Chapter 27

Ember

Arguing with Nara is beginning to become part of my morning routine. “He is not Robert. He is not Daniel. His respect in your capabilities as a guard should tell you that.”

There is a difference between accepting a female guard and being mated to one. He said himself Bianca is the only one he will marry.

“He doesn’t know that you are his mate!”

And if he rejects us? Nara goes quiet, but I can feel her plotting. This conversation isn’t over.

During training, I let muscle memory take over, running through drills automatically while my thoughts drift. Prince Kaine has been cold lately, and I understand why, but this has gone on long enough. I made a mistake the night he caught me trying to leave the palace. I broke his trust. But he’s the one who decided to let me stay on the investigation. He’s the one who said I could still be useful.

If we’re going to keep working together, then something has to change. We need to talk. Really talk.

After questioning Lady Chantarelle, the only thing he asked was whether or not I believed her. No follow up. No insight. Just one clipped question before we both went silent again.

Now, we’re back in the records room. He barely looks up from the papers in front of him, his face unreadable beneath the low, flickering light. We’re on opposite ends of the same long oak table, but it might as well be a mile wide. The only sound in the room is the soft scratch of my pen and the faint rustle of parchment as I sift through the files.

I clear my throat. “This line here, about the estate’s former steward being removed quietly, it doesn’t match the court ledger. Someone went out of their way to erase the record of Lord Chantarelle’s exile.”

Prince Kaine gives a short nod but says nothing.

I set my pen down and look up at him. “Are you going to ignore me all night?”

His eyes finally lift from the page. “I’m not ignoring you.”

“You haven’t said more than two words to me since we got here.”

“That’s not true.” His voice stays cool. “I told you where to find the records.”

Heat builds behind my ribs. “I know I messed up. I shouldn’t have tried to sneak out. But I came back. I’ve followed every order since.”

He closes the folder in front of him and looks at me fully. “You’ve proven yourself capable, Ember. You haven’t proven yourself honest.”

The words land hard, sharper than I expect. Nara stirs in my chest, prickling with offense, but I push her down.

“And you’ve never kept anything to yourself?” I ask, quieter now. “Never acted alone because you thought it was the right call?”

He doesn’t answer right away. The silence stretches. Long enough that the room starts to feel smaller. I glance away first.

The space between us feels heavier than it should. We return to our work without another word. But even as I go back to sorting through records, my focus slips.

I keep thinking about that night in the corridor, about the way he stopped me with nothing but my name. I was sure I’d be punished. Instead, he let me stay.

This coldness is almost worse.

Hours pass. My eyes blur with faded ink, but I keep going. I won’t be the one to quit early. If he’s going to treat me like a stranger, I’ll act like a soldier.

Then, something catches my eye, a yellowing corner, hidden beneath a misfiled property ledger. I ease it out carefully.

“Wait,” I say, sliding the page free. “Look at this.”

Prince Kaine walks around the table to stand beside me. His arm brushes mine as he leans in, and even with the potion in my system, the bond pulses faintly at the contact. It’s dull, but not gone.

The seal on the document is cracked with age, but unmistakable. House Chantarelle. And beneath it, half-faded, is a property address.

He frowns. “That’s on the western border. Practically buried.”

I nod. “It’s registered to Lord Chantarelle, but it’s hidden beneath a chain of unrelated property transfers. Someone didn’t want this place found.”

He straightens slowly, expression darkening. “Most records of his exile were scrubbed. But this, this slipped through.”

There’s something electric in the air now. Here is real progress, a trail to follow.

I look at him. “We finally have something. A lead.”

He doesn’t smile, but the tension in his shoulders eases. “Good work.”

Just those two words. But they land softer than anything he’s said to me in days. The weight between us doesn’t disappear, but it thins just enough to let me breathe again.

Kaine

She’s excited.

The moment Ember spots the Chantarelle crest buried in the mislabeled registry, her whole posture shifts. Her eyes flash with triumph, and for a second, all the tension between us seems to vanish. She turns toward me, holding the file like a prize, her voice quick and breathless as she explains what she’s found.

I step beside her, close enough to see the fine tremor in her fingers. The seal is real. The estate, hidden beneath layers of misfiled transfers, sits on the outskirts of the kingdom, tucked away from court oversight. It shouldn’t be in the public records at all. Someone got lazy. Or desperate.

“You were right,” I murmur. “This wasn’t about reinstating a noblewoman. It’s about gaining power.”

She nods, her expression almost soft now. She doesn’t know she’s still looking at me. Not the way a guard does

I take the file from her hand, our fingers brushing. Her skin is warm. Too warm.

I turn away, jaw tight, trying to clear my thoughts. Focus. The discovery is important. A tangible lead. But my mind drifts to that night.

The one where I caught her sneaking out of the palace.

She still hasn’t explained. She won’t.

And it gnaws at me.

Why risk everything? She had to know how it looked. Traitors walk these halls with polished shoes and careful smiles. And yet… everything I’ve seen from Ember since then speaks to the opposite. She’s been methodical. Loyal. Fierce.

So if it wasn’t for the Queen…

Then who?

A sour thought rises, unbidden.

Jasper.

He’s been lingering lately. Too close. He watches her like a dog circling something new. And Ember, gods, she doesn’t push him away the way she should. Is that where she was headed that night? To meet him?

The idea sits heavy in my chest, twisting tighter the longer I let it breathe. My brother. Of all people.

Possessiveness. I suppress the growl building in my throat and force the thought away. I have no claim on her. I made my choice. Bianca is my intended. Ember is a guard. A trusted one. That’s it.

But when I look back at her, arms full of documents, her face glowing with the thrill of the chase, I’m not thinking about duty.

I’m thinking about how genuine she looks. How her passion for uncovering the truth burns brighter than anyone I’ve worked with in years.

She doesn’t know I’m still watching her.

And I don’t know if that makes this better or worse.

When she moves to leave, I finally speak. “We’ll meet with Jake tomorrow. Go over this in detail.”

She nods without hesitation. “Yes, Alpha.”

I watch her until the door closes behind her.

She’s hiding something., but I’m starting to believe it’s not treason. That scares me more than it should.