The moon was high in the sky by the time Seraphine returned to her chambers. The lavish room felt unusually cold, the flickering candlelight casting ominous shadows against the stone walls. The events of the evening played over in her mind as she closed the door behind her, the weight of her conversation with Lord Cedric still heavy on her shoulders.
She had sensed his suspicion, the subtle way he had reacted to her probing questions. He was dangerous—far more than she had anticipated—and if he was the spy, his betrayal would have far-reaching consequences. But now, she knew one thing for certain: Cedric was hiding something.
Seraphine paced the room, her mind racing as she tried to think of her next move. She needed to find proof, something that would expose Cedric without a shadow of a doubt. But how? He was too clever to leave anything in plain sight, and she couldn't risk confronting him directly—not yet.
A knock at the door startled her, and she froze. It was late, and she hadn't been expecting anyone. Her heart quickened, a feeling of unease washing over her as she cautiously approached the door.
"Who is it?" she called, her voice steady despite the fear creeping into her chest.
"It's Arin," came the familiar voice on the other side. "I need to talk to you."
Seraphine sighed with relief and opened the door, letting Arin step inside. Her friend's face was tense, her usually bright eyes shadowed with worry. Arin closed the door behind her, leaning against it as if she had just run from something—or someone.
"I've learned something," Arin whispered, her voice barely above a breath. "It's worse than we thought."
Seraphine frowned, her stomach sinking. "What is it? Did you find out more about Cedric?"
Arin shook her head. "Not Cedric… but someone else. One of the guards overheard a conversation between two of the king's advisors in the lower halls. They were talking about a meeting—something secret, planned for tonight."
"Tonight?" Seraphine's pulse quickened. "Who was involved?"
"One of them was Lord Cedric, but the other… the other was Ronan," Arin said, her expression grim.
Ronan. The advisor who had openly opposed Lucien's recent decisions, always arguing for more aggressive tactics against the rebels. Seraphine had suspected him before, but she hadn't expected him to be working with someone as close to the king as Cedric.
"What did they say?" Seraphine asked, her mind racing with possibilities.
"The guard didn't hear everything, but they mentioned the north—something about the rebels and a shipment of weapons. Whatever it is, it's happening soon. I think Cedric and Ronan are planning to supply the rebels."
Seraphine's blood ran cold. If Ronan and Cedric were involved in arming the rebels, it would explain how the insurgents had become so powerful so quickly. The threat wasn't just external—it was coming from within the very walls of the castle.
"We need to stop them," Seraphine said, her voice hard with determination. "If they're meeting tonight, this could be our only chance to catch them in the act."
Arin nodded. "But we have to be careful. If they realize we're onto them…"
"They'll run, or worse," Seraphine finished, her voice grim. "We can't let them escape."
The two women exchanged a look of understanding. This was it. If they could catch Cedric and Ronan conspiring with the rebels, they could bring the evidence to Lucien and expose the traitors. But they would need to act quickly—and quietly.
"We'll go to the lower halls," Seraphine said, formulating a plan. "We'll hide and watch for them. Once we have proof, we'll go straight to Lucien."
Arin hesitated, her brow furrowing. "And what if they see us? What if we're too late?"
Seraphine met her friend's gaze, a fire burning in her chest. "Then we'll fight. We won't let them destroy everything we've worked for."
---
The castle was eerily quiet as Seraphine and Arin made their way through the dim corridors, their footsteps muffled by the stone floors. The lower halls were rarely used at this hour, and the flickering torchlight cast long, unsettling shadows along the walls. Every creak and whisper of the wind seemed louder in the stillness of the night.
They reached the entrance to the lower chambers, a forgotten part of the castle where the old armory had once been stored. Seraphine felt a chill creep down her spine as they stepped into the hallway, the air growing colder the deeper they ventured.
"We need to stay out of sight," Seraphine whispered, motioning for Arin to follow her behind a large stone pillar. From their hiding spot, they had a clear view of the entrance to a small, hidden room at the far end of the hall. This was where the meeting was supposed to take place.
Minutes passed in tense silence, every sound amplified by the quiet. Seraphine's heart pounded in her chest, each second stretching out longer than the last. Had they made a mistake? Were they too late?
Just as doubt began to creep into her mind, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Seraphine stiffened, peering around the pillar as two figures emerged from the shadows. She recognized them instantly—Lord Cedric and Ronan, speaking in hushed tones as they made their way toward the hidden room.
Seraphine held her breath as they passed, close enough that she could hear snippets of their conversation.
"…once the shipment arrives, the rebels will have enough firepower to storm the northern outposts," Ronan was saying, his voice low and urgent. "Lucien won't see it coming."
Cedric's expression was cold, his eyes calculating. "And once the north falls, the rest of the kingdom will follow. We'll be in control before he even realizes what's happening."
Seraphine's blood boiled. This was worse than she had imagined. The rebels were planning an all-out assault on the northern outposts, and Cedric and Ronan were helping them from within the castle walls.
As the two men disappeared into the hidden room, Seraphine turned to Arin, her voice barely a whisper. "We have to get to Lucien. Now."
Arin nodded, her face pale but determined. Together, they slipped away from their hiding spot, retracing their steps through the dark corridors. Every second felt like an eternity, the weight of what they had just heard pressing down on Seraphine like a leaden cloak.
When they finally reached Lucien's chambers, Seraphine knocked urgently on the door, her heart hammering in her chest. Moments later, Lucien opened the door, his brow furrowed with concern.
"Seraphine? What's wrong?" he asked, his voice laced with worry.
"We need to talk," Seraphine said, her voice shaking with the urgency of the situation. "There's something you need to know. Something that could change everything."
Lucien's eyes darkened, and he stepped aside to let them in. As Seraphine began to explain what they had discovered, she couldn't shake the feeling that the fate of the entire kingdom hung in the balance.
And in the shadows, the storm of betrayal was about to break.