Chapter 59

The smell of blood still clung to the air. The bodies had been cleared, the floors scrubbed clean, but the echoes of battle lingered within the palace walls. The betrayal in the council chamber had left its mark-not just in the corpses of the fallen but in the way the court now moved, in the way hushed whispers replaced bold words, in the way fear had settled deep in the bones of the empire.

Tharx stood in the war chamber, his hands braced against the stone table, his gaze fixed on the unfolding battle reports before him. The rebellion was no longer a shadow lurking in the dark. It had stepped into the light.

Draxis's forces were mobilizing. The outer territories had begun to fall, one by one, not in violent conquest, but in defections. Nobles who once sat at Tharx's table had disappeared into the night, slipping away to pledge their loyalty to the man who promised an empire free from Tharx's rule.

Cowards. Every last one of them.

"We don't have time to waste," Kaelrith said, pacing at his side. Though he had hesitated in the council chamber, he had ultimately chosen to stand by the throne. Now, his loyalty came with a price-winning this war.

"They will strike the capital next," Vaelkor added. The scholar had become Aeliana's closest ally in navigating the treacherous currents of politics, but now even he looked grim. "Draxis has been patient, but patience is over. With the council's fracture and the city on edge, he knows you are vulnerable."

Tharx's golden gaze flicked toward him. "Then we will remind him why I rule."

Aeliana listened carefully from where she stood near the hearth. Unlike the nobles who moved with wary steps around Tharx, she had no fear in meeting his eyes.

"We cannot just wait for him to attack," she said. "We need to move first."

Tharx studied her for a long moment. She could feel the weight of his scrutiny, the way he measured her words before responding.

"You would have me chase ghosts?"

"I would have you stop fighting this war the way they expect you to," she shot back.

Vaelkor nodded. "She's right. Draxis isn't leading a traditional battle. He is playing a longer game, using deception and strategy. If we keep reacting to his moves instead of anticipating them, he will bleed us out before we ever reach the battlefield."

Aeliana stepped forward. "Let me help. There are nobles who still listen to me-who believe I can bridge the gap between your rule and theirs."

Tharx's jaw clenched. "I do not need you to play diplomat."

"I am not playing," Aeliana said sharply. "I am securing allies."

His eyes burned into hers, but this was an old battle between them, one they had fought before.

Finally, he exhaled, turning away. "Do what you must," he said at last.

It was not approval, but it was not refusal either.

Aeliana didn't waste time.

The capital was fracturing, but there were still those who had not fully aligned with Draxis. She moved through the palace, speaking in quiet corners, gathering whispers, forging the alliances Tharx could not afford to make himself.

She was becoming something more.

Not just Tharx's consort.

A force of her own.

The attack came when she least expected it.

The palace halls were dimly lit as she made her way back toward the war chamber. She had spent hours in secret discussions, learning which nobles still held loyalty to the empire and which ones were waiting for the right moment to betray it.

She had been careful. She had taken the hidden routes, the quieter passages where the walls did not listen so closely.

And yet-

A flicker of movement.

The torchlight wavered, shadows shifting wrong.

Aeliana tensed.

Then-

A hand clamped over her mouth.

She reacted instinctively, twisting sharply, driving her elbow into her attacker's ribs. The impact earned a grunt, but before she could move further, another set of hands seized her, wrenching her back.

Aeliana snarled, fighting. She kicked, twisted, slammed her head back against the one holding her, but these weren't palace guards. These were professionals.

A dagger flashed toward her-she jerked away, but not fast enough.

A sharp pain across her arm.

Her vision swam for a moment.

Not a deep cut. Not meant to kill. Meant to slow her down.

Panic flickered at the edges of her mind, but she refused to let it take hold.

She had to break free.

One of them grabbed her by the hair, yanking her back.

A voice, close to her ear. Low. Cold.

"Draxis will see you now."

Aeliana's blood went cold.

She fought harder, but her strength was slipping. The shadows blurred.

Then-darkness.

Tharx knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into the palace corridors.

There was an absence.

A silence that should not have been there.

Aeliana's guards.

Gone.

His pulse spiked. He turned, already moving. "Find Aeliana," he ordered, his voice like steel.

The soldiers scattered.

Minutes stretched into eternity.

Then-

A scout ran toward him, pale-faced, breathless.

"She's gone."

Tharx felt the world still around him.

His hands curled into fists. His body remained stone, but inside, inside-

Aeliana.

Taken.

His soldiers did not dare speak. Did not dare move as they watched the way his jaw locked, the way his breath came slow and sharp, controlled but furious.

He turned to Kaelrith. "Double the guards. Lock down the city."

Kaelrith hesitated. "My lord, if we act too rashly-"

Tharx's eyes snapped to him.

Kaelrith swallowed his words.

"This is no longer a rebellion," Tharx said, his voice barely above a whisper.

His fury was not loud.

It did not need to be.

It shook.

The men around him stiffened, terrified.

He exhaled.

Then, finally-

"Burn the rebellion to the ground."