Elara's POV
"Get out."
Asheron's voice cuts through the tension like a blade. He's staring at Seraphine with an expression I can't read.
"Your Majesty, I only wanted to—" Seraphine starts, her voice sickeningly sweet.
"I said get out. All of you. Now."
Seraphine's perfect smile falters for just a second. Then she bows gracefully and leaves, but not before shooting me a look that promises pain.
Kieran follows her out, closing the doors behind him.
The silence that follows is suffocating.
"You know Lady Seraphine," Asheron says. It's not a question.
"We were friends as children. Before..." I swallow hard. "Before everything fell apart."
"And she abandoned you."
"Yes." The word tastes bitter. "When my mother was arrested, when my family name became poison, Seraphine pretended she never knew me. She watched my mother die and didn't say a word."
Asheron sits back down on the bed, exhaustion clear on his face. The healing took a lot out of him. "Lady Seraphine has been my chief advisor for ten years. She manages court politics, handles disputes, advises me on policy."
My stomach drops. "She's that powerful?"
"Very." He looks at me carefully. "Which means if she knew you were alive and hiding in the Outer Districts, and she never told anyone... why?"
That's exactly what's been bothering me. Why would Seraphine let me live all these years? Why not turn me in for using forbidden magic and get rid of me permanently?
"Maybe she didn't know," I say, but I don't believe it.
"Or maybe she had a reason to keep you hidden until the right moment." Asheron's eyes narrow. "Like now. When I'm dying and desperate enough to bring in any healer, even a forbidden one."
Ice runs through my veins. "You think she's involved? In whatever's happening to you?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." He stands up, moving toward a desk in the corner. "The assassination attempt happened three days ago. A servant brought me wine. I drank it. Within minutes, I collapsed. By the time my guards found the servant, he was already dead. Poisoned himself."
"A dead end," I murmur.
"Convenient, isn't it?" Asheron pulls out a thick folder. "But someone hired him. Someone planned this. Someone wants me dead."
He hands me the folder. Inside are reports, witness statements, drawings of the crime scene. I flip through them, my healer's eye catching details.
"This poison," I say, pointing to a description. "It's not just any curse. This is specific. Designed to eat away at dark magic users from the inside. Normal poison would just kill you quickly. This is meant to make you suffer."
"And make me weak," Asheron adds grimly. "Weak enough that I can't defend myself when they make their real move."
"What real move?"
He doesn't answer. Instead, he walks to the window and stares out at the dark kingdom below. "Tell me about Seraphine. When you were children. What was she like?"
I think back, memories flooding in. "Smart. Ambitious. She always wanted more than what she had. Her family was noble but not wealthy. She hated that."
"What else?"
"She was obsessed with power. Used to talk about marrying someone important, becoming someone everyone had to respect." I pause. "And she was good at getting what she wanted. Good at making people believe whatever she needed them to believe."
Asheron turns to face me, and I see something dark in his expression. "Five years ago, when your mother discovered something about my curse and tried to warn me, I was unconscious for three weeks. Completely vulnerable. Do you know who was in charge during that time?"
My mouth goes dry. "Seraphine."
"Lady Seraphine, my most trusted advisor, had complete control of the palace. She made all the decisions. She handled the investigation into your mother's case." His voice drops to something dangerous. "She's the one who presented the 'evidence' of treason. She's the one who ordered the execution while I couldn't stop it."
The room spins. "She killed my mother."
"I think so. But I need proof before I can move against her. She's too powerful, too connected. If I accuse her without evidence, half the court will revolt."
I'm shaking with rage. All these years, I thought the king murdered my mother. But it was Seraphine. My childhood friend. The girl I trusted.
"Why?" I whisper. "Why would she do that?"
"Because your mother discovered something. Something worth killing for." Asheron moves closer. "You said your mother tried to warn me about my curse. What did she find?"
"I don't know. She never got the chance to tell me. The night she was arrested, my father told me to run and hide. That's the last time I saw him."
"Your father. Lord Caius Veylan." Asheron's jaw clenches. "I'm going to be honest with you, Elara. I don't know if he's alive. But if he is, and if Seraphine wanted him silenced too, there's only one place he'd be."
"Where?"
"The black cells. The prison below the palace where we keep the most dangerous criminals. People we can't execute but can't release." He pauses. "People who know too much."
Hope and terror surge through me. "You think he's down there? After five years?"
