Morning broke with crimson light bleeding through storm-gray clouds — an omen, if one believed in such things.I didn't.But even I couldn't ignore the weight in the air.
By mid-morning, it came.
Killian burst into my study, uncharacteristically breathless.I had been reviewing the coded letters from my syndicate contacts when he spoke the words that made the ink freeze in my veins.
"My lord… there's been a breach. One of the Broken Blades.Cullen. He's… vanished. And with him, sensitive ledgers from your estate."
For a moment, silence reigned.Then I slowly set down my quill.
Cullen.The one I had handpicked.A man whose grudge against the crown ran deeper than most.And yet, here he was, turning coat before the game had even properly begun.
"Who paid him?" I asked, voice calm, but my fingers itched for a blade.Killian grimaced."We traced gold marked with the seal of the Eastmarch families. And… there are whispers that Lady Evelyne's people made contact with him three nights ago."
Ah.So this was how she played.A direct strike at my foundation — early, brutal, efficient.
I should have been angry.Instead, something inside me coiled tighter.Sharpened.
She was faster than I gave her credit for.Good.It would make breaking her that much sweeter.
"Find him," I said coldly."Alive, if possible.But if not—" I smiled thinly, "—make his corpse an example.Hang it in the gutters where the rats and nobles alike can see."
Killian bowed and disappeared like smoke, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Meanwhile, across the palace, Evelyne stood by her window, sipping tea as reports filtered in.
Maren knelt before her, eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction."It worked, my lady. Cullen took the bait. We have his confession ready to leak to the king's spies."
Evelyne's lips curved into a smile — but it didn't reach her eyes.No, her gaze stayed locked on the city below, where shadows moved and lives shifted with every unseen command.
"Leonhart will respond," she murmured, voice soft but edged with steel."He's too meticulous to let this go unanswered.And when he strikes back…That's when the real game begins."
She set her cup down, hands steady even as her pulse quickened.
"Inform the Eastmarch lords that their role is done.Now… we draw in the Western Dukes.Tell them they'll get their precious trade routes if they side with me when the court votes come due."
Maren bowed and left, leaving Evelyne to exhale slowly.
For all her outward calm, she knew she had stepped into dangerous waters now.Leonhart was not the type to forgive — or forget.But neither was she.
And in this dance of daggers, every step forward meant bleeding.
By nightfall, the first consequences rippled through the capital.
A mutilated body was found in the slums — Cullen.His tongue cut out.His hands nailed to a wooden board, inscribed with a single word:
TRAITOR.
The message was clear to anyone with eyes.Leonhart had sent his reply.
But beneath the surface, the city boiled.Merchants whispered.Minor lords grew nervous.The court factions shifted subtly, like sharks scenting blood.
And in the privacy of my chambers, I stood by the balcony, gazing at the flames of the lanterns below.Evelyne thought she had landed the first true blow.And perhaps she had.
But this… this was only the beginning.
I turned to Killian, who had just returned from delivering my warning to the gutters."Prepare our next move.We'll invite the Western Dukes to my private banquet.Let's see where their loyalties truly lie."
A thin smile curled my lips."And leak a rumor that Evelyne plans to marry into Eastmarch to solidify her claim.That should rattle more than a few cages."
At the same time, Evelyne received word of Cullen's fate.Her smile faltered — just for a breath.Then she straightened, eyes hardening into violet steel.
"So… that's how far he's willing to go this early," she murmured."Very well, Leonhart. If you wish for blood, I will give you rivers."
Two predators, circling.Both wounded.Both refusing to back down.
And the capital, oblivious, continued its glittering charade — unaware that beneath its golden streets, a storm was gathering.