Chapter 17: Blood Between Us
By Joy Daud
The council chamber was in chaos.
Scrolls flung open. Voices raised. Guards tense.
"…And you're certain the chamber exists?" a noble demanded.
"Yes," Prince Kimo said coolly. "I saw it. My mother's name was carved into the stone."
Silence.
The king, pale and shaken, stood slowly.
"There are places in this palace even I was forbidden to enter."
"By whom?" Kimo asked, voice like ice.
The king's lips tightened.
The queen placed a delicate hand on his arm. "Darling, this is surely an old wound… let's not stir ghosts."
Kimo's jaw clenched. "Ghosts don't try to kill me in my sleep."
The queen gasped, all theatrics and trembling hands. "You accuse me again? I'm your stepmother—"
"You're a liar," Kimo growled.
And still, the king said nothing.
---
That night, Oki wandered the halls, sleepless.
Something was wrong.
She felt it in her veins. The spirits whispered through the stone.
She opened her palm, casting a shimmer of light across the floor. Blood magic. Old.
And fresh.
She followed it, down, down… into the same chamber.
Only this time—it wasn't empty.
The cloaked figure was there. His voice, rough and full of rage, echoed against the walls.
"…I waited in exile while she raised her child in gold. I was promised the crown!"
Oki froze.
She recognized that voice.
It was someone once dear to Queen Elira… someone betrayed.
"You were dead," Oki whispered.
The man turned.
And her heart stopped.
"Uncle Reyven…"
---
In the king's quarters, he sat alone before the mirror, tracing Elira's name with his finger.
"Why did you leave me?" he whispered. "Why did you let him grow up hating me?"
Behind him, the queen entered silently.
"You're losing control," she said sweetly. "Even your son defies you now."
"He wants answers."
"And if he finds them," she whispered, "he'll destroy everything."
The king stared at his reflection, then at hers behind him.
"Tell me the truth," he said. "Did you…"
She smiled. "What do you think?"
And kissed his cheek before vanishing into the dark.
---
Meanwhile, Kimo stood on his balcony.
He'd watched Oki all day. The way she'd avoided him. The way her smile didn't reach her eyes.
She was hiding something. Again.
Jealousy rose like bile in his throat.
He didn't want to want her.
But he did.
He didn't want to trust her.
But part of him still did.
He slammed his fist into the railing.
"What are you?" he whispered to the night. "And what am I becoming?"
---
In the hidden chamber, Oki stood toe to toe with Reyven.
"You shouldn't be here," she said.
"You're not the one to stop me," Reyven hissed. "I swore vengeance. And that prince? He's in the way."
Oki's eyes sparked. "Touch him, and I'll make sure you regret crawling out of whatever grave you rose from."
"You've grown sharp, little spirit."
"I've grown stronger."
With a swirl of her cloak, she vanished.
But not before whispering to the chamber:
"Let the palace know. The war isn't coming… it's already begun."
---
To be continued…