hapter 76
I looked at Ada through squinted eyes. I didn’t know if I should be pissed or terrified.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I muttered.
Ada’s lips twitched. “A little. I mean who wouldn’t
I folded my arms, glancing around the dark laundry hall. “Is this place even
en secure? Or are we going to get dragged off by Harden’s. guards mid–sentence?”
She chuckled softly. “Relax. I have plants in the corners. Silentweed. Old Southern trick. Blocks out sound to anyone not standing within ten feet.”
I blinked. “You’re kidding.”
Ada shrugged. “You
ou think I’d trust walls this thin?”
my lower lip. “So what do you know about Harden?”
I gnawed on my
The smile slid from her face.
Ada leaned against the stone wall, folding her arms loosely. “More than most. Less than I’d like.”
I waited.
She sighed. “He has trusted men. Two, specifically. And a woman who visits sometimes”
“Who are they?” I asked.
“The men? His strategist and his swordmaster. Only one of them is a werewolf–the other two are something else entirely.”
My brows furrowed. “Something else? Like what?”
“Not witches,” she said. “But not human either. Harden has a way of collecting the broken and the powerful. Those who have no place anywhere else.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“And the woman?” I asked.
Ada’s mouth tightened. “I don’t know exactly. She’s not from here. She wears white when she visits, and she’s the only time Harden ever looks remotely human.”
I swallowed hard.
“So he has feelings for her?”
Ada smirked faintly. “Not sure Harden knows how to love, Luna. But something about her grounds him. Temporarily
That made me hum. A woman that keeps him grounded. Clearly not his sister. I bit my lips as I crossed my arms around my chest.
“And Alaric?” I asked quietly. “Why is he so paranoid about Harden?”
Ada’s expression shifted. Her eyes grew distant Sadder.
“Because
Glace upon ime, they were brothers.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Brothers?”
“Not by blood,” Ada said quickly. “But by bond Oath In the old days, before the world turned upside down, Alaric and Harslen fought vide by sule Protected the Southern and Northern lands together.”
d at her, stunned.
“But war changes everything” Ada said softly “Ambition betrayal it rots even the strongest bonds. Harden wanted more. He didn’t just want peace. He wanted everything.”
Chapter 76
My hands curled into fists at my sides. “Everything
The W
“The Cardinals. Ada said. “The East. The West. The South. The North. Every piece of land under one rule. His.”“
She stared off into th
the distance like she could see it all playing out again.
“Alaric tried to stop him. Harden fought back. Their armies clashed. Friends became enemies. Allies became traitors. Blood soaked the fields.”
I shivered
Ada’s voice lowered. “They destroyed each other, Luna. Not completely. But enough.”
I inhaled sharply, trying to process it all.
“And now!
Ada smiled grimly. “Now? Harden smiles and promises truce, while sharpening his knives behind his back. Alaric trusts no one because he knows what it’s like to lose a brother.”
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. Betrayal does not come from your enemies but your friends.
“But there’s more,” Ada added.
Of course there was.
“There’s unrest in the West and East Cardinals,” she continued. “Wolves turning feral. Packs crumbling. Entire towns disappearing overnight.”
A chill ran through me.
“And you think Harden’s behind it!” I asked.
Ada shook her head slowly. “We don’t know. But it feels connected. Too much chaos. Too well timed. And Harden-” she paused.“–he always seems one step ahead. Like he knows.”
1 ran a hand through my hair. “But there’s no proof.”
“None“” Ada pushed off the wall. “That’s why you’re here.”
I blinked at her. “Me?”
She nodded. “You’re not a soldier. Not a trained spy. You’re real. Genuine, Harden underestimates people like you.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “He kissed me
Ada’s brows shot up.
I instantly regretted saying it.
“Well, that’s certainly one way to infiltrate enemy lines,” she said dryly.
1 scowled. “It wasn’t like that.”
Ada just smiled, that infuriating, knowing smile.
I sighed, scrubling a hand over my face. “So what now!”
“Now?” Ada said. “You survive. You watch. You listen And when the
he time
comes–you strike!
Tatared at her, feeling the enormity of it all pressing down on me again.
