be hard to find his guard post. They could just talk. Maybe she would even be honest, and tell him that she felt the same.
It wouldn’t change anything.
It’s not like she could leave everything behind, and his reception probably wouldn’t be warm even if she did–
“Kara, are you even listening?” her mother said, frowning.
She startled. “Yes. Of course.”
Liar.
She threw herself back into the conversation with more enthusiasm than it called for. She was mid-sentence about lavender fruit at the reception when a knock rattled the door.
It was sharp – urgent.
Her mother turned, her eyebrows drawing together in surprise.
Henry stood, already alert.
A servant entered, breathless. “Lord Henry. Lady Kara. You are summoned to Council Hall. Immediately.”
“At this hour?” her mother objected.
“It’s urgent, my Lady. Lord Alaric expects them.”
Kara’s heart began to race. She stood and met Henry’s gaze – even he looked tense now.
What had happened?
The air outside held a bitter chill that hadn’t been there before, the wind whipping Kara’s cloak behind her as she climbed the stone steps of the Council Hall with Henry.
The building loomed against the clouded night sky, its tall black spires lit only by the flicker of lanterns.
Two Thorne guards stood watch at the oak doors, their faces giving nothing away.
“What do you think this is about?” Kara asked Henry.
“No idea,” he said, his mouth set in a thin line. “But it must be serious to call us like this.”
The guards opened the heavy doors without a word. Inside, voices from the Council chamber echoed throughout the marble atrium – low, urgent, worried. Kara recognised her father’s voice amongst them.
Something was very, very wrong.
Henry’s hand brushed lightly against her lower back as they crossed the threshold and approached her father. Every Council member was present at the table. All of them. Even Tobias Thorne, who rarely attended outside the Arcalon, or when his soldiers were called to service.
Her father didn’t wait for her to speak. “The Earth Shard has been taken.”
Kara’s hands flew to her mouth. Henry stiffened beside her.
“Durent and Sorrel are in chaos. The magic of their lands in disarray,” her father said.
Lord Merrick Durent rose from his seat, his broad shoulders dominating the space, voice echoing through the chamber.
“Bridges have collapsed. Entire structures, gone without warning. Gods only know how we’ve had no loss of life, but in Sorrel–” he gestured towards Lady Evelyn Sorrel across the table, “–the crops began to wither the moment the Shard was taken. If it continues, Vallenna will starve.”
“But how could it have been taken?” Kara asked. “The Shards are protected, guarded by Thorne soldiers.”
A heavy silence fell.
All eyes turned to Tobias Thorne. There was accusation in every glance. She didn’t understand, not until he spoke.
“The Shard,” he said, “was taken by someone from my House. That is how they bypassed the guard.”
The world shrank around her.
“Who?” she asked. But she knew before he answered.
“Sebastian,” Tobias said heavily. “My son.”
The air disappeared from her lungs.
“No.” The word came sharp, immediate. Her body rejected it instinctively. “He wouldn’t.”
Every eye in the chamber turned to her.
She’d been too defensive. Too fast. Revealed too much. Her father’s gaze hardened.
“He did. He was seen. Hurt members of his own House to get it,” Merrick said, disgusted.
“Why would he do that?” Kara asked desperately.
Lady Simone Navyr folded her arms. Her expression cold, calculated. “There are only two reasons to steal a Shard. To seize power... or to sell it to Vallenna’s enemies.”
Tobias Thorne shot to his feet. “My son is capable of many things,” he growled, “but he would never side with them.”
Merrick, never one to shy from a fight, rounded on him. “Then what is he doing?” he snapped. “He’s left our lands in ruin.”
“You think I know? That I condoned this?” Tobias demanded. “He’s my son, not my pawn. Sebastian has fought and killed for this realm. Nearly died for it. He would not hand over our greatest power.”
“You admit he’s capable of violence,” Simone cut in. “Perhaps more than you care to believe.”
“He is Thorne,” Tobias said fiercely. “We are bred in violence. But I do not believe he would betray us.”
Lord Galen Caldris spoke for the first time. “He already has. He betrayed us when he took the Shard. You enforce the laws he’s now breaking,” he said icily. “It is treason to remove a Shard of the Arcanth. So tell us – where did you go wrong, Tobias?”
Tobias had no answer.
Evelyn Sorrel murmured low across the table, “What if it’s the start of what was Written?”
“That is Council business alone,” Alaric snapped.
“You know as well as I do,” Galen said, “to act as if it’s true can make it so.”
A stony silence filled the room. What was Written? Kara had been right then – there had been a prophecy. Something the Council feared to name, were terrified to speak out loud. Kara’s hands shook as the conversation came back to her.
Draknor rising when they’re whole... they must remain scattered.
Had Sebastian done this because of what she’d told him? Had she set this in motion?
People do all sorts of things.
Sebastian’s own words.
Henry straightened. “What do you need us to do?”
Us?
Alaric cleared his throat and looked directly at Kara. “It is the will of the Council that you are sent to retrieve him. And the Shard.”
Kara gaped at him for several seconds. She couldn’t have heard him right.
“Father – I don’t understand,” she said finally. “House Thorne are our peacekeepers... they enforce the law.”
Tobias Thorne turned to face her. Fury rolling off him in waves. “Thorne will not raise a sword against one of its own,” he hissed.
“Even a Shard-stealer?” Simone countered.
“Watch your tone, tide-walker,” Tobias spat. “If I sent my men, I doubt they’d bring him in alive. I will not have his blood on Thorne hands. Not when I don’t yet know why he did this.”
