Chapter 18
I stared at the note, my fingers tightening around the rough parchment.
Traitor among the trusted.”
The words echoed in my head, over and over again, like a whisper I couldn’t shake.
Who had left this? And why?
I glanced around my room, suddenly aware of how alone I was. The bed was neatly made. The curtains were still drawn the way I had left them. The fireplace crackled softly, the only sound in the otherwise silent space.
Nothing looked disturbed. Nothing felt off.
Except for the note.
I turned it over, checking for anything else–another message, a
e, a name, a clue. But there was nothing. Just those four words, written in an
unfamiliar hand
I exhaled, my thoughts racing.
A traitor
Among the trusted.
Who were the trusted ones?
My mind immediately went to Alaric. He was the king. The one who ruled over all of us. If there was a traitor among those closest to him, it meant someone within the palace–someone powerful–was working against him.
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No. That didn’t make sense. Knox had been with me all night. He’d saved me. He warned me. If he was the traitor, why would he i through the trouble?
But if it wasn’t him… then who?
Elise, maybe? She was cold, but I had never thought of her as dangerous.
The royal advisors? The generals?
Or
My
stomach twisted.
Could it be someone even closer!
I swallowed hard, my mind drifting to Amira.
No.
No matter what she had done–no matter how cruel, how manipulative–she wouldn’t betray the king. Not when she was still clawing for power.
Would she?
I gritted my teeth, frustration bubbling up inside me
There were too many possibilities. Too many unknowns. And I hated not knowing.
The note crinkled in my grip as I exhaled slowly.
What was I supposed to do with this? Confront someone? Who?
Tell Knox!
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Chapter 15
Tell Alaric?
The thought made my stomach churn. Alaric barely acknowledged me this morning, and now I was supposed to walk up to him with this?
He’d probably just give me that same cold look, that unreadable stare, and tell me it was nothing
I let out a shaky breath and sat down
the edge of my bed.
There was another possibility.
This could be a trick.
Someone wanted me to see this. Someone wanted me paranoid
But if that were the case.. why?
To make me doubt the people around me? To distract me?
Or was it real?
buried my face in my hands, the weight of the situation pressing down on me..
I didn’t know who to trust.
I didn’t know who was lying.
But I did know one thing.
Whoever wrote t
this.. whoever left it in my room.. they were watching.
And they wanted me to know it.
I barely slept that night.
The note sat on my bedside table, untouched since I found it, but its words burned into my mind like a brand.
“Traitor among the trusted.”
Who? Why? What was I supposed to do with this information?
Every time I closed my eyes, my mind raced with possibilities. I thought about Alaric, Knox, Amira, even the advisors. The note could
nean anything, and that was what terrified me the most.
By the time morning arrived, I felt like I had barely rested at all.
I got dressed quickly, choosing a simple dark gown. I wasn’t in the mood for anything extravagant. The palace already felt like a suffocating web of secrets–I didn’t need the weight of heavy fabrics adding to it.
I stepped into the hallway, my mind si
I still fogged with exhaustion, when a sharp voice cut through the air.
“Elise”
I turned at the sound of her name, frowning. The voice belonged to another maid, one of the younger ones, looking frantic as she whispered something to Elise near the staircase.
Elise, as usual, looked utterly unbothered, standing with perfect posture, her hands folded in front of her. The young maid leaned in, whispering more urgently. Elise’s lips thinned, her violet eyes flickering in my direction before she waved the girl away dismissively
That was strange.
I walked toward them, trying to catch the end of the conversation, but the maid scurried off before I reached them
Elise turned to face me fully, her expression unreadable as always.
“Good morning, Luna.”
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Chapter 18
I ignored the slight mockery in the title and crossed my arms. “What was that about?“.
Elise raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?
“The girl. She was whispering something to you.”
Elise’s lips twitched like she was amused. “Servant matters. Nothing y
I narrowed my eyes. “Is that so?”
She tilted her head slightly. “You seem…. tense.”
you need to concern yourself with”
1 scoffed. “Maybe because someone left a note in my room last night.”
For the first time, her expression changed–subtly, but I caught it. A flicker of something.
I pressed forward. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
Elise exhaled through her nose, clearly unimpressed. “Is this an interrogation, Luna?”
“Maybe it should be.”
May
Her lips curled into a smirk. “How amusing. You’ve been here, what? A few weeks? And you’re already playing investigator?”
“I don’t need to play anything.” I shot back. “Someone left a warning for me. Maybe you should be concerned instead of smug.”
Elise studied her gaze sharp. Then, she took a slow step closer.
“Do you know why the last nine women before you failed?” she murmured.
My stomach twisted.
She leaned in slightly, voice lowering. “Because they thought they were untouchable.
I clenched my jaw. “I’m not them.”
She smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “We’ll see.“”
My hands balled into fists at my sides. “You don’t like me,
Elise let out a soft laugh. “What gave it away?”
I glared at her. “Why?”
do you?”
She tilted her head slightly. “Because you don’t belong here”
I inhaled sharply, her words slicing through me.
She wasn’t the first to say it. She wouldn’t be the last. But hearing it in that tone, from someone so close to Alaric’s world, made it sting more than leared to admit.
I refused to let her see it.
I squared my shoulders. “That’s not your decision to make.”
“No,” she agreed. “But time has a way of sorting things out.”
Something in her tone sent a
chill down my spine.
She turned to walk away, but I wasn’t done.
“Elise”
She stopped but didn’t turn
“If you know something about the note,” I said, voice firm, “tell me now,”
