The council chambers always felt cold, even in summer.
Kael had walked through these halls countless times, but never with this weight at his back or this sharp awareness in his chest. Today the walls felt narrower. The portraits of past rulers seemed to lean closer. The scent of parchment and dust mixed with something tense, something alive.
Seraphina walked beside him, her steps measured and quiet. She did not belong in these halls, not in the way council members did, but Everfell seemed to walk with her, shadowing her presence with a subtle shift in the air.
Foret trailed behind them, hood drawn low, head bowed. He carried the ledger tightly under one arm, as if the truth might slip through a crack if he loosened his grip.
Kael stopped at the large oak door that led to the strategy room. Light flickered beneath it. Voices murmured on the other side. One voice in particular, sharp and clipped, carried through the crack.
Advisor Maeron.
Seraphina met Kael's eyes. "He is not alone."
"I know," Kael replied.
"And he will not act alone," she added.
"I know that too."
Kael pushed the door open.
The council sat around the long table, maps and sealed letters spread before them. Every head turned. Surprise. Caution. A flicker of unease.
Maeron stood at the far end. His cloak was immaculate, deep blue from collar to hem. His silver hair was pinned back neatly, his expression calm in a way that felt sharpened rather than peaceful.
He lifted his chin slowly. "Your Highness. You arrive early."
Kael stepped inside. "And you arrive without invitation."
Several council members stiffened.
Maeron folded his hands behind his back. "I walk the palace freely. Unless your Highness is instituting new restrictions."
Kael did not sit. "You approached the east gate last night."
A small, polite silence passed through the room.
Maeron's expression barely flickered. "I did."
Seraphina moved forward. The faint light in the chamber bent slightly as if drawn toward her.
"And what business did the council have near a sealed wing of Everfell at midnight?" Kael asked.
Maeron studied Seraphina briefly before answering Kael. "I inspected the grounds. I heard rumors of movement. I thought it best to ensure the palace was not compromised."
Foret let out a low breath, barely audible. Seraphina's gaze sharpened.
Kael crossed the room until he stood opposite Maeron. "You were near the sealed room."
Maeron did not deny it. "I was near many rooms, Your Highness. A palace is full of doors. I did not open any."
Kael held his stare. "Then you know something the council never had permission to know."
Maeron's lips pressed into a thin line. "If the Saint's remnants are waking, the council must know. If the house is stirring, the kingdom must be protected. You play with things too old to be managed by sentiment or hope."
Kael's pulse tightened. "You speak of her as if she were a problem."
Maeron stepped closer. "The Saint was a blessing. And a danger. We honored her. Then we acted to protect the realm. You of all people should understand the balance between holiness and threat."
Seraphina's voice slipped in like a quiet blade. "You call dismembering memory protection."
Maeron turned to her slowly. "You are Lady Dorne. You should understand duty better than most. Memory can shape a nation or destroy one. The council did what must be done."
Seraphina held his gaze with an unsettling calm. "And you did more than the council asked."
That made Maeron pause. A fraction. Barely visible to anyone except Kael and perhaps the house itself.
Kael stepped in. "You wanted the vessels destroyed."
Maeron's eyes flickered. "You have dangerous sources."
"And you have dangerous intentions," Kael said.
A murmur moved through the other council members. Some looked uneasy. Others looked confused. None looked ready to defend Maeron outright.
Maeron straightened. "If Everfell stirs, it is because you opened doors you should have left sealed. You are a prince, not a keeper of relics. The council understands the burden better than you do."
Seraphina stepped beside Kael, close enough that their shoulders nearly brushed. The air warmed where they stood.
"You are not afraid of relics," Seraphina said. "You are afraid of confession."
Maeron's calm cracked. Only slightly, but enough.
Kael pressed. "You knew she came to the quay. You knew she touched the vessel. You knew the storm was tied to her."
Maeron's voice lowered. "We contained her power. We controlled the narrative. Without that control, the kingdom would have fractured."
"You fractured her instead," Kael said.
Silence.
A deep, resonant silence.
The walls hummed with it. The lanterns leaned inward as if listening.
Maeron broke the stillness. "And now you threaten to undo years of careful management. You threaten peace."
Kael stepped forward. "Truth is not a threat. Lies are."
Maeron's gaze turned cold. "Then you are not ready to rule."
The room shifted.
Every council member turned toward Kael, waiting.
Kael felt Seraphina beside him. Steady. Tethering. Not leading him. Not pushing him. Simply present.
He spoke without raising his voice. "If ruling means protecting lies, then I am content to be unready. I will not bury truth so that men like you can sleep comfortably."
Maeron's jaw tightened. "You risk the kingdom."
Kael looked around at the room. At the people who had followed his father. At the table where policies had been crafted in quiet, well-behaved tones.
"The kingdom deserves the truth," Kael said. "And it deserves better than men who carve people into parts to keep power clean."
Maeron stepped back, fury tightening his shoulders. "If you continue this path, you will not keep your throne."
Kael answered without hesitation. "Then the throne will go to someone who values silence more than justice."
Foret exhaled sharply. Seraphina lowered her gaze, not in fear but in thought, like someone watching a thread pull taut in exactly the way it must.
Maeron's voice dropped to a quiet, dangerous softness. "Very well. You have chosen your path. But understand this, Your Highness. When memory begins to speak, it chooses what it keeps… and what it burns."
He pushed past Kael and left the chamber without looking back.
Kael let out a slow breath. The council remained still.
Seraphina stepped close and whispered so only he could hear. "You did not stand against him. You stood for something."
Kael met her eyes. Something flickered between them. Something fragile, like a flame sheltered from wind.
He looked toward the door where Maeron had gone.
"This is just the beginning," he said.
Seraphina nodded. "And the house is waiting."
Kael lifted the ledger. "Then we answer it."
Outside the council chamber, a deep tremor moved through Everfell. Not hostile. Not warning.
A call.
The house was awake.
Tonight, it would not whisper.
It would speak.