Chapter 127
Lila
I wasn’t supposed to be in this wing. The western corridor was quiet.
I’d come this way on instinct more than intention, taking the long route back to my chambers after leaving the infirmary, trying to shake off the heaviness pressing behind my ribs.
A sharp breath. A whisper of movement. I froze when I heard the voices. Faint, but unmistakable. Tucked around the corner where the corridor curved around toward an old reading room.
I leaned in, careful not to let my shadow cross the stone.
“I’m not making accusations,” a familiar voice said, calm and deliberate. “But if there’s doubt–if even the hint of illegitimacy takes root…”
Asher.
ledged closer, heart suddenly beating faster. I stopped just short of the open archway. The scent of wax and old parchment drifted out–familiar, nostalgic. But his voice made it feel like a trap.
“-what happens to the Council’s confidence? To trust in his rule?”
A second voice, older and colder, murmured something I couldn’t catch.
I pressed my back against the wall, trying to steady my breath. My fingers curled slightly against the stone. The cool bite grounded me. Just enough to stop my pulse from hammering in my ears.
This wasn’t strategy. This wasn’t diplomacy. It was treason, or worse.
He was sowing doubt about Damon’s bloodline. Subtly. Skillfully. The way Asher always did when he wanted to wound without leaving a mark.
This was Asher’s game. I had heard enough to understand: he was laying the groundwork to undermine Damon’s throne.
d he was doing it behind everyone’s back. Behind my back.
I didn’t realize I’d taken a step forward until the floor creaked beneath me. A sharp sound in the stillness.
The voices inside stopped.
I backed away quickly, retreating into the shadows of the corridor. My breath hitched as I pressed myself into a narrow alcove just beyond view. A moment later, I heard footsteps–measured, slow, moving toward the door.
I watched from the shadows as Councilman Dorell stepped out first, his sharp profile stern in the fading light. He didn’t notice me. Didn’t look back. His
boots clicked briskly as he disappeared down the far hall.
Then several minutes later Asher emerged.
He looked calm. Relaxed. Like he hadn’t just tried to gut the foundation of the throne.
But I saw the tension in his shoulders. The way his eyes scanned the corridor, searching. Sensing.
I shrank back instinctively, staying hidden in the shadows until he passed. His scent was different again. Smoked. Burned at the edges. Like something decaying beneath the surface.
I waited until his footsteps faded. Then I stepped out into the light and stared at the hallway where he’d disappeared.
My mouth was dry.
1/3
1715 Mon 30 Jun
Chapter 127
The betrayal sat heavy in my throat. I wanted to scream. I wanted to confront him now. But my hands wouldn’t stop trembling.
He hadn’t just broken my trust. He had used our friendship, our history, to play his game and set himself up as King.
And I was done being blinded by his charm.
I didn’t wait until I calmed down. I didn’t give myself time to think or rehearse what I’d say. I just followed him.
Asher moved like a man with purpose, confident that the shadows cloaked his intentions. He passed under the arches of the west wing’s corridor, heading toward the more populated halls.
quickened my pace, boots silent on the stone until I turned the corner and stepped into the fading amber glow of the lanterns behind him.
“Asher.”
O
He froze.
I saw the tension ripple through his back before he turned. Slowly. Carefully.
“Lila,” he said, voice warm, surprised. “Didn’t expect you down here. Lost your way?”
I didn’t return his smile. “I heard everything.”
That wiped the charm from his face. His eyes sharpened, but he masked it quickly, schooling his features into something gentler.
“Then you must’ve misunderstood,” he said. “You know how the Council speaks. Half–truths and vague concerns. I didn’t-”
“Don’t,” I snapped. “Don’t lie to me.”
The words rang louder than I intended, echoing faintly down the corridor. I stepped closer and he held perfectly still.
“I heard you suggest Damon might not be the rightful heir. I heard you let that rumor root. And I heard how easily you did it.”
His mouth tightened. “You think this is about power?”
“Yes.”
“No,” he snapped, suddenly, his mask slipping again. “This is about what’s fair. About what’s owed.”
I stared at him. “What exactly do you think you’re owed, Asher?”
His hands curled into loose fists at his sides.
“A chance. A choice. I spent years serving this court, smiling for nobles who couldn’t see past his shadow, following behind a King who never deserved what he was given. And then you-”
He stepped forward, voice lowering. “You looked at me like I was… like I could be more.”
I didn’t back down. “I did see you. And I see now what you are choosing to become.”
His jaw clenched. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
I wanted to be furious. I wanted to let my voice rise, to scream that he’d betrayed everything we were starting to come to: friendship.
But instead, I felt cold. Detached. Like a thread had finally snapped loose inside me.
He took another step, softer now. “Lila, he’ll destroy you. Just like he destroyed Natalie.”
2/3
17:15 Mon, 30 Jun
Chapter 127
My stomach twisted.
“Don’t,” I said, quieter now. “Don’t talk about things you know nothing about.”
“I know enough,” he said. “You’re just the next name on a long list of losses he’ll bury in silence. You think because he held your hand and whispered sweet things under moonlight that it makes you special to him?“.
I stared at him. “I don’t need to be special. I need to be free. To make my own choices. And I was–and I won’t let you make me doubt or rush this choice.”
He flinched. Good. I swallowed the ache rising in my throat. “We’re done, Asher.”
His expression faltered–just for a moment. The cracks in his confidence widened.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do. And I want you to remember this moment when whatever you’re building starts to fall apart.”
He stepped back like I’d struck him. The silence between us throbbed.
“Damon’s not who you think he is,” he said, but there was no fire behind it now. Only something wounded. Hollow.
“Maybe not,” I said. “But at least he’s honest about the monster he’s been.”
I turned before I could see his face crumble.
My hands shook as I walked away, the weight of the confrontation settling heavy in my chest. My heart ached–not for what we were now, but for what we might have been.
“Asher…” I hesitated, the word torn from somewhere deep in my ribs. I didn’t even know why I said it–habit, maybe. Or grief. But he didn’t answer.
I turned halfway, just long enough to see his shoulders slump, to see the hurt ripple across his features like a stone dropped in still water. His lips parted like he wanted to speak, to explain, to fix it—but he said nothing.
Good. No words could fix what he had done. What he was about to do.
And yet… the part of me that remembered the man in the training yard encouraging me, the one who walked with me and stood beside me when I wore another’s name grieved for the loss of him.
I forced my feet to keep moving, even as every step felt like something tearing loose in my chest.
And as I rounded the corner out of his view, I whispered to myself, How do I even begin to tell Damon what I just heard?
Because no matter how wrong Asher had been, no matter how twisted his logic, what he’d done wasn’t just a personal betrayal. It was dangerous. Strategic. Calculated.
It wasn’t just the end of a friendship.
It was the start of something much worse.
3/3
