Chapter 51

Ember

The energy within the palace has changed. Everyone moves with more urgency, and there is tension palpable in the air.

There’s a new urgency beneath everything. Even the way people speak has changed. People are quieter, more curt. There is a sense of strain in the palace, like we’re all waiting for something to happen.

It doesn’t take long to figure out why. Reports have started coming in from the southern villages. Rogue sightings in places that were previously quiet.

Border scouts begin encountering more resistance. It’s not an organized force, but something is building, and no one wants to say it outright yet.

More of the guard is being reassigned to handle the threat. I hear it in briefings and see it in the reshuffled duty rosters. Patrol rotations are stretched thin.

Jake looks exhausted, and even the senior guards seem worn. Everyone’s moving faster, talking less. The comfort of routine is gone.

The focus has changed. What resources had been focused on the palace, on the assassination attempt and the mole on the mole, are is now being shuffled outward.

Now, we review border maps and troop allocations. Charts on the walls track movements across multiple provinces. The stacks of reports on my desk have doubled in height, and they only keep growing.

Prince Kaine sits through the meetings with his usual stillness, but I notice the way his jaw tightens whenever a new deployment is mentioned. His posture never changes, but I can see the tension underneath the surface.

I can tell he’s listening to every detail, storing it away. Even when he doesn't speak, I can tell he’s worried. He’s careful not to show it, but I know him well enough now to notice the signs.

Later that afternoon, two guards pass by outside my office. They’re speaking just loud enough to hear.

“I heard they’re sending another unit out to the outer edge of the kingdom,” one says. “It’s getting worse out there.”

“They’ll run out of guards soon,” the other replies. “Wouldn’t be surprised if they sent Prince Kaine next, just to make it look like we’re not scared.”

They laugh. But it doesn’t sound amused.

Nara stiffens. I can feel her close. “They would risk him to prove a point?”

I get the feeling it wouldn’t be the first time.

The thought makes my stomach tighten. It’s not that I doubt Prince Kaine’s strength. He’s more than capable, but he’s not expendable.

He’s there heir, not a symbol to be tossed into danger to satisfy someone else’s image of power. If something were to happen…

I push the thought away before I can panic. My heart thuds in my chest, and I take a deep breath as I wait for the feeling to subside.

That evening, I see him in the corridor. His coat is slung over one shoulder, and there’s a faint shadow under his eyes. He nods to me when our eyes meet, and I return the gesture.

I almost stop to ask if he’s alright but think better of it. We’re all under stress. Still, the thought conversation I overheard replays in my head. The idea of him leaving the palace, walking into danger for the sake of a message, doesn’t sit right.

I wait until the next morning to ask. The room is quiet, when I enter, the table covered in new notes. I hesitate in the doorway. He looks up from the reports, expectant but not impatient.

“Do you have a minute?”

He nods. “Of course.”

I step inside and close the door behind me.

“I heard something yesterday,” I say. “A rumor.”

His eyes narrow slightly. “What kind of rumor?”

“About another deployment. Some of the guards think the Queen might send you. That she wants to show the palace isn’t afraid.”

He leans back slightly. “I’ve heard the same.”

“Is it true?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer right away. “Nothing’s official yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

I nod slowly. “You shouldn’t go.”

His eyes flick to mine. “You think I can’t handle it?”

“I think it’s not your place to be used as proof of something you already are,” I say. “You’ve already shown you’re capable. You shouldn’t have to be paraded for the sake of optics.”

He’s quiet for a moment.

Then, “Most people wouldn’t say that to me.”

“I’m not most people.”

A small smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. “No. You’re not.”

There’s a pause. The air between us feels warmer than usual, not in temperature, but in closeness.

“I’m just saying,” I say infusing my words with meaning, “we’ll need to be careful.”

“I always am.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I see the flicker of understanding in his eyes. There’s something deeper in the way he looks at me now. The quiet between us feels charged, like there an electric current running beneath it.

“I’ll try,” he says quietly.

There’s a silence between us, but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable. We’re not just discussing deployment strategy anymore. We’ve crossed a line, even if it’s unspoken.

I step back after a moment. “I’ll let you get back to your work.”

He watches me go but doesn’t call me back. Still, I feel his eyes on me until I round the corner..

My chest is tight. Part of me wants to turn back. The rest of me knows better.

Back in my office, I try to settle into reports again, but everything feels less urgent now. The real work, the investigation into Lady Chantarelle, has been put on hold.

Prince Kaine hadn’t said it directly, but I know the truth. The Queen has turned everyone’s focus outward. She wants to keep eyes away from the palace, and from her.

The border tension is real, but it's convenient, too. It allows her to bury everything else without suspicion. It gives her the chance to act like a ruler, not a suspect. The more chaos outside the palace, the easier it is for her to tighten control inside of it.

I sort through the old files again anyway. Every name, every deed. It’s not over, not yet. Just paused.

I underline a familiar name in one of the contracts, double-check a signature I’d flagged earlier. There’s still work to be done. I just have to be patient.

Nara breaks her silence. “You meant it when you said he shouldn’t go.”

Yes.

“You meant it because you care.”

I don’t answer her, but I don’t deny it either. This time, the silence between us feels more like agreement than tension. I reach for the next document and keep reading, even though my thoughts are already elsewhere.