And if a mage had been living here, and Kael had been his prisoner…
My mind whirled. Despite everything the mage had told me, my heart wanted to trust Kael. But my mind stubbornly refused to soften. He had lied to me. Kael had hidden who he truly was.
How could I trust him now?
But the mage—did I really trust him? Something about the man had seemed…off. My instincts warned me of something my intellect did not fully comprehend. The mage was dangerous, my intuition warned me.
The next full moon. That was five days’ time. Would it be enough for me to learn all the secrets of the tower? It would have to be.
Because I knew one thing for sure. I only had five days to decide decide whether I would betray Kael or protect him.
Chapter 9:Kael
The sound of scrubbing echoed through the kitchen, each swish of my hand against the plates an outlet for the restless energy building inside me. I stood at the sink, my hands submerged in the soapy water. It was warm against my hands, but I hardly noticed. My mind was far away, trapped in the swirling chaos of memories and the weight of secrets I’d spent so long keeping buried.
Seranni’s presence was impossible to ignore. She sat at the table near the fire, her quill scratching against parchment as she worked on one of her spell books. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, but every now and then, her eyes flicked to me, curious but hesitant. I pretended not to notice, but each glance pierced me like an arrow. It took every ounce of my willpower not to turn and meet her eyes.
I rinsed another plate, the cool stone walls of the kitchen pressing in around me. The firelight danced across the rough-hewn wooden beams overhead, casting flickering shadows that seemed to taunt me.
Since I’d been avoiding Seranni, I had sensed a slow shift in her demeanor. She was more silent and pensive around me—as if she had become guarded and cautious.
And I couldn’t blame her, really, even though I missed the easy friendship we’d had before. How could I expect her to continue being my friend when I hid so much from her?
I hated how quiet it had become between us, how the camaraderie we’d built had soured under the weight of my evasion. It wasn’t fair to her, but what choice did I have?
As if called up by the turmoil in my heart, I could feel the beast stirring, restless and hungry, always waiting for a momentof weakness. The mere thought of it slipping out near Seranni made my stomach churn.
The truth would ruin everything.
The very thought of her discovering my true nature filled me with a sense of dread. Would she recoil in fear? Would she see me as the monster I truly was, a beast masquerading as a human? The idea was too painful to bear. If she knew what I was—what had been done to me—she’d never look at me the same way again.
She deserved better. She deserved a life free of the chaos I carried with me like a shroud.
I scrubbed the dishes with more vigor than necessary, my claws itching to burst forth and shred the porcelain. I had to maintain control, had to keep the beast within me firmly in check. For Seranni’s sake, I couldn’t afford to lose myself to the primal fury that threatened to consume me.
As I rinsed the last plate, I heard Seranni clear her throat.
“Kael.”
Her voice broke through my thoughts, soft but insistent. I froze, the plate slipping from my hands back into the soapy water with a splash. Slowly, I turned to face her.
She was sitting upright now, the quill still in her hand, though she’d stopped writing. Her eyes, warm and amber like the embers in the hearth, searched mine. She looked...nervous. That alone was enough to set me on edge.
“I...” She hesitated, glancing down at the table before squaring her shoulders. “I was wondering if you might tell me a bit more about your past. Where did you grow up? Where are you from?”
The question struck me like a physical blow. I gripped the edge of the sink, my knuckles turning white as I fought to keep my composure. My throat felt like sandpaper.
I swallowed hard, my fingers tightening around the dish towel as I tried to formulate a response. My past? How could I tell her that I had grown up in Kalinovo, a stone’s throw from the border of Telluria? I wasn’t even a countryman of hers. I was from the Four Kingdoms, and an enemy to her king.
Our countries had been at war for almost two years.
If she knew she had been sharing a home with a soldier from Drakazov—living with the enemy—then Seranni would hate me. Worse, she would fear me.
I cleared my suddenly dry throat. “I, uh, I'm afraid my past is rather...complicated. I haven't really spoken much about it, even to those closest to me.”
Seranni’s eyes narrowed slightly as if she didn’t believe me. “I see. And why is that, if you don't mind me asking?”
I let out a heavy sigh, my gaze dropping to the floor. “There are...aspects of my history that I'd rather not dwell on, to be honest.”
