The letter crinkled slightly under Acacia's grip.
No name.
No signature.
Only the weight of recognition, like someone had peered past the ash and blood and silence, knows her.
Astor leaned forward, impatience sparking in his voice. "What's written in it?" He didn't wait for her reply, bending closer, reading over her shoulder. His jaw clenched, eyes flashing as he straightened. "And it was meant for you. No one else. Whoever wrote this, they're hunting you."
Acacia's eyes didn't lift from the page. Her voice was low, steady. "Who do you think is targeting me?"
Dominic spoke first, calm but firm. "The courier wouldn't say who sent it. Only that it came through a diplomatic channel… borderlands. Valeriath side."
Her fingers dug into the parchment. "They didn't call me by name."
Dominic said, gaze fixed on the broken seal. "That mark… only someone with royal clearance from Valeriath would dare use it. Not even the Five Pillar Houses of Solerith would risk forging something so precise."
Astor's hand rapped sharply against the table. "Then what are we waiting for? Whoever it is, they know exactly who she is and wants her. We should move her, now before they come closer."
Dominic's expression hardened. "And draw even more attention to her? No. That would be reckless. We don't even know who we're dealing with yet."
"So we sit and do nothing?" Astor snapped. "Wait for another letter? Or for blades at our gates?"
"We don't move blindly," Dominic shot back, voice low but cutting. "If someone with Valeriath clearance is involved, one wrong move could turn this into more than a threat it could become a spark that lights half the borderlands on fire."
Astor glared, jaw tight. "That's easy for you to say when it's not your life being threatened."
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the faint thud of Acacia's pendant against her chest not with heat but with weight. Something was stirring.
Nathaniel Ashcroft entered, the weight of his presence stilling the air. Authority moved with him like a quiet storm, and the tension between his sons fell instantly into silence. He hadn't been told of the letter until after the rider was escorted off the grounds but one glance at the room told him enough.
"Let me see it," he said calmly, palm open.
Acacia looked up. There was something unreadable in the Duke's face, not anger. Not worry. Something more dangerous: calculation wrapped in silence.
She passed the scroll to him.
Nathaniel read quickly, once. Then again, slower.
He said nothing to the others, only a quiet, steady command:
"Acacia. Follow me."
She hesitated, her stepbrothers shifting in protest but the weight of his gaze silenced them. Without waiting for reply, he turned, striding toward the side corridor. Acacia followed, her heart pounding.
The study was narrow, lined with tall shelves and shadowed corners. A single window let in a blade of silver light, casting the room in a hushed stillness.
Nathenial closed the door behind them. "Sit," he said quietly.
Acacia hesitated before lowering herself into the chair opposite his desk.
Nathaniel stood by the tall window, his gaze fixed on the morning light spilling across the Ashcroft estate. His hands were clasped behind his back but the weight in his shoulders betrayed his thoughts.
"You know something, don't you?" Acacia's voice broke the silence.
He turned slowly, meeting her eyes. For a moment, he said nothing, then moved to sit opposite her at the desk. His expression was calm but there was an edge of certainty there.
"I had my doubts," Nathaniel admitted quietly. "Doubts that you might be from Valeriath."
Acacia's lips parted but no words came. She lowered her gaze, her hands tightening in her lap.
"Do you remember anything?" he asked, his tone firm but not unkind. He gestured toward the letter that still lay on the desk. "This seal… who might be following you?"
Acacia shook her head, her voice faint. "I don't remember."
Nathaniel exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair. His eyes softened. "Don't worry too much. I'll look into this."
She glanced up, searching his face, uncertain if his reassurance was for her sake alone.
Then his voice steadied, warmer than before. "Acacia… no matter who you are or where you come from, it doesn't change anything. I have accepted you as my daughter. And I always will. Whatever truth lies beyond this, it doesn't matter to me. You are my family. I will protect you."
Her heart stirred at his words, a warmth blooming in her chest. She smiled faintly, nodding, though she couldn't quite speak. Rising quietly, Acacia slipped from the study, leaving the duke to his thoughts.
As the door shut behind her, Nathaniel's gaze hardened. He summoned Emrick with a sharp call.
"Send word to Duke Veltorin. I need every record concerning this seal. And check the northern borders see if there has been any movement lately. I want answers and quickly."
Emrick bowed, already moving to obey, while Nathaniel returned to the window, his jaw tightened recalling the contents of the letter.
Your time is nearly up.
His eyes flicked towards the door where Acacia had disappeared only moments before.
By the time Acacia reached the second-floor hall, Dominic was already there.
He straightened at the sight of her, eyes scanning her face, not for answers, but for any trace of distress. Still, he didn't press.
Instead, he nodded once toward the stairs.
"Breakfast is waiting. He asked for all of us."
Acacia paused. "Is Astor…?"
"He hasn't stopped pacing since the courier left," Dominic said with a sigh. "He's… unsettled. Just… be patient with him."
The dining hall was too bright.
Sunlight poured through the tall windows, gilding the cutlery and white porcelain in golden light. But the warmth didn't reach the room's center, not where tension lived beneath silver and silk.
Astor was seated at the far end, legs stretched out, one arm looped loosely around the back of his chair. His other hand rolled a knife between his fingers, not threatening, just restless.
He didn't look at her when she entered. But his voice carried across the table, quieter than expected.
"You alright?"
Acacia blinked. "I'm fine."
"I don't know what to do with any of it," she murmured.
There was a long silence.
"I don't know who I am yet," she said, the quiet steel returning to her voice. "And I won't go running just because someone else wants me and claims to know me before I do."
Astor looked down, lips pressing into a faint line. He set the knife aside.
Dominic gave a subtle nod.
"Then we stay. And we wait," he said. "We buy time. Until you're ready. Until we know more."
Acacia looked at her plate, untouched. Then at the pendant resting just above her heart.
"Time" she echoed.
And this time, when her fingers brushed the pendant, it no longer burned warm.
It pulsed, once, like something ancient had finally turned to listen.
...
The forest at the edge of the Ashcroft estate was quiet but not empty.
A figure stood beneath the dense canopy, still as the branches above. Cloaked in dark cloth, they blended into the shadows, eyes fixed on the manor's distant silhouette.
In their hand, a small spyglass lowered with a soft click.
"She's here," the figure said under their breath.
Footsteps approached, soft, deliberate. Another figure emerged from between the trees, face half-hidden beneath a hood.
"Then it begins," the second said. his voice low and cold. "The order was clear. Kill her"
The first figure didn't respond but their gaze lingered on the manor windows.
"Royal blood," they murmured, almost to themselves.
With that they both slipped back into the woods, silent, patient.
Watching.
Waiting.