Chapter 30 — When the Serpent Strikes
Blackspire did not sleep the night after Isolde Ravencrest departed.
Neither did Kael.
The fortress breathed uneasily, the void restless beneath its stones. Torches burned brighter than usual along the battlements, shadows stretching and recoiling as if uncertain where they belonged. Patrols doubled. Then tripled.
War had not yet been declared.
But it was coming.
Elowen felt it in the way the servants whispered behind careful hands, in the way soldiers' hands lingered longer on their blades, in the way Kael's presence seemed heavier denser like a storm pressing low against the earth.
She sat at the small table in her chamber, fingers curled around a cup of untouched tea. The warmth had long since faded, but she hadn't noticed.
Her thoughts kept returning to Isolde's smile.
Not the polite one. Not the courtly one.
The one she'd worn just before she left.
Perhaps your little maid will be the first casualty.
A soft knock came at the door.
"Elowen," Kael's voice said quietly.
She rose immediately. "Come in."
He entered without ceremony, his expression controlled but tight around the eyes. He wore armor tonight black plate etched with runes so old they seemed to absorb the light. His sword was at his side.
Not symbolic.
Practical.
"You're leaving," she said.
"Yes."
She swallowed. "Tonight?"
"There was movement near the eastern pass," he replied. "Scouts haven't returned."
Elowen nodded slowly. "Is it her?"
"It could be," Kael said honestly. "Or it could be opportunists emboldened by her visit."
Either way, blood would be spilled.
She crossed the room and stopped in front of him. "You're not taking me with you."
It wasn't a question.
"No," he said immediately.
"I can help."
"You are not a weapon," he said firmly.
She lifted her chin. "And you are not my jailer."
The tension snapped tight between them.
Kael exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "This is not about control," he said. "This is about survival. Isolde Ravencrest does not strike openly. She poisons wells. She hires knives. She burns villages and blames others."
"I know," Elowen said quietly. "Which is why she won't come for you first."
Kael froze.
"She'll come for me," Elowen continued. "Because she thinks I'm fragile. Because she thinks I'm leverage."
His eyes darkened dangerously.
"Let her," Elowen said. "If she wants to test me, then let her see I'm not alone."
Kael stepped closer, towering over her, his presence suffocating in its intensity. "I will not use you as bait."
"I'm already bait," she replied. "The difference is whether I know it."
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then, quietly, "You should hate this. Hate me for dragging you into it."
"I don't," she said. "I chose this. I chose you."
The words struck deeper than any blade.
Kael reached out, cupping her cheek, his touch reverent. "If anything happens to you"
"It won't," she said, placing her hand over his. "Because you'll come back."
Something like a smile flickered across his lips.
"Stay in the inner keep," he said. "Trust no one but Ryn and Virelle."
She nodded.
He leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers. "When I return," he murmured, "we will finish what we started."
Her breath caught. "Is that a promise?"
"It is a vow."
He kissed her then deep, unhurried, filled with everything he did not have time to say. When he pulled away, his restraint was ironclad once more.
Kael turned and left without looking back.
The void followed him.
The assassination attempt came before dawn.
It did not arrive with horns or fire.
It arrived with silence.
Elowen woke to the faintest sound stone shifting where it should not. Her eyes opened instantly, years of light sleeping drilled into her by fear.
The shadows in her chamber stirred.
Not Kael's.
Something else.
She slid silently from the bed, fingers brushing the dagger hidden beneath her pillow. Kael had given it to her himself not ornate, not ceremonial. Balanced. Sharp.
The door creaked open a fraction.
A thin blade slipped through the gap.
Elowen moved.
The dagger left her hand before she consciously decided to throw it. It struck the intruder's wrist with a sickening crunch. A muffled cry followed as the figure stumbled forward.
She grabbed the fallen lamp and smashed it against the intruder's face.
Glass shattered.
Blood sprayed.
The assassin collapsed to the floor, choking.
Elowen backed away, heart hammering, chest burning with adrenaline. She did not scream.
She refused to be prey.
The door burst open moments later as Captain Ryn and two guards stormed in, blades drawn.
"Lady Elowen!" Ryn shouted.
She pointed to the body. "He was alone."
Ryn knelt, checking the assassin quickly. "Dead."
Elowen swallowed hard, staring at the blood on her hands. "There will be more."
"Yes," Ryn said grimly. "But not like this."
He pulled back the assassin's sleeve, revealing a small crimson serpent tattooed near the wrist.
Ravencrest.
"They wanted you afraid," Ryn said. "Unprepared."
Elowen straightened. "Then they failed."
Kael returned at sunrise.
He knew something was wrong before anyone spoke.
The void recoiled violently as he crossed the gates, reacting to blood spilled where it should not have been. His pace quickened, control fraying with every step.
When he reached Elowen's chamber and saw the broken lamp, the bloodstains scrubbed imperfectly from the floor
The void screamed.
"Elowen," he said sharply.
She stood near the window, freshly dressed, spine straight. She turned at the sound of his voice.
"I'm here," she said calmly.
Kael crossed the room in two strides and pulled her into his arms so hard she nearly lost her breath.
"You were attacked," he said, voice shaking despite his efforts.
"Yes."
"Were you hurt?"
"No."
His grip tightened briefly before he forced himself to loosen it. He pulled back just enough to search her face, his hands tracing her arms, her shoulders checking, checking.
"I killed him," she said quietly.
Kael stilled.
"He would have killed me," she continued. "I didn't hesitate."
A thousand emotions crossed his face relief, pride, fury, fear.
"You should never have had to," he said hoarsely.
"I would have," she replied. "Even before you."
The void settled slightly.
Ryn cleared his throat. "The assassin bore Ravencrest's mark."
Kael's expression went cold.
"She has declared war," he said.
Elowen stepped forward, placing her hand against his chest. "Then don't fight it without me."
Kael closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, the decision was made.
"You will train," he said. "Not to fight battles. But to survive them."
Elowen nodded. "I want to understand the void."
The words made Ryn stiffen.
Kael studied her carefully. "It is dangerous."
"So was being powerless," she replied.
A long pause.
Finally, Kael nodded. "Then I will teach you."
That night, the north moved openly.
Messengers arrived with sealed threats disguised as treaties. Trade routes closed. Minor lords declared "neutrality" while quietly pledging soldiers to Ravencrest.
The court whispered again.
But this time, they whispered with fear.
Because Elowen Blackspire did not hide.
She walked the battlements at Kael's side, her presence calm and steady. She spoke to soldiers. She listened. She remembered names.
And when another assassin tried to slip through the shadows
The void swallowed him whole.
Not violently.
Not cruelly.
Efficiently.
Kael watched from a distance as Elowen stood unflinching amid the aftermath, bloodless and unbroken.
She was no longer the serpent's target.
She was its warning.
And far away, in a candlelit chamber of crimson and gold, Isolde Ravencrest smiled thinly as she received the reports.
"So," she murmured. "The maid has teeth."
Her smile sharpened.
"Good."