POV: Ravenna
The guards find her at the village edge three days after our planning meeting.
"Intruder!" Someone shouts. "Armed woman at the perimeter!"
I'm in the healing garden with Lyris when the alarm sounds. We both run toward the commotion—healers aren't supposed to be frontline defense but after everything I've survived, standing back feels wrong.
By the time we arrive, guards have someone surrounded. Weapons drawn. Dragons circling overhead. Ready to eliminate the threat.
Except the "threat" is standing perfectly still with her hands raised. Pale blue dress. Blonde hair. Exhausted face that I recognize immediately.
"Seraphine?" I push through the guards. "What are you—how did you—"
"I tracked you." Her voice is hoarse. Desperate. "I've been following for weeks. Please, Princess Ravenna. I need to speak with you."
"She could be Eclipse," one guard says sharply. "House Ashford. We should—"
"Bring her before the council," Elder Mira interrupts. She's appeared from somewhere, calm and assessing. "If she's tracked us here, others might follow. We need to know what she knows."
"I came alone," Seraphine says quickly. "I swear. I just—I need to talk to Princess Ravenna. Privately. Please."
"Absolutely not," Theron says. He's materialized beside me. Protective. "You're House Ashford. We're not letting you anywhere near Ravenna alone."
"I'm not here as House Ashford." Seraphine's voice breaks. "I'm here because—because everything I believed about my brother was a LIE and I need to UNDERSTAND."
That stops everyone.
Elder Mira looks at me. "Your choice, Princess. You're the one she's asking for."
I should say no. Should let the council interrogate her. Should stay FAR away from Lucien's sister who might be Eclipse, might be spy, might be anything.
But I look at her face. At the devastation there. At the genuine PAIN.
And I remember Lucien. Remember how hollow he was. How empty except for her.
"Fine," I say. "But guarded. And if she tries anything—"
"We'll handle it," Theron says grimly. "I'll be right outside."
***
They put us in a small room in Elder Mira's house. Stone walls. Single table. Two chairs. Guards outside. Theron outside. Everyone ready to burst in if she so much as breathes wrong.
Seraphine sits across from me. Hands folded. Not threatening. Just—broken.
"Thank you," she says quietly. "For agreeing to this."
"You have five minutes. Talk."
She takes a shaky breath. "After Lucien died, I went through his rooms. Looking for—I don't know. Comfort? Closure? Something to help me understand why it happened." She pauses. "I found journals."
"Journals?"
"Hidden. Behind false wall in his chambers. Volumes of them. Years of observations." Her voice is hollow. "About people. How to manipulate them. What weaknesses to exploit. Cold calculations about using people's emotions against them." She looks up at me. "Including me. Including MY devotion to him."
My stomach turns. "Seraphine—"
"He wrote about how useful my loyalty was. How I could be deployed to gather information. To charm people he needed influenced. How my love for him was TOOL to be utilized." She's crying now. Trying not to. Failing. "He felt nothing. For anyone. He USED everyone. Even me. ESPECIALLY me."
"I'm sorry." And I mean it. Because discovering someone you loved was hollow all along? That's devastating in ways I can't imagine.
"Was that why Solace rejected him?" She looks at me desperately. "During the Dragon's Choosing. Your dragon approached Lucien and rejected him violently. Was it because—because she sensed what he was? The emptiness?"
I consider lying. Consider softening the truth. But she came HERE. Tracked us for weeks. Risked everything. She deserves honesty.
"Yes," I say quietly. "Dragons sense souls. Solace approached Lucien and felt—nothing. Just calculation and ambition and hollow space where emotions should be. She rejected him because there was nothing real to bond with."
Seraphine makes a sound like something breaking. "I loved him. My whole life I loved him. Protected him. Made excuses for him. And he felt—nothing. Not even for me."
"Maybe he did." I reach across the table. Stop just short of touching her. "Maybe you were the ONLY person he felt anything for. Maybe that's why he wrote about you differently. Why he—"
"He wrote that my devotion was 'convenient.'" Her voice is flat. Dead. "That I was 'adequately useful' and 'sufficiently manipulable.' Those were his WORDS about me."
Gods. That's—that's BRUTAL.
"I'm sorry," I say again. "That's—I can't imagine how that feels."
"Like everything I knew was a lie." She wipes her eyes roughly. "Like I wasted years loving someone who didn't exist. Who was just—performing. Always performing."
We sit in silence. Her grief filling the small room.
Finally, I ask, "Why are you here, Seraphine? Why track us? Why risk everything to talk to me?"
She meets my eyes. "Because you were right. About Lucien. About everything. And because—" She swallows hard. "Because I found other things in his rooms. Letters. Correspondence. Things that suggest—" She stops. "House Ashford is involved with the Eclipse."
My heart STOPS. "What?"
"Cassian." Her voice is barely a whisper. "My cousin. He's been receiving letters for YEARS. From someone in Skyreach. Discussing 'removing obstacles' and 'managing problems' and—" She can't finish.
"Coded language," I breathe. "About killing gift-bearers."
"I think so. Yes." She looks at me desperately. "I didn't know. I SWEAR I didn't know. But after finding Lucien's journals, after realizing he was—was what he was—I started looking deeper. And I found EVIDENCE. Real evidence connecting Cassian to the Eclipse."
"Why are you telling me this?" I demand. "Why not just—keep it secret? Protect your house?"
"Because hunting innocent people for having GIFTS is MONSTROUS." Her voice is fierce now. Sharp. "Because whatever loyalty I had to House Ashford died with my brother. Because you TRIED to help me see the truth and I ignored you." She pauses. "Because I choose justice over family loyalty. Even if it destroys everything I have left."
I stare at her. Searching for deception. For hidden motives. For anything that suggests this is elaborate trap.
I see only grief. And determination. And someone who lost everything and decided to do something right with the rubble.
"What do you need?" I ask.
"Protection." Her voice is small. "If I provide evidence against Cassian, if I testify, he'll kill me. House Ashford will—" She stops. "I need sanctuary. Safety. And help exposing them."
"And you'll give us everything? All the evidence?"
"Everything." She nods firmly. "Letters. Correspondence. Testimony about what I found. Whatever you need to prove Cassian is Eclipse and connected to Lady Seris."
Lady Seris. The connection. The proof we need.
"Wait here," I say. Stand. "I need to get the council."
"Does that mean—"
"It means I believe you." I look at her seriously. "But this decision isn't just mine. The council decides whether to accept your offer."
She nods. "Thank you. For listening. For—for not just killing me on sight."
"You're Lucien's sister. But you're not LUCIEN." I pause at the door. "And you're choosing to do the right thing even when it costs you everything. That matters."
I leave her there. Find Theron and Elder Mira and the others. Explain everything.
"She could be lying," Morgana points out. "Could be Eclipse herself. Using us."
"She could be," I agree. "But what if she's NOT? What if she's giving us exactly what we need—direct evidence connecting the Eclipse to Skyreach leadership?"
"Then we take the risk," Elder Mira says. "We protect her. We use her evidence. And we END the Eclipse."
The council agrees. Unanimously.
We return to Seraphine. Tell her she has sanctuary. Protection. Whatever she needs.
She cries. Relief and grief and exhaustion all mixed together.
And I realize we just gained an unexpected ally.
Someone from inside House Ashford willing to destroy them.
That's—that's HUGE.
The Eclipse should be terrified. Because we're coming for them. And now we have the evidence to prove everything.