Chapter 12: When Night Sends Knives
The next attempt came quietly.
No bells rang.No wards shattered.Nor alarms screamed.
Lucien knew something was wrong the moment the whisper went silent.
He lay awake in the narrow bed of his guarded chamber, staring at the ceiling as moonlight traced pale patterns across the stone. The silence pressed in on him, thick and unnatural.
*You're hiding,* he thought.
No response.
That alone set his heart racing.
Lucien sat up just as the candle on his desk flickered—and went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The air shifted.
And lucien felt killing Intent.
As Lucien rolled sideways as a blade passed through the space where his throat had been an instant before. Stone cracked as the dagger embedded itself into the wall.
He hit the floor hard, breath knocked from his lungs.
A second figure emerged from the shadows, face hidden beneath a Veiled Night mask. The assassin moved without haste, convinced the strike had already succeeded.
Lucien scrambled backward, palms scraping against cold stone.
"I told you," he gasped, "they will hunt you."
The assassin raised a hand.
Holy script ignited in the air, burning silver-white.
Lucien's scar flared.
The script twisted.
And it was rejected immediately.
The assassin froze.
Lucien felt it then—the world peeling back, revealing layers beneath sight and sound. He saw the assassin's intent as a sharp, black line pointed straight at his heart.
*There,* the whisper murmured suddenly, returning like a breath against his ear.
Lucien didn't think much.
He reached.
The line snapped.
The assassin screamed as invisible pressure crushed inward, collapsing space around their body. Bones gave way with sickening sounds as the figure slammed into the floor, unmoving.
Lucien staggered to his feet, shaking.
Guards burst into the room moments later, weapons raised.
"What happened?" one shouted.
Lucien stared at the fallen body.
"They sent a gift as knife," he said quietly.
And it missed.
---
The academy went into lockdown before dawn.
This time, there was no attempt to hide it.
Royal banners were raised. Guards lined every corridor. Faculty began moving students into protected wings while emergency circles were reinforced.
Elowen arrived at Lucien's chamber within minutes of the report.
Her expression was calm—but her eyes burned.
"Are you hurt?" she asked.
Lucien shook his head. "They didn't expect me to see them."
Elowen glanced at the corpse being carried out. "They won't make that mistake again."
She turned back to him, voice lowering. "This means escalation."
Lucien nodded. "Good."
That earned him a sharp look.
"I'm done reacting," he said. "I need to understand what I can do."
Elowen studied him for a long moment.
"Then it's time," she said.
---
They met beneath the academy.
Far below classrooms and dormitories, past sealed stairwells and forgotten halls, lay a chamber older than the kingdom itself. Its walls were carved with symbols that did not belong to any modern language.
The seal pulsed faintly at the chamber's center.
Lucien felt it respond the moment he stepped inside.
His scar burned— insistently.
"This place predates the Church," Elowen said. "Predates the Crown."
Lucien swallowed. "And you brought me here because…?"
"Because this is where your kind was studied," she replied.
Lucien stiffened. "My kind?"
Elowen met his gaze. "Those who return."
The whisper stirred.
*Careful,* it warned. *She knows more than she should.*
Lucien took a steadying breath. "Teach me."
Elowen drew her sword—for ceremony.
"Then lesson one," she said, "is control."
She stepped forward.
"Show me how you see the world."
Lucien closed his eyes.
At first, there was nothing.
Then—layers unfolded.
He saw Elowen not as flesh alone, but as a convergence of lines and light. Power coiled around her heart, bound by chains of glowing script etched deep into her soul.
Lucien's breath hitched.
"You're cursed," he whispered.
Elowen went still.
"I was born royal," she said evenly. "Of course I am."
Lucien stared at the chains.
They were cracking.
---
The second assassination attempt failed before it began.
Church agents hidden among the city watch were exposed and arrested after Lucien identified the distortion their intent caused in the air. The Crown moved swiftly, executing warrants and seizing assets.
The Church of the Veiled Night responded with silence.
That silence was worse than threats.
In the cathedral's depths, Bishop Vareen listened as reports were delivered.
"The boy neutralized an inquisitor without incantation," Maribel said. "And he now trains beneath the academy."
Vareen closed his eyes.
"The curse on the princess?" he asked.
"Stirring," Maribel replied. "Our observers confirm it."
Vareen exhaled slowly.
"Then we are out of time," he said.
He stood and faced the altar.
"Begin the Liturgy of Unmasking."
Maribel's eyes widened. "That rite requires—"
"—a truth the world has forgotten," Vareen finished.
He smiled faintly.
"Let the night speak."
---
Back beneath the academy, Lucien opened his eyes.
The seal pulsed brighter.
The whisper pressed close.
*They are afraid now.*
Lucien flexed his fingers, feeling the world bend ever so slightly in response.
"They should be," he said in a cold tone.
Above them, the academy stood unaware—
Balanced on the edge of a war that had already begun.