The breach at the eastern wall led to a bloody skirmish within the castle grounds. Kael fought fiercely alongside his men, and though they managed to repel the invaders, the damage was done.
The Vorthal army had proven they could break through.Exhausted and injured, Kael retreated to his chambers later that night.
But as he tended to his wounds, a thought gnawed at him. How had the enemy known the weak point in their defenses? The eastern wall had been fortified with Eiran's magic—magic that should have held.
When Kael confronted Eiran in the library, the tension between them was palpable."You told me the eastern wall would hold!" Kael snapped, his voice raw with frustration and anger.
Eiran looked up from his work, his expression calm but guarded. "It should have.
Something must have disrupted the spell.""Or someone," Kael said, his voice cold.Eiran's eyes darkened.
"You think I betrayed you?"Kael didn't respond immediately, the silence between them heavy.
The doubts planted by his advisors and Captain Thorne resurfaced.
Could Eiran have been working with the enemy all along?Eiran stood, his face a mask of controlled anger.
"After everything we've been through, you still don't trust me?"Kael's heart twisted, guilt mingling with his fear.
"I want to trust you, Eiran. But I don't know everything. I don't know who you are—what you're hiding."
For a moment, Eiran looked as though he might say something, might reveal the truth.
But instead, he turned away, his voice cold.
"Then maybe you never will."And with that, he left Kael standing alone, the bond between them fraying like the curse that haunted Kael's every step.