Seren didn’t move.
She didn’t lunge.
She didn’t strike.
She didn’t even raise her voice.
Her stillness was somehow worse.
She sat at the foot of Ariaxa’s bed with perfect composure, white silk pooling around her like spilled moonlight, eyes glimmering with an eerie calm that made Ariaxa’s skin crawl.
“I’ve been thinking,” Seren whispered.
Ariaxa pressed back against the headboard, heartbeat hammering. “Stay away from me.”
Seren smiled faintly. “If I wanted to hurt you, Sun Princess, I wouldn’t sit and chat while you shake.”
The gentleness was a weapon. Ariaxa could see it clearly now.
Seren leaned forward just enough for Ariaxa to smell rose oil and blood on her skin.
“I have a proposition.”
Ariaxa blinked at her. “…What?”
Seren dragged her fingertips along the blanket near Ariaxa’s knee, not touching her, just skimming the fabric. “Help me destroy Kaedan’s enemies.”
Ariaxa stared. “Why would I help you?”
Seren’s smile sharpened. “Because I’ll help you escape him.”
The words hit like a blow.
Ariaxa shook her head slowly. “You expect me to believe you’d ever help me?”
Seren laughed softly, but there was no joy in it. “Believe whatever you want. But Kaedan is unraveling. His rage, his… attachment…” Her eyes flicked briefly to Ariaxa’s throat where the collar sat. “It’s turning into a war inside this palace.”
She crossed one ankle over the other, poised, almost elegant. “The Triarchs know it. The nobles know it. The harem knows it. Everyone can see the Emperor losing control.”
Ariaxa’s voice caught. “You’ve been meeting with them, haven’t you? The nobles. The rebels.”
Seren tilted her head, as if deciding how honest she should be.
Finally, she whispered, “Triarch agents.”
Cold rushed through Ariaxa’s veins.
Seren continued, voice soft enough to be mistaken for tenderness. “They promised me freedom. A home in Vaelaris. Power. Influence.” Her lips curled. “All I had to do was deliver you.”
Ariaxa’s stomach dropped. “So this is a trap.”
Seren shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Ariaxa stared at her in disbelief. “You could have given me to them already.”
Seren’s eyes blazed with a sudden, feverish fury. “I could have, but I didn’t. Because I want something Kaedan denied me. Choice.”
The words crackled with pain. With truth. With something twisted but real.
Seren crawled closer — slowly, like a predator savoring the moment. Her face hovered inches from Ariaxa’s.
“You have power over him,” Seren whispered. “And I hate you for it.”
Her breath brushed Ariaxa’s lips. “But I can use it.”
Ariaxa swallowed hard. “Use… me?”
“Not like you think.” Seren’s eyes flicked down Ariaxa’s body, then up again. “Not tonight.”
Ariaxa shuddered.
Seren smiled again — that same calm, beautiful, horrifying smile. “Help me get rid of the Triarch agents embedded in this palace. Help me expose the nobles planning coups. And in return, I will get you out of Vharon before Kaedan breaks you.”
Ariaxa’s voice trembled. “Why would I trust anything you say?”
“Don’t trust me.” Seren leaned back, placing her hands in her lap. “Trust that Kaedan will destroy you the way he destroys everything he claims.”
The quiet truth of it stole Ariaxa’s breath.
Before she could respond — before she could even form a coherent thought —
Shouts erupted from the corridor.
Boots. Armor. The unmistakable sound of steel.
Seren’s head snapped toward the door, and a wicked little grin spread across her lips. “Looks like we’re out of time.”
Ariaxa whispered urgently, “Seren, don’t—”
But Seren was already rising, gliding backward like her body weighed nothing. She reached the shadows at the corner of the dormitory, and for a heartbeat, her eyes glowed through the dark, feral and triumphant.
“Decide fast, Sun Princess.”
The next blink — she vanished.
The doors burst open.
Kaedan’s guards flooded the harem. Lanterns blazed. Slaves screamed and scrambled away.
Ariaxa flinched violently when one of the guards reached her bed.
“Princess Ariaxa! Are you harmed?”
Before she could answer, a familiar, furious presence strode through the doorway.
Kaedan.
His aura hit the room like a storm breaking open — rage, magic, raw power crackling in the air so fiercely the lantern flames bent toward him as he passed.
His eyes locked instantly on Ariaxa.
And then his expression changed — not relief, not anger —
Suspicion.
Something inside Ariaxa twisted.
He approached with slow, lethal steps. “Why does your aura stink of fear?”
Ariaxa’s breath stumbled. “It’s nothing. I—I just woke up—”
“Do not lie to me.” His voice cut like a blade.
Guards bowed their heads, shrinking from the tone.
Ariaxa gripped the blanket. “Kaedan, I’m telling you—”
“Your pulse is erratic. Your magic is trembling. Someone was in this room.” He leaned closer, eyes burning. “Who?”
She froze.
She couldn’t tell him.
Not yet.
Not when she didn’t know what Seren truly wanted, not when Kaedan’s temper was sharp enough to start a massacre.
So she whispered, “It was a nightmare.”
Kaedan’s jaw clenched hard enough that a muscle twitched. He stood there for a long moment — too long — breathing through his teeth.
Then, slowly, he reached down.
His hand gripped her face — not gently, not cruelly, but with crushing certainty. His thumb pressed into her cheekbone, his palm forcing her chin upward so she was trapped under his gaze.
He inhaled sharply, as if smelling her fear.
Ariaxa swallowed. “Release me.”
“Lies,” he whispered.
His eyes were molten, unreadable, dangerous.
“Lies look ugly on you, Ariaxa.”