“Strike how?” I asked weakly
Adi’s eyes glattered in the low light. “However you must, Luna. However you:
I frowned, my stomach twisting “You mean to. Lill?”
5:09 PM Oc
Chapter 70
Ada shrugged, a careless tilt of her shoulders. “Kill. Betray. Spy. Whatever it takes.”
I stared at her, feeling like the floor was slowly falling out from under me.
“But there’s more you should know,” Ada said, voice dropping even lower.
I forced myself to nod. Ti listening.
She glanced toward the door, then back at me. Her
1 blinked “Wow that I suspected”
words were sharp, deliberate. “Amira works for Harden.”
Ada smiled tightly. “I confirmed it yesterday when Harden threw her out. She offered him information. Claimed she could give him secrets from Alaric’s court. Plans. Strategies,”
My stomach sank
“But,” Ada.continued, “she didn’t deliver anything valuable. Empty promises. Lies.” She snorted. “The King isn’t a fool. He kept her at the side like a pawn he doesn’t care about. Useful if needed. Disposable otherwise.”
I closed my eyes briefly, the truth settling heavily on my chest.
“She wanted to betray Alaric,” I muttered.
“She wants to,” Ada corrected. “And if the price is right, she will. She’s loyal to no one but herself.”
Of course she was.
My hands clenched at my sides, the betrayal burning fresh again even though I should have expected it.
“So Harden wants to know what Alaric’s goal is.” I said slowly, piecing it together.
Ada smiled faintly, the expression grim. “And Alaric wants to know what Harden’s goal is.”
I exhaled shakily “They’re like two wolves circling each other. Both waiting for the other to bleed first.”
Ada chuckled darkly. “Exactly.”
I rubbed my temples. “And me? I’m stuck in the middle.”
“No” Ada stepped closer. Her voice was firmer now, harder. “You’re not stuck. You’re positioned. There was a reason Alaric wanted you to be a maid and not take it easy like Amira. You can be easily believed.
Well I wouldn’t say so, seeing how last night turned out with Harden. But I didn’t say anything.
1 lifted my gaze to meet hers.
“Think about it, Luna,” she said. “You’re not hidden. Not like me. You’re not blending into the shadows.”
1 frowned. “Isn’t that a bad thing?”
this time. I the
Ada shook her head. “Not this time. I thought it would be, but it isn’t. Harden has already noticed you. You’re not going to be invisible like Tam That’s not your role”
Iwallowed hard. “Then what is?”
Ada’s eyes gleamed. “Your goal is to get close to him. Dangerously close. So close he lets you into his inner circle”
My heart thudded painfully against my rilis.
hat’s insane.” I whispered.
“That’s smart,” Ada said simply. “Become someone he trusts. Someone he relies on.”
“And then what?” I rasped
Ada’s mouili curved slightly, but there was no humor in it.
5:00 PM
Chapter 76
“Then,” she said softly, “we follow the plan”
I staggered back a step, the enormity of it hitting me like a punch.
Destroy Harden.
Not just spy on
Not just survive.
Destroy
him.
I can’t,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I–I don’t even know how to begin.”
Ada tilted her head, studying me like she was weighing my soul
“Yes, you can,” she said finally “You’re already halfway there.”
I stared at her, disbelieving
She smiled grimly. “He noticed you, didn’t he? He kissed you. Invited you to dine with him. That’s no accident, Luna. You’ve already begun to weave your way in without even realizing it.”
I pressed my trembling hands to my mouth.
It was too much. It was too fast.
And yet…somewhere deep inside, I knew Ada was right.
I could play the innocent. The lost handmaiden. The girl who had no idea what she was doing
I could get close.
Dangerously close.
But at what cost?
I dropped my hands, looking at her with every ounce of strength I had left. “What happens if I fail?”
Ada didn’t hesitate
“You die”
I closed my eyes, forcing a deep breath through my lungs.
When I opened them again, Ada was already moving, slippin
back into the shadows as if she had never been there at all
But her words remained.
A heavy, invisible brand on my heart
Become close to him. Dangerously close.
So close he lets you into his heart.
And
You
