Chapter 15 — When the Past Knocks
Elowen learned quickly that peace at Blackspire never announced its ending.
It simply… cracked.
The morning after dinner with Kael arrived too softly. Too normally. Sunlight brushed the stone corridors, servants moved with their usual quiet efficiency, and for a brief, fragile moment, Elowen almost believed that last night had changed the world.
She felt different.
Lighter.
Dangerously hopeful.
She was in the eastern garden when the raven arrived.
The bird descended in a swirl of black feathers, landing on the stone balustrade with an impatient caw. Elowen startled, clutching the book she had been pretending to read. One of the guards stiffened instantly, hand going to his weapon.
The raven bore a silver seal.
Not Blackspire's.
The guard's expression darkened. "My lady, we should take that inside."
Elowen nodded, heart tightening as the bird was coaxed away and the message delivered into her trembling hands. She recognized the crest immediately.
Ashmere.
Her breath left her in a thin, silent exhale.
She should have expected this.
Inside her chambers, the letter felt heavier than its weight like a ghost pressed flat against parchment.
Elowen,
It has come to our attention that you have adjusted… well… to your new circumstances.
House Ashmere requests your presence at the upcoming Solstice Conclave. As your birth family, we feel it is appropriate to present you properly to the court.
Your obedience will reflect favorably on all involved.
Lord Henric Ashmere
Her fingers clenched so tightly the paper creased.
Obedience.
The word tasted bitter.
A knock came before she could fold the letter away.
"Elowen?" Kael's voice low, controlled, already sharp with instinct.
He knew.
She opened the door.
Kael stood there in full regalia, black cloak fastened at his shoulders, voidsteel gleaming faintly beneath the torchlight. His gaze dropped instantly to the letter in her hand.
"Ashme re," he said, not asking.
She nodded.
The air around him shifted subtle, dangerous. Elowen felt it like a pressure change before a storm.
"They have no right to summon you," Kael said, voice cold as obsidian.
"They believe they do," she replied quietly.
His jaw tightened. "What do you believe?"
The question stunned her.
Not what do you want me to do.
Not what do they demand.
What do you believe?
Elowen inhaled slowly. "I believe… they will not stop. If I go, they'll parade me like proof they still own me. If I refuse, they'll provoke you."
Kael stepped closer, the door closing behind him with a quiet finality. "Let them provoke me."
Her heart skipped. "Kael "
"I will not let them touch you again," he said, the words edged with something dangerously close to a vow. "You are under my protection."
Something warm and fierce unfurled in her chest. "I don't want to hide behind you."
His gaze softened just slightly. "Then we will stand together."
The Solstice Conclave arrived wrapped in gold and false smiles.
Blackspire's arrival silenced the great hall.
Whispers rippled like wildfire as Kael entered, Elowen at his side. She wore silver this time not Ashmere blue, not servant gray. The fabric shimmered subtly, elegant without ostentation.
She walked with her shoulders back.
Kael noticed everything.
The way nobles bowed lower than necessary. The way eyes lingered on Elowen with curiosity and calculation.
And then
Cedric Valemont.
The name struck Kael like a blade.
Tall, golden haired, dressed in immaculate white and crimson, Cedric turned as they approached. His eyes widened not with surprise, but with unmistakable recognition.
"Elowen?"
Her steps faltered.
Cedric smiled, slow and intimate. "It really is you."
Kael's hand tightened around hers.
Elowen felt it and felt the tremor beneath his control.
"Lord Valemont," Kael said coolly. "You are addressing my wife."
Cedric's smile sharpened. "So the rumors are true."
His gaze returned to Elowen, softer now. "I wondered what became of you. You disappeared after the betrothal was broken."
Her stomach twisted.
"I didn't disappear," she said. "I was discarded."
Cedric's expression flickered with something like regret. "If I had known "
"You knew," Kael cut in. "You simply chose not to care."
The temperature dropped.
Cedric chuckled lightly, though his eyes hardened. "And yet, here she stands. Queen beside the Void Warlord. How unexpected."
Kael stepped forward half a pace enough that Cedric had to look up at him.
"Look again," Kael said quietly. "And remember where your eyes belong."
The message was clear.
Elowen's pulse thundered.
Cedric bowed shallow, deliberate. "Forgive me. Old habits."
As he turned away, Elowen felt something she hadn't expected.
Kael's jealousy.
It was palpable coiled tight, restrained by will alone.
When they reached the balcony overlooking the hall, Kael finally spoke.
"Did he hurt you?" His voice was controlled, but there was an undercurrent of violence beneath it.
"No," Elowen said honestly. "He… overlooked me. When my family still had use for me, he courted my sister instead."
Kael's mouth tightened. "He does not deserve to remember your name."
She hesitated, then said softly, "He remembers now."
Kael turned to her, eyes dark. "Does that trouble you?"
She shook her head. "No."
Then, after a pause, "Does it trouble you?"
His answer came without hesitation.
"Yes."
Her breath caught.
"Because he looked at you as though he once had the right to," Kael continued. "And because I do not share what is mine."
The possessiveness should have frightened her.
Instead, it grounded her.
"I am not owned," she said gently.
He exhaled, nodding. "No. You are chosen."
He reached for her hand again this time openly, unapologetically.
The court watched.
Let them.
As the void light flared faintly around Kael, nobles lowered their gazes, whispers turning to reverent silence.
And Elowen realized something profound.
Her past could knock all it wanted.
Blackspire would not open the door.