Evelyn stood, her greying dark braid falling over one shoulder. “My Lords, my Ladies, if House Thorne will not carry out their duties as enforcers of Vallennan law then let me send one of mine. We have skilled hunters in Sorrel, expert trackers–
Tobias loomed over Evelyn, who, to her credit, did not even blink. “If you harm one hair on my son’s head, then you’ll not only declare war on House Thorne – but you’ll bury the truth with him.”
Kara had never seen the Council like this – openly fractured, raw with anger. No one challenged him further. Whatever feeling burned in the room, no House was so foolish as to start a war with Vallenna’s only army. Tobias glanced around the table, fury on every line of his face.
“If you want your justice against my son, you’ll serve it with all of Vallenna watching. After I’ve had a chance to question him. We will hear his truth before anyone passes sentence.” He fixed Evelyn with a cold stare. “Not in some nameless field by a Sorrel arrow.”
Alaric cleared his throat. “My Lords and Ladies, please. We have discussed this. It is why we summoned Karalynna to us. We need a neutral House to act. A House as yet unaffected by this crime. Someone who knows him, and can get close with magic that can subdue.”
Kara’s blood went cold.
No. No, he can’t mean–
But she knew exactly what he meant.
She’d never used her magic for that – to restrain, to control. Her magic, dulled pain, soothed, brought peace. In severe cases, she could send the injured or sick to sleep whilst they were healed, to spare them suffering. It was meant for good.
Not to trap and silence someone.
Not to strip them of their senses.
Not Sebastian.
How dare they ask her to twist her magic in this way?
“Subdue?” she asked in horror. “You want me to force sleep on him? Against his will?”
Her father’s expression didn’t soften. “Yes.”
“Father – I can’t. That’s not – my magic was meant to ease suffering, not create it. Putting someone under like that is–” She couldn’t find the word. Violation. Betrayal. Everything her magic was supposed to stand against.
Her father fixed her with a cold stare. “Yes, Karalynna. You can. And you will. You are my daughter, heir to House Hale, the magic of our region runs strongest in your blood. Strong enough to overcome even the son of House Thorne. Find him, place him into an enchanted sleep, and bring him here,” Alaric hesitated, glancing briefly at Tobias.
“For trial. To discover his motivations. Lord Thorne has agreed to this much.”
Kara barely had time to process her father’s words when Tobias’s gaze moved to her.
“Bring my son back unharmed, Lady Hale.” It wasn’t an appeal, it was a command. And a warning.
Kara swallowed hard. “Yes, my Lord.” She couldn’t look away from Tobias’s eyes, so like Sebastian’s.
She would do it, because she was Hale, and because her father had asked it of her. The Council asked it of her. But the thought of facing Sebastian again now filled her with dread.
“She won’t go alone,” Henry said suddenly, his hand finding Kara’s. “She’s my betrothed. I won’t let her face a trained Thorne warrior without protection.”
Galen met his son’s gaze across the table.
Something passed between them – too quick for Kara to read, but heavy with meaning.
Galen gave a single, practically imperceptible, nod.
Approval, maybe? But for what, Kara didn’t know.
And when she glanced at Henry, there was something cold and calculating on his face that hadn’t been there before.
He held her hand tighter. She looked away quickly.
“House Caldris stands with House Hale in this,” Galen announced.
Alaric gave Henry an appraising look and glanced around the faces of the Council members. There was no disagreement. Finally, her father nodded, “Yes, I think that would be for the best.”
Kara turned to Henry. “You don’t have to–”
“I know,” he interrupted. “But it’s decided, isn’t it?”
She searched his face – the coldness was gone – perhaps she’d imagined it. He stood there now looking measured, reliable, and Kara found herself grateful that she would not have to do this alone.
To chase down Sebastian Thorne.
Even without her... complicated feelings for him, Sebastian wasn’t just anyone. He was the Thorne heir – taught to kill without hesitation, to survive at any cost. She knew the stories. Seen his skill herself – how capable he was.
This mission was downright dangerous. But what choice did she have? He had a Shard of the Arcanth. The Earth regions – Sorrel, Durent – were in danger.
All of Vallenna was now in danger.
She had to act.
And yet. This couldn’t be what Sebastian wanted. It couldn’t. Not the man who had run into fire for her, or saved Morra from the water, the one whose magic danced with hers.
There must be a reason.
“Very well,” her father was saying as she pulled her concentration back. “You leave at first light. Hale valmares will be made ready for you.”
Henry nodded. “Do we know where he went?”
“South,” said Evelyn Sorrel. “He was last seen on the road towards Lyra.”
Lyra. Towards the Water Shard.
“You think he’s going after another?” Kara asked.
Evelyn exchanged a dark look with her father.
So, that’s a yes then.
“We don’t know,” Alaric said. “But we can’t risk it. Word has been sent to redouble the Water Shard’s protection.”
Kara said nothing more. She couldn’t – not with the word ‘subdue’ echoing in her mind, or the thought of another Shard being taken.
Of all the people they could send... why me?
But she could guess why. It wasn’t just her magical ability. Or the politics. They’d watched the Arcalon. Knew Sebastian would let her close. Wouldn’t see her as a threat. She would have to use that against him. The thought made her feel physically sick.
And bring him back for trial? As if that softened the blow. There was only one sentence for treason in Vallenna – it was a sentence that Thorne themselves had once insisted upon.
The penalty was death.
No, no, no–
She couldn’t breathe.
They were asking her to bring Sebastian back to die. To deliver him to the executioner herself.
For all Tobias’s fury, she doubted even he could shield his son from the Council’s judgment. Not from this. Not from treason. Her father was asking her to be responsible for killing the man she–
Gods, how can I–
She shoved the thought down.
Not now. Not here.
Sebastian, what have you done?