"If Seraphine wanted information from him, yes. She'd keep him alive to torture it out of him."
I stand up so fast I nearly fall over. "Take me there. Now."
"I can't. Not yet. If Seraphine realizes I suspect her, she'll move against us both. We need to be smart about this."
"My father could be rotting in a cell right now—"
"And rushing in will get him killed!" Asheron grabs my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "I promise you, Elara. I will find your father. I will get you answers. But you have to trust me."
"Trust you? I barely know you!"
"I know. But right now, I'm the only ally you have in this palace. Everyone else either fears you, hates you, or wants to use you." His grip softens. "Let me protect you. Let me help you."
I want to argue. Want to run to the black cells myself and tear them apart looking for my father.
But I'm exhausted. Emotionally drained. And he's right—I have no power here without him.
"Fine," I whisper. "What do we do?"
"First, you rest. You used too much magic healing me. You're going to collapse if you don't sleep."
As if on cue, my legs give out. Asheron catches me, lifting me easily.
"I can walk," I protest weakly.
"You can't even stand." He carries me toward a door I hadn't noticed. "There's a room connected to mine. For royal healers. You'll stay there."
He pushes open the door to reveal a beautiful bedroom. Soft bed, clean sheets, a window with actual light coming through.
It's the nicest room I've seen in five years.
Asheron sets me down on the bed gently. "Sleep. I'll post guards outside. No one gets in without my permission."
"Not even Seraphine?"
"Especially not Seraphine." He pulls a blanket over me. "Tomorrow, we start investigating properly. We'll find out who killed your mother and why. We'll find your father. And we'll figure out how to break this curse permanently."
I'm already drifting off, too tired to fight. But I manage to whisper, "Why are you helping me?"
Asheron is quiet for a moment. Then: "Because you saved my life when you had every reason to let me die. Because someone murdered your family and framed it as justice. And because..." He hesitates. "Because when you touched me, when you healed me, I felt something I haven't felt in three hundred years."
"What?"
"Hope."
He leaves, closing the door softly behind him.
I lie there in the darkness, my mind spinning with everything that's happened. My mother's real killer. My father possibly alive. The Dark King who's nothing like the monster from the stories.
And Seraphine. Beautiful, ambitious, murderous Seraphine who's been pulling strings this whole time.
I'm just starting to drift off when I hear something.
Voices. Coming from Asheron's room.
I shouldn't eavesdrop. Should just go to sleep.
But something makes me get up and press my ear to the door.
"—can't trust her, Your Majesty." That's Kieran's voice.
"I know what I'm doing." Asheron sounds tired.
"Do you? She's a Veylan. Her mother was executed for treason. For all we know, she's working with whoever poisoned you."
My blood runs cold.
"That's ridiculous. She saved my life."
"Or she's keeping you alive long enough to get information. To get close to you." Kieran's voice drops. "Lady Seraphine warned me this might happen. That the girl might be part of a larger conspiracy."
No. No, no, no.
"Seraphine said that?" Asheron asks carefully.
"Yes. She's been investigating the Veylan family for years. She has evidence that Lord Caius was planning a coup before he vanished. That Lady Catherine was part of it. And now the daughter shows up, with forbidden magic, right when you're most vulnerable?"
Silence.
"Kieran," Asheron finally says. "I want you to do something for me."
"Anything, Your Majesty."
"I want you to investigate Lady Seraphine. Quietly. Every decision she made five years ago. Every meeting she attended. Every order she gave."
"Your Majesty, I don't understand—"
"Just do it. And don't tell anyone. Especially not Seraphine."
Footsteps. The door to the hallway opens and closes.
I stand there frozen, my heart pounding.
Asheron suspects Seraphine.
But Seraphine is already planting doubts about me.
And Kieran—the captain of the guard, the king's most loyal soldier—thinks I'm a traitor.
Which means I'm trapped in a palace where the real villain has all the power, and the only person who believes me is a dying king who might not survive long enough to prove the truth.
I climb back into bed, but I don't sleep.
Because I just realized something terrifying.
If Seraphine killed my mother for discovering the truth about the curse, and if my father is alive in the black cells...
Then Seraphine knows exactly where he is.
And the moment she realizes I'm getting close to finding him, she'll kill him to tie up loose ends.
I have to find him first.
Even if it means going behind Asheron's back.
Even if it means risking everything.