Kael had learned long ago that nobles didn’t fight with swords. They fought with smiles.He sat at the long marble table in Lord Therin’s hall, surrounded by silk and silver. Laughter floated like perfume, but every sound carried a hidden blade. Daren shifted uncomfortably beside him, looking out of place in borrowed clothes.“Don’t speak,” Kael whispered. “Just listen. They’ll tell us everything while pretending to say nothing.”Therin raised his cup, voice booming. “To the Empire’s bright future!”Kael lifted his cup too, but didn’t drink. His eyes swept the room—every glance, every nod. The nobles laughed, but their eyes darted like rats in a burning house. He saw fear. He saw guilt. He saw opportunity.Lady Seris Valen arrived late, her entrance quiet but sharp. She didn’t smile. She didn’t need to. The others leaned away from her path as if her shadow carried secrets.Therin greeted her with false warmth. “Lady Valen, I was just telling our young strategist here how the capital th

The city never truly slept — it only whispered.Ashvale’s upper quarters glimmered under torchlight, while the alleys below swallowed sound and light both. That was where Kael walked now — through wet stone paths that smelled of smoke and old secrets. The nobles’ feast still echoed faintly in his mind: fake laughter, trembling smiles, and Seris Valen’s eyes — sharp enough to cut glass.Daren followed behind, muttering, “You sure about this? We could just lay low for a few days.”Kael didn’t answer right away. He stopped under a broken lamp, eyes scanning the rooftops. “Lay low? That’s what men do when they’ve lost. We’re not done yet.”Daren sighed. “You just accused one of the Empire’s richest men of treason. I’d say we’re pretty close to done.”Kael gave a dry chuckle. “You think he’ll sleep tonight?”“No,” Daren said. “But neither will we.”They turned down a narrow street and slipped into an abandoned warehouse. Inside, the air was thick with dust and candle smoke. A single lanter

The city woke to rumors.By dawn, whispers had crawled through every street and market—of missing shipments, vanished guards, and a noble house suddenly locked behind its own gates. The empire’s morning calm was already cracking.Kael stood on the balcony of a rented inn, cloak drawn close. Below, the people shouted about grain shortages and rising taxes, but he only listened for one name. Therin.When Daren burst into the room, his grin said enough. “They’re tearing into him, Kael. The council’s calling an emergency session. Half his allies are pretending they’ve never met him.”Kael nodded once. “Good.”He moved to the small table, where the stolen ledgers lay open. Numbers, payments, names—all now in his hands. “They’ll think Therin fell because he got greedy. They won’t see the hand that pushed him.”Daren flopped onto a chair. “You’re enjoying this.”Kael poured tea that had long gone cold. “Enjoyment isn’t the word. It’s... proof.” He looked out at the rooftops, the sunlight bre

The wind was still carrying whispers from the chapel. Kael couldn’t shake them — the Archivist’s voice echoing inside his mind like a riddle that refused to fade.He and Daren walked in silence along the narrow road out of the old quarter. The snow had turned to rain again, soft and cold.Daren finally broke the quiet. “So… you gonna tell me what that ghost said back there?”Kael’s tone was flat. “Nothing worth repeating.”“Nothing?” Daren scoffed. “You collapsed like you’d seen a god.”Kael stopped walking. “Maybe I did.”Daren blinked. “You’re not serious.”“Does it matter?” Kael looked up at the dark sky. “If fate is real, it’s not a god. It’s a chain. One that keeps dragging us where it wants.”Daren sighed. “You’re starting to sound like those temple preachers. The ones who say pain’s a blessing.”Kael’s gaze flicked to him. “Do I look blessed to you?”Daren smirked, but it didn’t last. He saw something in Kael’s eyes — that quiet, heavy anger that always came before a storm.“Al

The road to the capital stretched like an old wound — cracked, forgotten, and full of ghosts. Kael and Daren walked in silence, their boots crunching over gravel. Every step brought them closer to the Empire’s heart… and closer to the people who once burned his name from history.Daren broke the silence first. “You ever think about what comes after all this?”Kael didn’t look at him. “After?”“Yeah. You kill the council. You burn the lies. Then what? Sit on the ashes?”Kael’s voice was quiet. “There’s never an ‘after’ for people like us.”Daren frowned, but didn’t argue. He knew when Kael’s tone carried that edge — the one that meant there was nothing left to say.They reached the outskirts of a small town by dusk. Smoke rose from chimneys, soft and harmless. The place was too quiet, too clean — like it had learned to keep its head down.Kael’s eyes scanned the street. “Keep your hood up. We’re not welcome here.”“Since when are we welcome anywhere?” Daren muttered, pulling his hood l